Crunchbase ranks PrivateFly #2 on its list of “50 Successful Companies with Minimal Funding” behind YouTube

The company was founded by former RAF and private jet pilot Adam Twidell and his wife Carol Cork, a former executive with Conde Nast

With total funding of just £2 million and revenues today of over $30 million, PrivateFly snagged the number two spot on Crunchbase’s list of “50 Successful Companies with Minimal Funding.” PrivateFly sells jet cards and on-demand charter and has been expanding its U.S. presence with its takeover last year of Bird Dog Jet. 

In creating the list Crunchbase said, “When you skim the headlines it seems like all successful companies see big money. I bet you barely raise an eyebrow at the fact that Didi Chuxing has secured $20.1 billion. Or how Lyft has raised $4.3 billion for their ride-sharing app. Hell, even Wag, the dog-walking app, has secured $361.5 million.”

The database of information that covers both public and private companies said, “With numbers like these, it seems like every startup needs big funding to see big revenue. However, we’ve found that’s not always the case. We used Crunchbase Pro to debunk this myth and dug up 50 of the most successful companies that have built themselves on minimal funding.”

In the top spot was YouTube which used $11.5 million and today has revenues of $7.5 billion. Google bought it in 2006 for $1.7 billion. After PrivateFly in the second spot, crowdSPRING placed third, TripAdvisor fourth and MeUndies which grew $10 million to $60 million in fifth place.