Surf Air Gets a $200 Million Lift, Plans to Go Public

Leslie Ignacio

Leslie Ignacio is dot.LA's editorial intern. She is a recent California State University, Northridge graduate and previously worked for El Nuevo Sol, Telemundo and NBC and was named a Chips Quinn Scholar in 2019. As a bilingual journalist, she focuses on covering diversity in news. She's a Los Angeles native who enjoys trips to Disneyland in her free time.

Surf Air Gets a $200 Million Lift, Plans to Go Public

Subscription commuter airline Surf Air has always been favored by wealthy tech executives; now it wants to bring its service to the masses and it's secured a $200 million investment to do it, with an eye toward going public.

The Santa Monica-based company is backed by Global Emerging Markets Group, which has committed to providing the company $50 million once it's listed.


The remaining funds will be distributed over the next three years. CEO Sudhin Shahani shared with dot.LA that they plan to go public through either a direct listing, IPO or SPAC merger but have not yet finalized their decision.

Surf Air CEO, Sudhin Shahani

The company wants to use the money to create a zero-emission fleet, bring down the cost of service — now starting around $2,000 — and increase ridership. They are appealing to people that are taking short jaunts under 400 miles.

"As we go through the process of electrification, which significantly makes the cost cheaper and has been moved to shorter routes, we also aim to replace driving," said Shahani.

Earlier this year Surf Air acquired flight-booking platform BlackBird as it beefed up its appeal to wealthy leisure travelers. It also added Airbnb's former global head of transportation Fred Reid as its new chief strategy officer, a nod to its international ambitions.

The investment comes as commercial airlines have been pummeled by the pandemic. Last month, the company began offering charter flights for weekend getaways — a departure from their regular subscription model. And it's teamed up with AutoCamp to offer "glamping" packages as business passengers have declined.

Surf Air currently offers subscriptions for a flat monthly fee, ranging from $2,000 a month per member to $5,000 a month for companies with multiple users.

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LA-Based Apex Is Tapping Into the Small Satellite Market by Making Buses for Spacecraft

Spencer Rascoff

Spencer Rascoff serves as executive chairman of dot.LA. He is an entrepreneur and company leader who co-founded Zillow, Hotwire, dot.LA, Pacaso and Supernova, and who served as Zillow's CEO for a decade. During Spencer's time as CEO, Zillow won dozens of "best places to work" awards as it grew to over 4,500 employees, $3 billion in revenue, and $10 billion in market capitalization. Prior to Zillow, Spencer co-founded and was VP Corporate Development of Hotwire, which was sold to Expedia for $685 million in 2003. Through his startup studio and venture capital firm, 75 & Sunny, Spencer is an active angel investor in over 100 companies and is incubating several more.

​Ian Cinnamon
Ian Cinnamon

On this episode of Office Hours, Apex founder and CEO Ian Cinnamon discusses the importance of investing in space exploration and shares his thoughts on the evolving space ecosystem in Los Angeles.


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This Week in ‘Raises’: Measurabl Snags $93M, Selva Ventures Grabs $34M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local data management platform company lands fresh funding to help commercial real estate owners reduce carbon footprint, while one Los Angeles-based venture firm closes its second fund to accelerate the growth of emerging companies across health, wellness, beauty and personal care.

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McKinsey & Company Launches InLA Accelerator To Help Underrepresented Founders Tackle Startup Challenges

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

McKinsey & Company Launches InLA Accelerator To Help Underrepresented Founders Tackle Startup Challenges
InLA

In 2022, female founders saw a 28% decline in overall U.S. funding, while Black-led startups saw a 38% decline in total capital received. In an effort to increase funding for minority-led startups, global venture firm McKinsey & Company is launching InLA, an accelerator program for underrepresented founders.

“This effort is something that the firm has been really excited about for a long time,” Engagement Manager Elkhyn Rivas Rodriguez said. “There's obviously a meaningful and growing startup community out here and just from a diversity standpoint, LA is incredibly diverse and multi-ethnic and multicultural. So we think that there will be a really great pool of potential companies to partner with.”

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