On-demand private jet charter service provider Victor has acquired YoungJets, the Santa Barbara-based private jet charter services provider. YoungJets founder and CEO David Young will serve as Victor’s senior vice president of the US market, leading the YoungJets team through the company integration and market expansion.
Young said, “When I saw what Clive Jackson and his team were striving to do with on-demand private jet charter, seriously rethinking the interchange of supply and demand to the customer’s benefit, I knew that this was the future. No one is more time-strapped and on-the-go than the touring professional, corporate road show or political campaign coordinator handling a complex jet tour. As a lifelong entrepreneur, I’ve been passionately committed to innovation in customer service, and joining forces with Victor enables us to deliver smart tech and time-saving innovation to the people who need it the most.”
Veteran aviation executive Levent Edepli, formerly of Sentient Jet, Jet Edge and more recently Jet Linx, has also joined Victor to oversee logistics and operations for North America. Edepli, as Victor’s vice president of operations and customer service for North America, will focus on developing and managing supplier relationships and operational excellence.
In addition, Victor has secured US$5m in funding from investor customers, which follows a previously announced US$8m, making a total of US$13m invested in private equity from its own clientele during the last 90 days. The funds will be used for customer acquisition and scaling of the technology to meet growing demand. The company will be pursuing institutional funding later this year.
“Victor is focused on expanding its global business in a manner that maximizes operations efficiency and customer service expertise at market entry; and the addition of our funding, the YoungJets team and Levent does just that,” said Victor CEO Clive Jackson. “David Young has an incredible reputation in the entertainment industry and brings a specialized team that expertly handles complex travel for high-profile jet charter clients. Bringing both David and Levent into the executive ranks further rounds out our management team with world-class talent in the aviation market.”
