PrivateFly looking for £6 million to continue growing
A Saudi Arabian VIP client used PrivateFly's iPhone app to charter a BBJ flight for $500,000.
PrivateFly, the online private jet marketplace, is looking to raise £6 million ($9 million) to allow it to grow faster. The cash will be used to invest in technology, marketing and its US business.
Married founders Adam Twidell and Carol Cork funded the launch of the company in 2008 by selling their home. In 2011 the raised £2 million from angel investors. PrivateFly says its business has grown by more than 80% each year and will have a turnover of around £11 million at the end of its financial year in May 2015.
“Last time we raised money it was from angel investors and that was perfect for us,” says Twidell. “Now we are more focused on institutions. Last time we spoke with some, but it was a bit early.”
He says that several of the institutions he spoke with became customers.
“It is a bit like going on a date. At first you are excited but then in the cold light of a day you realise that this is not dating but a marriage that you are considering.”
PrivateFly says that more than 1.4 million unique users visited the site in 2014 and it now has 25,000 qualified members.
Twidell says that several brokers offered to buy PrivateFly during 2014 and they did consider their offers carefully. “It is a bit like going on a date,” he says. “At first you are excited but then in the cold light of a day you realise that this is not dating but a marriage that you are considering. The biggest issues is that our entire business model is that we are a technology company. The traditional brokers we spoke to did not really get that.”
