Three high-profile aviation entrepreneurs have teamed up to launch a new venture aimed at transforming the way the world’s wealthiest individuals buy and sell private jets.
The platform, called Aero Ventures Marketplace, has been described by its founders as “the aviation world’s equivalent of Zillow, Edmunds, Carfax and Carvana combined.”
It promises to harness technology and artificial intelligence to deliver real-time market data and faster transactions in a sector forecast to see $50bn in pre-owned jet sales over the next three years.
Rather than offering a simple “click-to-buy” model, the service is designed to give ultra-high-net-worth buyers and sellers dynamic data, interactive tools and detailed aircraft insights — cutting down a process that can take weeks into hours.
The initiative is led by Bill Papariella, who grew Jet Edge into one of the largest US charter operators, and Sergey Petrossov, the founder of JetSmarter, which once reached a $1bn valuation by marketing private jet travel to a wider audience.
They are joined by long-time collaborator Jonah Adler, who helped drive Jet Edge’s AdvantEdge ownership and charter programme.
Together, the trio say they want to bring greater transparency to a market where many aircraft are not publicly listed and where some listings are used by brokers to generate leads rather than offer real inventory.
Papariella, who has overseen more than 250 aircraft transactions worth $4bn, said: “This isn’t about buying jets with the click of a button. It’s about providing better data, faster, and more dynamically — enabling buyers and sellers to engage with real information in real time.”
Petrossov added that the new system would offer an experience akin to “fantasy football meets Xbox”, allowing potential buyers to model scenarios and compare options across the market.
The launch marks the latest attempt to combine Silicon Valley-style digital disruption with the opaque world of private aviation, an industry long dominated by brokers and personal connections.