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 JetSmarter, a mobile marketplace for travelers to book private jet flights, has raised $20 million from a group of influential investors in a recent Series B round.

Traditionally, booking a private jet meant dealing personally with specialized agencies or middlepersons. The “appification” of the process has streamlined it and made the service readily available to more users. JetSmarter users get instant pricing and availability for private jets across the globe. They can book their flight themselves in a matter of minutes and be in the air within 6 hours. 

JetSmarter is available in Dubai and Riyadh, as well as in Zurich, New York, Fort Lauderdale, and Moscow. Since it was launched in 2013, the company has seen 15%-20% growth each month, according to its founder and CEO Sergey Petrossov. Over the past year, the company recorded over 1,000% growth in revenue.

The company is currently partnered with Deutsche Bank, as well as with 800 air carriers, enabling it to field around 3,200 jets.

Investors included members of the Saudi Royal Family, world-renowned music and entertainment moguls, a London-based private equity fund, and a group of high-net-worth Individuals and family offices, including top C-level executives from companies such as Goldman Sachs and Twitter.

This funding will be used to support the company’s expansion plans, technology upgrades, and its ultimate goal to “democratize the private aviation industry.” According to Petrossov, future destinations could include China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand, as well as Asian Pacific countries like Australia and New Zealand.

Anyone Can Book a Private Jet?

Initially, gaining users’ trust was the main challenge for JetSmarter in all its markets. The concept of booking a private jet via mobile was unprecedented, and customer conversion was difficult at first – but not impossible, said Petrossov. “The JetSmarter app has a total of +300,000 downloads to date, so we expect that progress to continue exponentially,” he said. The app is available for Android and iOS.

JetSmarter currently proposes 3 services:

a. JetCharters: Customizable trips based on destination and aircraft from anywhere around the globe. 

b. JetDeals: Exclusive one-way flights at discounted rates for all app users (free for JetSmarter members).

c. JetShuttles: Single-seat booking on already scheduled flights.

Once users have booked their flight, JetSmarter provides them with an aviation specialist who offers 24/7 customers support. 

Members may take advantage of free daily flights (up to 4,000 free flights each month), wholesale charter pricing, 24/7 customer support, access to exclusive events, and concierge service. Furthermore, the “Member Experiences” program provides access to exclusive events, premium tables at fine restaurants, tee times at prestigious golf courses, etc.

The Arab World Falls for Private Jet Flights

“We decided to build hubs in both Riyadh and Dubai, as people from there were organically gravitating towards our service,” said Petrossov.

JetSmarter targets the mass affluent, i.e individuals with $100,000 to $1 million in liquid assets. However, Petrossov explained that not all members meet that threshold: “We do not have one type of customer in the Middle East; everyone from young, ambitious professionals to well-established billionaires love JetSmarter and, we offer a service that appeals to each type of customer.” He cites one member who was a college student and split the payment for his membership fee on two credit cards.

Early this year, JetSmarter made available its special flight deals (JetDeals and JetShuttle) for users in Dubai and Riyadh.

“We have received extremely positive feedback from users in the Middle East. They organically gravitated toward our product in that region, and as a result, we are focusing on expanding our JetDeal and JetShuttle services,” said Petrossov.

Can JetSmarter Disrupt the Online Travel Industry?

Online Travel will be a main topic at ArabNet Riyadh 2015 in a panel featuring 7 leaders in the field, including Alex Morriss, Director of Affiliate Partnerships - EMAF Expedia; Amer AlHalabi, General Manager MENA – Hotelscombined; and Mamoun Hmedan, Managing Director MENA & India - Wego. The speakers will discuss the latest trends and best practices in the online travel industry in the region and the world.

According to the travel, tourism, and hospitality research group Phocuswright, the Middle East’s travel industry is forecast to rise to $98 billion by 2017 (up from $71.8 billion in 2014), and online penetration is expected to reach 32% by 2017.

A new report published by Euromonitor International, shows that online travel sales in Saudi Arabia grew by 40% in 2014, to reach SAR6.5 billion ($1.7 billion) in 2015. This figure is set to double to SAR13 billion ($3.5 billion) by 2019.

After online booking, private jet booking via mobile was the next logical evolution. “It’s about time that the landscape of commercial airliners was disrupted with a quality service that solves the arduous and generally unpleasant experience that is commercial travel,” said Petrossov.

He said the JetSmarter app filled a gap in the travel industry and largely contributed to democratizing private jet bookings by decreasing the entry price for consumers, simplifying bookings, and helping air carriers gain more exposure within the market. The app opportunity in the travel sector is high in the MENA where most online bookings are made via airlines’ websites.

As the only service of its kind, JetSmarter is a true innovator in private aviation “Since our  launch, we’ve established significant and strategic alliances worldwide, enabling thousands of private jet charter transactions and also extending the accessibility and convenience of flying private to more than just the 1%,” said Petrossov.

With hundreds of thousands of users, the service’s success has helped attract top tier international investors, which led to the recent Series B round. The company had first raised $1 million in a seed round in 2012, followed by $5.2 million in a Series A round from the Saudi Royal Family and American hip hop artist, producer, and entrepreneur Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter.

One of the key investors, His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, said: “We are thrilled to be an investor and are committed to JetSmarter’s growth. At the forefront of this new era in travel, we believe that JetSmarter’s proprietary services and offerings have, and will continue to revolutionize the industry.”

The company expects to grow its supply of JetDeals, increase the number of its scheduled seat service JetShuttle, distribute new technologies to air carriers to better streamline the booking process, launch new private jet sharing services, open customer support offices in Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Asia, as well as expand its private jet services around the globe.