EvoLux Transportation, LLC, a vertical-lift focused, tech-travel technology company that has built the world’s first global helicopter charter marketplace and reservation application, has selected Jacksonville Beach-based Hashrocket to redesign and enhance the functionality of its novel web application.

“I’m especially excited to be working with a Ruby on Rails shop from my hometown on this project,” said EvoLux founder Raymond Leavitt IV, who grew up in the Jacksonville area. “Hashrocket has the experience and is adept at working with web-based applications in the early stages of development. Their team will enhance our EvoLux application as we prepare to take it to market.”

The EvoLux platform is a dynamic helicopter charter marketplace and distribution system that enables customers to see what available aircraft and helicopter-friendly destinations are around them, shop custom flight rates and book private ‘Skylimo’ helicopter reservations, or create a ‘SkyShare’ to fulfill a shared flight booking.

‘SkyShare’ is a social, seat-price-goal oriented reservation where travelers use email or their social networks to crowd-source a shared, non-scheduled flight. When the price-seat-goal is met, it’s then sent as one customer group to the chosen helicopter operator for review and confirmation.

Leavitt began testing the EvoLux prototype in South Florida in August 2011 and generated early revenues that validated the concept. Leavitt moved his company from Boca Raton, Fla. to work alongside Sikorsky Innovations at the Stamford Innovation Center in Stamford, Conn. Leavitt is continuing to raise capital to bring the system to market in the New York and Chicago metropolitan areas, along with regions of Florida, California and Texas.

Hashrocket has been hired to develop new features for the EvoLux Web-app, including the redesign of the entire consumer-facing software and create more functionality to the dashboard application used by helicopter operators on the system.

“We’re very pleased to have the opportunity to work with EvoLux on such an innovative new product in its early stages of development,” said Hashrocket CEO Marian Phelan.

Jacksonville Beach-based Hashrocket develops technology solutions and products for the Web, iOS and Android. Founded in 2008, the company is best known for working in Ruby on Rails, an open-source framework that allows developers to build sophisticated and powerful web applications. For information, visit www.hashrocket.com or call 904-339-7047.