JetBlue’s VC New Co-Investment Strategy Takes Off with Latest Funding
JetBlue Technology Ventures is changed its investment strategy to pursue more co-investments with other corporates, as well as to put more money in startups that focus on blockchain or artificial intelligence.
Bonny Simi, president of JetBlue Technology Ventures, said the strategic pivot reflects the company’s intention to leverage its rich data.
“For us, a new focus… in 2018 is looking at blockchain and how might that play in our space and something that works across all our businesses, and then the application of AI in the various industries,” she said at the GVCI Summit last Wednesday.
Along with this, JetBlue has been making more co-investments with other corporate ventures, the most recent being in Joby Aviation, which raised $100 million in a Series B last Thursday. That round was led by Intel Capital and included JetBlue Technology Ventures and Toyota AI Ventures. Joby Aviation is building a fully electric, five-passenger, vertical-takeoff-and landing air-taxi service.
JetBlue invests, partners with, and incubates early stage startups focusing on technology and travel. To better mentor the companies, JetBlue pursues more co-investment with other corporations.
“Each CVC can contribute its unique area of expertise to a start-up to help it excel,” Simi recently wrote. “We see an emerging trend of CVC’s either leading deals or forming a CVC syndicate to complement a VC lead…With support from many different industries, together we can help our start-ups grow faster and holistically.”
When it comes to the Joby Aviation co-investment, Intel brings its expertise in data and enterprise, she wrote, adding that Toyota offers deep technical and manufacturing know-how, and JetBlue contributes its corporate knowledge in aircraft operations and logistics.
Other recent co-investments by JetBlue include Filament, in which it co-invested with Verizon Ventures, Samsung Ventures and Intel Capital in a $15 million Series A in March 2017, and Zunum Aero, where it co-invested with Boeing HorizonX in an undisclosed seed round last January.
