The Allplane Podcast #82 - venture capital in aviation, with Stephen Snyder, JetBlue Ventures
JetBlue Ventures is one of the earliest and most prolific early stage investors in the aviation and travel technology space.
It is now common for many large airlines to have their own in-house venture arm, but when it launched, back in 2016, JetBlue Ventures was one of the pioneers in this space, together with Hangar51 (of the IAG Group) and Cockpit Innovation (of El Al). Fast forward to today and JetBlue Ventures is invested in more than 40 companies, ranging from advanced air mobility to hospitality software. JetBlue Ventures focuses on projects aiming to make the travel journey more seamless and convenient, as well as in technologies that drive efficiency and sustainability in the travel ecosystem, with 1,000 startup projects being reviewed every year.
How does an airline-affiliated venture capital firm conduct its business? How does it differ from the more generalist venture firms? Which are the hottest trends and companies that are currently focusing the attention of investors in travel and mobility.
There’s no one better to answer these questions than Stephen Snyder, managing director of JetBlue Ventures.
With Stephen we talk about the place of JetBlue Ventures in the Silicon Valley venture capital ecosystem and about some of the latest ventures and projects that his team has invested in and what caught their interest. Stephen also shares his experience as an entrepreneur, with a project in the airport retail space, and how this helped him better understand the challenges startups face when operating in the hyper-competitive travel sector.
As it couldn’t be otherwise, sustainability is also a central topic in our conversation, since this is one of a top investment themes for JetBlue Ventures and one in which they have made several major bets.
If you are into aviation and travel innovation, venture capital or entrepreneurship tune in because in today’s episode Silicon Valley meets the aviation industry!
Download this episode from:
Apple Podcasts / iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Stitcher
Things we talk about in this episode:
Stephen’s professional background, previous projects and how he became managing director of JetBlue Ventures
What is JetBlue Ventures and what is special about it
What sort of companies does JetBlue Ventures invest in
Overview of some of the most eye-catching projects that JetBlue Ventures portfolio companies are working on. What time of problems are they solving
What are the differences between a specialist and a generalist VC
How does JetBlue Ventures fit into the aviation and travel innovation landscape
How does JetBlue Ventures relate to other airline-affiliated funds in this industry
Resources:
JetBlue (the airline)
Some of JetBlue Ventures portfolio companies that we mention:
The Air Company (& its vodka)
Universal Hydrogen (and the podcast I did with one of its co-founders)
Tomorrow.io (its founder, Shimon Elkabetz, was recently on Guy Raz’s podcast)
Bonny Simy, Stephen’s predecessor at the top of JetBlue Ventures. She is now at Joby Aviation (I interviewed her for this CNN piece about flying cars)
The Lufthansa Innovation Hub report about the airlines most active as venture investors
Other players in the aviation venture capital space that we mention:
Hangar51 (IAG Group)
Cockpit Innovation (El Al)
Virgin Atlantic’s Clubhouse Lounge haircut service review
Some of the other Silicon Valley venture firms Stephen mentions:
Podcast Music: Five Armies by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3762-five-armies
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Interview Transcript:
(please note that, although we strive to make it as close as possible to the original recording, the transcript may not be 100% accurate)