Even though we shortened our name from JetBlue Technology Ventures to JetBlue Ventures in 2022, our focus on improving the travel, hospitality, and transportation industries stayed the same. We expanded our team, investments, programming, tech scouting, and partnerships, and we supported our portfolio companies so that they’re well-positioned to continue succeeding next year. Onward!
Team updates
Steve Taub joined our team in February as our Managing Director of Investments. Steve is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, negotiating, structuring, and closing venture investments for JetBlue Ventures, as well as leading and mentoring the investment team. Steve most recently served as an Investment Partner at In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit venture fund that supports the U.S. government’s intelligence and national security agencies.
Jennifer Crusca transitioned from JetBlue to JetBlue Ventures in June to be the Operating Principal, advancing innovative thinking and startup solutions in partnership with JetBlue and JetBlue Travel Products. Jennifer has more than 21 years of experience in the airline industry, beginning her career at Continental Airlines before coming to JetBlue in 2005.
Anna Shimoda started as our new Communications and Marketing Specialist in August, and she supports JetBlue Ventures’ internal and external communications through social media, newsletters, blog posts, and more.
In October, Jess Lozano-Schmitt came on board as an analyst on our Operations & Partnerships team to help integrate travel tech startups with JetBlue.
We welcomed Billy Thomas as our Investment Associate this summer and he is currently finishing his MBA at The Wharton School. Mitch Cochell joined us for a six-week fellowship program this October as part of Shift’s Defense Ventures Fellows Program, which helps military service members build relationships within venture capital.
Our existing team made moves too! Amy Wang was promoted to Senior Analyst, Operations & Partnerships, and she shared her expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. And Ruchit Majmudar moved to the Investments team from Operations & Partnerships, where he is now the Senior Analyst of Investments, bringing a deep knowledge of the startup landscape with him.
Investments
We vetted more than 1,500 startups. Our initial investment count has hit 46, and we’ve made 26 follow-on investments.
ICYMI here are the investments we made right before this year started:
NLX
NLX enables organizations to build and manage next-generation conversational experiences — personalized conversations that are automated, integrated, measurable, highly scalable, and available anytime and anywhere.
AIR COMPANY
Initially known for creating the world’s first vodka made directly from carbon dioxide, AIR COMPANY uses air, water, and electricity to produce carbon-negative ethanol, methanol, and jet fuel.
Frontdesk
Frontdesk is a short-term rental company that offers accommodations designed to meet the current needs of living, working, and traveling.
UrbanFox
UrbanFox works to reduce online synthetic payment fraud by utilizing generative artificial intelligence rather than rule sets.
As for our investments in 2022…
Electric Power Systems (EPS)
EPS is the leading provider of certifiable, scalable battery module systems for aerospace applications.
TPG Rise Climate
We also announced our participation as a limited partner in TPG Rise Climate, a fund targeting investments in the climate tech, agriculture, and cleantech sectors.
Visionary Training Resources (VTR)
VTR is a virtual reality software design company that works to improve pilot training.
Rubicon Carbon
Rubicon Carbon is a market-based products and solutions platform to help lead the next generation of the carbon market.
We closed an additional 5 new investments at the end of 2022 that will be announced in the coming year — stay tuned for more news!
JetBlue Ventures also made six follow-on investments:
Volantio revolutionizes fixed-capacity industries through innovative tools to drive revenue, operational efficiency, and digital shopping conversion.
Tomorrow.io aims to help the aviation industry make better business decisions by more accurately predicting the weather and tracking long-term climate change.
Beacon.AI aims to reduce human error in aviation and improve operational efficiency using artificial intelligence.
Miles is a loyalty and rewards app for all forms of travel and transportation.
NLX enables organizations to build and manage next-generation conversational experiences — personalized conversations that are automated, integrated, measurable, highly scalable, and available anytime and anywhere.
Programming
Our team took the opportunity to speak at 32 events throughout the year, and we hosted a summit for our portfolio company founders in May.
We also hosted our inaugural Sustainability in Travel Tech Summit in September, which was a day of keynotes, presentations, and networking with VCs, startups, and travel industry experts defining what it means to invest in a more sustainable future for all. Speakers included senior leaders from many great companies including JetBlue, Salesforce, Uber, and Expedia, as well as portfolio companies i6, AIR COMPANY, Tomorrow.io, and Universal Hydrogen.
Innovation sprints
We hosted an innovation sprint that culminated in April that focused on customer self-service including improved app experiences, kiosks, touchless tech, and bag solutions. Ultimately, we sourced 130 startups and had five startups pitching on demo day.
Later in the year, we hosted an innovation sprint focused on strengthening company culture, which resulted in 180 startups being sourced and six presenting for demo day.
Partnerships
We continued our partnership with JetBlue and JetBlue’s subsidiary JetBlue Travel Products (JTP) through conducting seven new proof of concepts across the organization.
Portfolio updates
To round out the year, our portfolio had many notable achievements in 2022:
In January, two of our portfolio companies — FLYR and 3Victors — announced a partnership to enhance data capabilities. FLYR also announced a partnership with JetBlue in June to improve revenue performance.
In March OTA Insight acquired our portfolio company Transparent, a startup that helps hotels track competitors’ rates.
Our international partner CAE announced a partnership with portfolio company Joby Aviation in March to develop and qualify flight simulation training devices. This partnership will pave the way for a new standard of eVTOL flight training as urban air mobility comes to market.
Portfolio company Volantio announced a new partnership with The Walt Disney Company (its first non-airline customer).
Bizly announced a partnership with Webex to improve the organization of hybrid meetings in May.
Portfolio company Tomorrow.io was selected to provide JetBlue’s end-to-end weather forecasting technology across all global operations.
JetBlue announced that it will buy 25 million gallons of Air Company’s sustainable aviation fuel between 2027 and 2032.
Our portfolio company Betterez was acquired in November by Busbud, an online marketplace for bus and other ground transport tickets.
We’re eager to keep the momentum going in 2023, and we hope you’ll stay in touch on Twitter, LinkedIn, and through our bi-monthly newsletter.
