JetSetGo, a first-of-its-kind marketplace in India for booking private jets, has raised close to $2 Million in a fresh funding round led by Puneet Dalmia, Managing Director of Dalmia Bharat Ltd., in his personal capacity.
With this newly raised funding, the company is now looking forward to expand its ground presence in key airports of India. It is also planning to launch private jet shuttles and air ambulance service. It is also planning to come up with a platform for helicopter booking.
A business is distinguished by customer experience, responsiveness and consistency in services. These qualities create a strategic advantage. JetSetGo delivers on this promise. Considering the intrinsic value of the company and the potential of this sector, I have reposed my faith in them.
said Puneet Dalmia, who invested in this round.
The pricing of the upcoming private jet shuttle service will be on-par with the pricing of the business class fare. The company has taken over operations of four private jet operators. It will now take full control of those jet and will share profits and pay rent for the aircraft.
JetSetGo was founded in 2014 by Kanika Tekriwal and Sudheer Perla. The Delhi-based start-up caters to India’s private jets and helicopter sector by offering operators and consumers a variety of services, including crew, maintenance, costing, availability of aircrafts, as well as access to services and spares.
Since its launch, the company claims to have facilitated 75 trips with the average cost of travel being Rs. 25,000 to Rs.1 crore. It has five jet planes and two helicopters ferrying mostly top executives of large corporations and celebrities. The company claims to have got on board almost 80% of India’s private jet fleet.
Commenting about the aviation industry, Sudheer Perla, co-founder of the company, said,
In aggregate, the private aviation industry in India is losing value. We are trying to change that. People generally misunderstand private air travel to be discretionary or only an indulgent form of travel. If one were to take a cross-section of Indian corporates and compare those that have consistently over performed over the years or contributed in higher proportion to economic growth, especially in Tier 2 or 3 (smaller cities) locations, one would see almost all relying on private aviation.
Earlier, around five months ago, the company had raised an undisclosed amount of funding in its seed round from YouWeCan Ventures, a VC firm co-founded by Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh.
After raising seed funding, JetSetGo partnered with Droom, an online automobile marketplace to give its users a chance to buy or sell aerial vehicles such as private planes and choppers from its online portal.
According to a report by AT Kearney, India’s regional aircraft fleet is estimated to grow from 55 in 2011 to 261 by 2025 at a compounded annual growth rate of 12-13%. The domestic non-scheduled aviation market is touted at $350 million with 1.4 million passengers flown in FY 2014.
