Odyssey Airlines, the new UK-based business-only carrier, is launching a £5 million equity capital raise on the innovative online crowdfunding platform Crowdcube to support its next phase of development. Odyssey’s Crowdcube investor pitch and funding page has gone live this morning (Wednesday 30th April) and can be found on the Crowdcube website (www.crowdcube.com).
Adam Scott, CEO of Odyssey Airlines, says: “We are excited to be announcing this fundraise on Crowdcube. By using an online crowd funding platform we are offering an investment that is accessible to a large and diverse number of potential investors.”
The raise is scheduled to be completed by July and comes ahead of a significant institutional raise scheduled for the first half of 2015 – some 12 months ahead of Odyssey commencing operations from London City Airport.
Odyssey plans to launch the first and only non-stop transatlantic services from London City in mid-2016. It aims to deliver stress-free, business class travel, from the heart of London to destinations in North America, the Middle East, and elsewhere in Europe, for the time conscious traveller.
Odyssey is among the first buyers of the Bombardier C-Series. Odyssey’s C-Series aircraft will have 40 fully lie-flat seats and provide business class customers with a unique service to destinations within an eight-hour flying time of London.
The company is led by the former Goldman Sachs banker, Adam Scott, who has assembled an experienced management team that includes past executives and founders of other airlines.
Odyssey already has a successful track record raising funds via peer to peer lenders, having engaged Freedman & Partners to raise £2.185 million via the ThinCats platform in 2013 in what was already believed to be a world record for a non-property related peer to peer loan.
Among Odyssey’s existing investor base, veteran venture capitalist Jon Moulton says: "As a professional investor I come across thousands of businesses, but Odyssey and its team is special enough for me. I've put my money where my mouth is and to see businesses like this raise finance through Crowd Funding is a real sign of the change ahead.