SG air mobility startup lifts off with $300k in pre-seed money

Yugo Private Aviation, a Singapore-based air mobility startup, has raised US$300,000 in a pre-seed funding round from three family offices – Bellone Invest, Negocia Capital, and LCH Investment – as well as global angel investors.

Founded in February 2020, Yugo offers an on-demand proprietary digital booking system to facilitate private flights via jets and helicopters. Some international routes where the company provides its services are Kuala Lumpur to Dubai, Jakarta to Dubai, Manila to Melbourne, and Phnom Penh to Bangkok, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong. Its fleet includes aircraft from aviation firms such as Gulfstream, Cessna, Dassault, Airbus, and Bell.

Photo credit: Yugo

Following the fundraising, the startup will focus on further developing its mobile and online applications. The upcoming mobile application will also come with integrated e-payment solutions, and Yugo has partnered with fintech payment solution providers.

Its technical team, based across Asia (Kuala Lumpur, Phnom Penh, and Manila) and Europe (France), has already released a web platform, which was used during the testing phase of the service. 

According to Yugo CEO Jim Baldy, the company has successfully arranged flights from and to Hong Kong, Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines since its trial phase earlier this year. 

The company also plans to raise seed funding in the future to continue its digitization efforts and make the pre-and after-booking experience better for its customers. 

Yugo CEO Jim Baldy / Photo credit: Yugo

Highlighting investors’ increasing focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG), Baldy said Yugo is working on carbon-neutral solutions and exploring new initiatives such as partnerships with innovative electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles.

“We are building the infrastructure for the future of air mobility. The eVTOL, also called ‘flying taxis,’ will be coming in the next five years, and countries in Southeast Asia like the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, or Myanmar need to be prepared,” the CEO said in a statement.

The company said it has seen a 50% increase in demand for its services since March despite the pandemic.