Friends,
We’re grateful for our community and proud of our industry for staying strong throughout this year. We’re also hopeful for a better 2021 (and that we’ll see you in person one day very soon!) Even in these exceptional times, our team stayed busy through it all. Here’s a look back at JetBlue Technology Ventures’ (JTV) 2020 — a year none of us will ever forget.
Our new investment themes
We updated our investment themes this year to reflect how we’re thinking about the future of travel. Moving forward, our team will be focusing on the following themes:
- Seamless Customer Journeys: As a travel provider, we strive for smooth travel experiences. We’re looking for solutions that brighten the journey and enable a seamless travel experience through every part of a customer’s trip.
- Reimagining the Accommodation Experience: Once travelers land in-destination, there’s an opportunity to continue enhancing their experience. We’re looking at evolutions in hospitality, including alternative accommodations, and the underlying products and services that power the industry.
- Next-Generation Aviation Operations and Enterprise Technology: The more efficient an airline’s operation, the better it can serve customers and stakeholders. In this investment focus, we’re looking for innovations that enhance safety, improve operations, and drive enterprise-wide efficiencies.
- Innovation in Loyalty, Distribution and Revenue: On the commercial side of the business, we’re prioritizing technologies that personalize and diversify commerce, simplify payments, and improve revenue opportunities.
- Sustainable Travel: Sustainability is essential for the long-term health of our business, our customers, and our communities. With that in mind, we’re focusing on advanced methods of measuring and reducing emissions, improved environmental protections, and game-changing alternative propulsion systems
With these new investment themes, we’re looking ahead to the next decade (and beyond) to identify innovations and invest in solutions that are fundamental to our industry’s future.
Team updates
We welcomed three new team members at the start of 2020:
- Sarah Mattina: As our communications and marketing liaison, Sarah is responsible for sharing the ideas and people behind not just JTV but our portfolio of exemplary companies. She was previously at Southwest Airlines. Welcome, Sarah!
- Ruchit Majmudar: Ruchit also comes to us from Southwest Airlines, where he worked in corporate strategy and innovation. As an Operations Analyst, he’ll partner with JetBlue teams and our JTV partners to connect them with relevant emerging technologies to drive innovation. Welcome, Ruchit!
- Daisy Garcia: Daisy is our newest Investment Analyst. She recently relocated back to California after working and studying in six countries, bringing a fresh global perspective to the team. Her primary focus is making new investments and conducting due diligence on early stage startups. Welcome, Daisy!
New investments
Prior to COVID-19, we made two investments:
- 3Victors provides next-generation travel analytics. Airlines track a lot of data, but can’t always deploy business intelligence solutions capable of mining such a deep trove. 3Victors solves that problem with its real-time 360° view of air travel, combined across multiple sources into a single actionable view. Read more about our investment from Principal Jim Lockheed in this great article.
- i6 is a data and software solution provider that optimizes the fuel supply chain into a single platform for the aviation and transportation sectors. The result is a mobile-first, paper-free experience that eliminates manual entry and streamlines fuel operations between vendors and airlines. Read more about i6’s Series A here, which we joined alongside International Airlines Group, Shell, and World Fuel Services.
Virtual programming
Given the pandemic, our focus this year shifted to researching the latest technologies to augment JetBlue’s “Safety from the Ground Up” program. This included ultraviolet cleaning, thermal scanning, health passport testing, and personalization. The most exciting and essential event was our contactless journey Innovation Sprint and Demo Day, where we came together with a challenge to address the urgent need for contactless experiences across the travel journey. The purpose was to examine each stage of the travel ribbon to determine how startups can be used for a safer experience.
These innovation sprints (which we do in non-pandemic times as well) give us early experience with new solutions. Ultimately, this positions us for the future and allows us to be as nimble as possible — especially when we have to quickly adapt to new market realities.
Ecosystem partnerships
Our partnerships are a large part of what we do at JTV, as it allows us to build a beneficial ecosystem in collaboration with like-minded providers that share our vision.
In November, we announced the third addition to our International Partnership Program: CAE Inc. CAE is a Canadian manufacturer of simulation technologies and training services primarily for airlines, aircraft operators, and aircraft manufacturers. Alongside Vantage Airport Group and Air New Zealand, CAE will work with the emerging technologies and startups in our portfolio to improve the experience, infrastructure, and processes across the travel experience.
Read more about the partnership from Amy Burr, our Managing Director of Operations and Partnerships.
Launch of our Platform
Platform services have become a critical component of VC firms. Beyond transactional investments, these initiatives further enhance the way we work with our portfolio companies to accelerate their growth. By formalizing our Platform, we can better support teams with introductions to vendors, consultants and service providers; connect them to relevant resources; and build community across the portfolio to share knowledge, facilitate partnerships and strengthen bonds. Read more about the initiative from Amy Burr.
Portfolio milestones
We’re proud of the resilience and fortitude of our portfolio companies, who have stayed the course in the face of fierce headwinds. Here are some notable milestones and achievements:
- Two of our portfolio companies were acquired this year. Congratulations to 30SecondsToFly and Node!
- Volantio partnered with Alaska Airlines, which saved the airline $20M in reduced spillage. Its SmartAlerts technology was also leveraged in Qantas’ dream planner tool.
- Bizly integrated its platform with Zoom, a global leader in meetings solutions.
- Several of our startups were recognized as leaders in their respective industries. Slice Labs was named to the InsurTech100, both Miles and Gladly were named Top Startups to Watch, and ClimaCell made Fast Company’s ten most innovative data science companies list.
- Joby Aviation released the first look at their eVTOL aircraft and acquired Uber Elevate.
- Redeam and Betterez both announced new partnerships as they expand their offerings.
- Travelstride rebranded from Stride Travel and launched its debut FlexiPass product.
In close, it’s been nothing short of a whirlwind year. We’re excited for the potential that 2021 has to bring and invite you to keep up to date with us on Twitter and LinkedIn or via the JTV newsletter.
Warmly,
Bonny
