With the travel industry witnessing a concerning downfall in innovative strides, active engagement with startups has never been more crucial for airlines to fuel groundbreaking transformations.
When we speak of engagement, we’re not talking about the startup meetups and non-sense pitch competitions that people brag about on LinkedIn.
Rather, we are referring to actual startup investments that can open up a range of growth bets that could transform the way airlines transport passengers from A to B and service them along the door-to-door traveler journey, in turn bettering customer experiences and offering up new revenue opportunities.
Therefore, we have been tracking startup investments by airlines rigorously since 2017.
Find below the latest update on the most active airline investors (based on the size of their startup portfolio) and read our Q4/2023 airline investment analysis to better understand where the leading startup-oriented airlines have been placing their innovation bets.
| # | Airline | Portfolio (#) | Startups | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | JetBlue | 43 | Aether Fuels, Pulsora, PixieBrix, Avnos, Shift5, Assaia, Kresus, UrbanFox, Frontdesk, Electric Power Systems, Air Company, Lacuna, Transparent, Universal Hydrogen, 3victors, i6 Group, Travelstride, SAM Email, Bizly, Node, Volantio, Lumo, Joby Aviation, Redeam, Tomorrow.io, FLYR Labs, Filament, Betterez, Claire, Mozio, Zunum Aero, CoinFlip, Recharge Labs, JSX, Gladly, Skyhour, Unicobag, Slice Labs, Shape Security, Miles, Beacon AI, NLX, TurnKey |
| 2 |  | KLM* | 36 | C1 Wedge Connection, Volytica Diagnostics, MuTech, Maxem Energy Solutions, E-magy, FononTech, OneThird, Solho, ByBorre, OTIV, OMRT, ChainCraft, Jungle AI, Zero Friction, Canopus Drilling Solutions, Magneto Systems, Whiffle, RazorSecure, Grasp Innovations, Aiir Innovations, Robin, Ampyx Power, C Teleport, Synple, Undagrid, We4Sea, Mobian, ViriCiti, Plotwise, SupplyStack, Multi Pilot Simulations, Versa, MI Airline, Eye On Air, Snocom, Protix |
| 3 |  | United Airlines | 22 | Electric Hydrogen, Dimensional Energy, NEXT Renewable Fuels, Natron Energy, Viridos, Svante, OXCCU, Electric Power Systems, Eve, Cemvita Factory, Alder Fuels, Heart Aerospace, Journera, GetThere (GTHR), Fulcrum Bioenergy, CommutAir, BCKSTGR, Clear Secure, 1PointFive, Archer Aviation, Avolar, ZeroAvia |
| 4 |  | Qantas Airways | 17 | Airboard Group, Suite24, Fan+, Mad Paws, Volantio, Meeco, Leezair, Data Republic, Landmarks ID, Travelshoot, Pawshake, easyshare, LoanDolphin, Aeroster, Coverhero, Birch, Boozebud |
| 5 |  | IAG | 14 | Fantix, Nova Pangaea Technologies, 1000Farmacie, i6 Group, LanzaJet, ZeroAvia, Assaia, deepair/Cirravia, Volantio, Zamna, Esplorio, Importwise, Monese, Freightos |
| 6 |  | Japan Airlines | 13 | Fox Robotics, Ame Kaze Taiyo, Regent, Power X, Full Harvest, Spare, Miles, Beam, Volocopter, Boom Supersonic, Fulcrum BioEnergy, Akan Adventure Tourism, Ispace |
| 7 |  | El Al Airlines | 12 | IntellAct, ePlane, Aleph Farms, shopnfly, FarePlace, Claire, NSLComm, Routier, AeroCRS, Quicklizard, Splitty Travel, SAM Email |
| 8 |  | AirAsia | 11 | Entuple E-Mobility, Coop Marketing, Heynext, Amity, RedTix, RedBox Logistics, Ourshop, ROKKI, BigPay, BIG Loyalty, Big Data for Humans |
| 9 |  | All Nippon Airways | 10 | Astroscale, Avatar-in, FiNC, Huber, PD Aerospace, Star Flyer, LanzaTech, Air Black Box, Blue Planet-works, LanzaJet |
| 10 |  | Lufthansa Group | 10 | Spotnana, NAVIT, Squake, Cargobase, Navan, Verimi, Fleet Logistics, Cargo.one, Hopper, Vayant Travel Technologies |
* KLM investments include those through the Mainport Innovation Funds I & II; ; Mainport Innovation Fund merged with SHIFT Invest III in Jan 2022, hence, the list includes investments through SHIFT Invest III since Jan 2022.
Disclaimer: Our ranking is purely based on investments in startups and does not include joint ventures, private equity deals, or traditional M&A activity.
If you’re an investor or industry expert and are aware of an airline startup investment that we missed, please get in touch with us via newsletter@tnmt.com
This content is for informational purposes only and should not be used as investment advice.
