US-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) business aviation platform Portside has raised a $50 million Series B investment led by global software investor Insight Partners, with participation from existing investors, including I2BF Global Ventures. This new round of funding is a testament to Portside's significant growth in 2022 and the increased adoption of its software solutions by the business aviation community. The company intends to use the new funding to accelerate software development and further expand its customer base and product portfolio.

Portside's cloud-based product suite brings modern technology to the global business aviation industry and supports a diverse range of flight operations in over 30 countries, including charter, fractional, corporate, medical, industrial, government, military and cargo aircraft and helicopter operators. Its product portfolio supports a growing list of functions in a typical flight department's operation, including flight and crew scheduling, dispatch and compliance; communication with aircraft owners, passengers and crew; highly customisable sharing of operational, financial, crew and maintenance data with various stakeholders; reporting and analytics; customer billing; crew recruiting and the booking of crew accommodations.

In 2022, Portside acquired two flight management systems, Professional Flight Management (PFM) and SeaGil Software Company's BART, which provide scheduling and dispatch software primarily for corporate flight departments. This latest investment enables Portside to enhance and modernise PFM and BART software offerings to better serve customers.

"Increasingly, operators in business aviation are looking for mobile-first and cloud-based solutions. Portside provides industry leading solutions that enable operators to grow their businesses while improving the quality of service they can offer. Our focus on the customer and delivering secure, intuitive and effective solutions makes Portside the best solution for all private, corporate and government flight departments," says co-founder and CEO Alek Vernitsky.

"Portside's modern product suite allows aviation operators to enhance their operations to maximise revenue and profits. As operators look to scale, they will adopt Portside's technology to achieve their goals cost effectively," adds Insight Partners managing director Henry Frankievich. "We look forward to supporting the team on their continued path to modernise business aviation with industry leading technology and growth."

Portside will invest the new funds in several key areas. First, the company's product team will continue to develop and enhance its product portfolio to better serve customer needs. The company also intends to expand its global sales organisation and strengthen its customer success operations. Lastly, the company will be exploring new acquisition opportunities in the business aviation ecosystem.

"Our customers often come to us with challenges they need help solving. We are here to find a solution, whether by deploying an existing product in our portfolio, building something new or acquiring capabilities that we do not currently possess. Despite our tremendous growth over the past few years, we are as excited today to be solving customer problems as we were on day one," says Portside co-founder and COO Alek Strygin.