iJET Travel Intelligence, the groundbreaking intelligence agency for the travel industry, has secured another $8.1 million in venture capital.
The new money will give the Annapolis-based company the cash needed to execute its innovative business model of providing real time travel intelligence and customized travel services to corporate travel managers, travel agents and international business and leisure travelers. iJET Chairman and CEO John Power said the closing of a second round of venture capital funding for the start-up firm is a significant vote of confidence from investors.
“In these market conditions only the best companies get funding. We are fortunate to be considered one of them,’’ Power said. “We have a unique service proposition and have been able to attract a high quality staff that brings experience in intelligence collection and technology that has never before been assembled in a private company. That balance was an important consideration to investors.”
This round was led by EuclidSR Partners, a leading New York- based venture capital firm focused on investments in healthcare, e-health, and information technology. Dr. Barbara Dalton, a EuclidSR partner and iJET director, said, “iJET’s progress in building a strong team and performance oriented culture has made this one of our more interesting investments. The early marketing successes with multi-national corporations and leading travel services companies makes us believe it has the potential to be one of our more rewarding as well.”
Other institutional investors included PA Early Stage who co-led the first round of financing last August, and Seneca Capital, a Pittsburgh-based investor in growth companies. The latest round comes after the company raised $9.0 million of equity last August and an additional $1.0 million in a bank facility in April.
“We are grateful to our investors, especially for the strong and continued support from EuclidSR and PA Early Stage,’’ said iJET Chief Financial Officer Marty Pfinsgraff. “EuclidSR’s leadership commitment was important to the success of this round which was completed in a very tough market environment. PA Early Stage’s continued support also sent the right signal to new investors. We’re extremely pleased to welcome Seneca Capital and new individual investors to the iJET family.’‘
Gayland Cook, Principal of Seneca Capital, said, “The quality of iJET’s clients and caliber of it`s management team were key factors in attracting us to consider an investment at this time.”
iJET went live with the launch of it`s WorldcuePro service in April. WorldcuePro is a “smart system” that caters to the needs of travel agents, reservation clerks, and corporate security professionals. Since launching, iJET has announced a number of high-profile corporate and travel clients, including Prudential Securities, Archer Daniels Midland, Worldspan, and Passport Health.
iJET`s suite of services includes WorldcuePro, WorldcueTraveler, and WorldcueBrief, each tailored to meet the specific real time intelligence needs of travelers and travel professionals. iJET`s state of the art technology and operations platform draws from more than 5,000 sources globally. The information is analyzed, verified and distilled into practical, personalized and easily accessible intelligence that helps travelers circumvent potential problems. Experienced intelligence analysts monitor the world 24/7, alerting the travel community to possible trouble in advance, when it matters most.
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