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!