Jet It flies away with $16M in new funding

GREENSBORO – North Carolina has long championed the moniker “first in flight,” and the aviation industry is really taking off in 2022.

In addition to an announcement from Boom Supersonic that they would invest $500 million to build a supersonic aviation manufacturing factory in Greensboro, there are now multiple emerging companies that offer flight service based in the state.

That includes Kinston-based flyExclusive which now plans to take the company public through a business combination announced earlier this month, and now, a startup based in Greensboro that has recently raised $16 million in new funding.

Take off: Private jet company flyExclusive to go public in $600M deal

Meet Jet It

That startup is fractional jet ownership company Jet It, which has raised $16 million in a mix of equity and debt funding from five investors, according to a recent securities filing.

The Greensboro-based startup, led by CEO and co-founder Glenn Gonzales and president and co-founder Vishal Hiremath, calls the company’s offering “made for the savvy traveler” on its website.

In the filing, which was signed on October 18 by Gonzales, notes that the company first closed funding in May 2022 and that the offering remains open with an indefinite amount of funding possible.

The filing also notes that the funding included a “Security to be Acquired Upon Exercise of Option, Warrant or Other Right to Acquire Security.”

Jet It has in service a fleet of HondaJets and Phenom 300s and offers fractional ownership shares described on its website as “1/10 to 1/2” with the ability for program members to schedule a flight with as little notice as 24 hours or as much notice as two years.

This is the latest aviation company making news in North Carolina. Earlier this year, a site selection expert noted that the Triad would now be considered to be in an “enviable position” with the ability to attract additional investment in the aviation and aerospace sector.

Site selection exec: Triad in ‘enviable position,’ could attract more aerospace investment

Jet It member benefits

The firm also provides 24/7 concierge service, which is described as “your personal assistant” and includes jet scheduling, curated food and beverages, and the coordination of on-the-ground transportation at no additional cost.

With a Phenom 300, members might enjoy traveling up to 2,010 nautical miles in distance, which could see members use flights from the Triangle or Triad to Austin, Texas, or perhaps New York to Palm Beach, or between Chicago and Park City, according to the aircraft specifications shared by Jet It.

And on a HondaJet, members can travel regionally, up to 1,437 nautical miles, which could provide routes between Charlotte and Chicago, Seattle to Los Angeles, or Toronto to Montreal, according to the specifications provided by Jet It.

(Editor’s Note: HondaJet has a Greensboro facility that was announced in 2007.)

And members who are also licensed pilots can also use their own aircraft, the only fractional ownership company that currently offers this service, the website notes.

Non-pilot members will enjoy the benefits of a dedicated flight crew, as well, according to the firm’s website. The company is currently hiring pilots, flight crews, and maintenance personnel. Gonzales and another employee of the company declined to comment on this story.

Elsewhere in North Carolina, flyExclusive expects to hire 200 additional workers as the company recently announced an expansion in Kinston and that it would add 14 aircraft to its fleet.