Private jet charter marketplace Victor has appointed consumer tech leader Joe Cohen as CEO. Cohen is tasked with accelerating Victor’s growth and realizing its ambition to scale globally by building on its innovation and customer experience.
Cohen replaces Victor founder Clive Jackson, who launched the business in 2011 and was appointed founder-CEO of investment vehicle Alyssum Group in January. Alyssum Group, whose subsidiary businesses include Victor and aviation flight-planning and services provider RocketRoute, is pursuing a long-term acquisitive strategy as it seeks to create a connected ecosystem for major stakeholders within private aviation.
Prior to joining Victor, Cohen co-founded Property.Works, a commercial property marketplace providing transparency and convenience for SME businesses seeking new work space. Before that, he was founder-CEO of online ticket marketplace Seatwave, which established a platform for buying and selling of tickets to sports, music and cultural events, prior to acquisition by Live Nation Entertainment-owned Ticketmaster in 2014.
Cohen was also global COO of Match.com, and was responsible for the operation and technology-driven expansion of several online dating businesses under the Match.com umbrella across 43 countries and 18 languages.
Commenting on his appointment, Cohen said, “A passion for delivering world-class customer experiences through technology has propelled Victor’s success to date and now, buoyed by recent investment, the company has the means to match its ambitions.
“I’m looking forward to elevating product development, and developing a dynamic, values-led culture within the team that, ultimately, allows us to serve the highly fragmented jet charter market with its most seamless and pivotal customer proposition ever.
“With the world’s wealth population increasing, a growing appetite among millennials for experiential travel and the ongoing shift from jet ownership to charter, there are exciting tailwinds for our category that Victor especially can leverage.
“By developing Victor’s digital marketplace and supporting our supply base’s transition to online, we, and the wider market, stand to deepen customer engagement, lower costs, and further establish private charter as a viable form of 21st century mobility.”
Cohen will lead an expanding global team of more than 115 Victor staff across offices in London, UK; New York and Santa Barbara, USA; and mainland Europe. While based at Victor’s HQ in London, the Ohio-born CEO will operate on both sides of the Atlantic with a particular focus on developing Victor’s presence in North America, where the business opened new Manhattan headquarters last year.
Ex-Victor CEO Clive Jackson added, “Joe is the ideal candidate to lead the next stage of Victor’s journey. He has over 20 years’ experience of creating compelling customer offerings in fragmented industries – of growing big tech brands that put customers first and, by making accessibility and acceptability part of their DNA, generate real customer love.
“Joe also brings great passion and energy to what he does. I’m really looking forward to working alongside another highly experienced founder-CEO within Alyssum Group.”
