New board member Tom Ridge with JetSmarter CEO Sergey Petrossov

JetSmarter expanding across Europe

Following its partnership with GlobeAir last year, mobile marketplace JetSmarter has formed a similar five-year alliance with German operator Air Hamburg. In a deal valued at $215 million, JetSmarter gains access to 25,000 hours of inventory, including 4,000 empty leg hours, from 20 aircraft ranging from turboprops to heavy jets, that will boost its offerings in key destinations across Europe and Russia.

The company has also partnered with Californian operator Jet Edge International in a deal valued at up to $350 m over the next seven years. Jet Edge will now offer JetSmarter members up to 35,000 hours of domestic and intercontinental empty-leg flight options and global shuttle service on large cabin types such as the Gulfstream G200, GIV(SP), GV, G550, G650 and Global 6000.

JetSmarter has raised an additional $26.1m funding from its recent existing Series B investors and other prominent business executives. Since its launch, the app has grown 15-20% each month, and to date has had over 300,000 downloads.

Meanwhile, Gennady Barsky has been promoted to president and Joseph A Epstein has joined JetSmarter as CFO. Barsky will focus on continuing to grow the company's worldwide business and oversee global investor relations and business development. Epstein will oversee worldwide multi-currency corporate finance including treasury, cash management, financial planning and investor relations. In addition, the first US Secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Ridge, has been appointed to the board of directors. His involvement should further reinforce the company's global safety and security infrastructure.