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Business aviation operators are challenged by staff and aircraft shortages as they try to scale and meet the growing demand for air travel after the pandemic. With industry-wide labor shortages, operators need to figure out how to attract pilots and other crew members — either to fill full-time vacancies or to add hot spots to meet urgent schedule needs.
Driven to build a technology-forward solution, Alec Vernitsky and Alec Strigin co-founded PortSide, which allows aircraft operators to share schedules, financial and maintenance information and other key aircraft information with owners, banks and insurance companies through a web-based portal. . Portside today announced that it has participated in Series B funding led by Insight Partners, along with existing investors I2BF Global Ventures, bringing the company’s total revenue to more than $70 million.
Portside is Vernitsky and Sturgeon’s second venture after selling travel agency start-up GetGong to business travel management firm BCD Travel in 2016. Vernitsky was previously Head of Product at thredUp and for years was SVP at BCD Travel (as Srygin). Going to find out.
“Portside offers an integrated platform and strives to be a one-stop shop for flight components,” Vernitsky told TechCrunch in an email. The Portside product suite gives them the ability to streamline workflow while making the most of their aviation assets.
Image Credits: through the port
To this end, PortSide offers standardized tools for automatically assigning crew and aircraft to a given schedule and how commercial aviation trips are delayed. Portside’s crew marketplace provides employers with access to pilot and crew databases while a standalone service app helps manage crew accommodations. Additionally, Portside maintains an operations management portal that helps schedule and dispatch government, corporate and charter flights using existing aviation systems.
“Business jets are more capable than ever of flying more people over long distances, which means that many more trips are now international, and more complex in terms of logistics and control,” Vernitsky continued. “Having an integrated system that combines operational, financial and maintenance data is now critical to a successful journey.”
Business has been great — even during the pandemic, Vernitsky said. It helps that business aviation as a market is expanding at a rapid clip. A Honeywell survey released last October forecasts up to 8,500 new business jets worth $274 billion from 2023 to 2032, a 15 percent increase in both sales and spending over the 10-year forecast a year ago. Another poll – this one from Airbus – found that 89% of businesses with annual revenues over $500 million plan to increase their use of commercial aviation by 2023.
Why strong growth? The choice of Airbus offers some insights. Eighty-one percent of respondents said they have become more dependent on commercial aviation during the pandemic, with 63% citing expected disruptions to the commercial aviation sector, such as flight delays and cancellations.
Whatever the reason, Portside certainly benefited. The company says today it supports nearly 1,000 private, commercial and government aircraft in more than 30 countries. There are more than 10,000 aircraft on the Portside platform, Vernitsky said, and more than 50,000 users.
“Business aviation has grown significantly during the pandemic, and Portside has grown at a rate of 3x per year over the past few years. Business aviation continues to grow, and we intend to continue developing new products for the industry,” said Vernitsky.
Wernitsky said the capital from the previous funding round will be used for software development and to “further expand” Portside’s customer base and product portfolio. The startup currently employs 110 people and expects to grow to 150 by the end of the year.
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