Since we rebranded from JetBlue Ventures to SKY VC, the question we hear most from founders is some version of the same one: now that you're no longer owned by JetBlue, how can you actually help us?
The honest answer is that we can do more for you now than ever before. We've been the leading early-stage investor in travel and transportation since 2016, built on real operating relationships and a working knowledge of how this industry actually runs. Joining SKY didn't dilute any of that. It turbocharged it, extending our reach well beyond a single airline to operators around the world.
The answer is in what we've already done for our founders. Since 2016, we've made more than 200 business-development introductions between our portfolio companies and the operators who actually buy what they build, and over half of our portfolio companies have revenue from introductions we have made. Our investor introductions have helped those same founders raise more than $900 million in follow-on funding. That track record comes from knowing this industry from the inside.
Our continued tie to JetBlue
When we were a corporate venture fund, our tie to JetBlue was a given. And now as an independent fund, it's a partnership we've deliberately kept. The airline maintains an advisory council of senior leaders spanning more than 10 departments, from revenue management and strategic sourcing to flight operations, IT, and cybersecurity. Many have also held roles at other carriers over their careers, so their input reflects where the wider industry is heading, not just one airline's playbook. They regularly meet with us to weigh in on the startups and innovation trends we bring forward, and when they want to go deeper, we make the introduction and help guide the conversation. For a founder, that's a direct line into one of the most important airlines in the U.S. Since our spin-off as an independent fund in September 2025, we’ve brought 15 startups to the council for review and feedback.
Joining SKY connected us to more than 100 operators
Through our acquisition by SKY Leasing in 2025, we now have relationships with more than 100 airlines, MROs, and OEMs around the world. No other early-stage fund in our space offers that level of connectivity to source startups, run diligence, and drive customer contracts after we invest.
For founders, it means we're no longer limited to a single carrier's size or footprint. If your solution fits a regional airline, a maintenance provider, or a manufacturer, we have a path to that conversation. Whenever our team is in front of a SKY partner, our portfolio is top of mind. We introduced one portfolio company to a major Middle Eastern flag carrier for a proof of concept that helped shape its long-term product roadmap, a foundation the company built on to grow into tens of millions in revenue and unicorn status. Another, we introduced to a major global airport operator, opening a new sales channel into airlines, revealed a much larger market, and ultimately helped lead to the company's acquisition.
The track record that got us here
Our track record as a team is the clearest preview of how we work.
- We knew Joby's founder directly and invested early at the Series A. There were 13 eVTOL players raising at the time, but Joby stood out to us because the team's ambition reached beyond building aircraft to building the marketplace around them. We later introduced them to Toyota Ventures, which invested over $850 million and developed a strategic manufacturing alliance. Joby is now a publicly listed company with a market cap of over $7 billion.
- We backed Tomorrow.io early, convinced weather intelligence would become mission-critical infrastructure for aviation. After we invested, we introduced the team to JetBlue and helped design the initial proof-of-concept, and when a snowstorm grounded other carriers at Boston Logan, JetBlue read Tomorrow.io's forecast that the snow would clear early and ran its full morning schedule on time. The platform now saves JetBlue an estimated $50,000 per hub each month on de-icing alone, and Tomorrow.io has since become a unicorn valued at more than $1 billion.
Both of those wins happened because we knew the right person, made the introduction at the right moment, and stayed close enough to the company to keep showing up. Since 2016, we've run nearly 50 proofs of concept between startups and our partners.
We work as an extension of your team
In venture, the word "platform" is shorthand for everything a fund does for a company beyond writing the check. Our approach to portfolio support is rooted primarily in our relationships. We start with the real pain point that the travel and transport industries are trying to solve, and then work backward into a solution from there.
Around that, we run the programs that keep our network active: deep dives that put startups in front of cross-functional operator teams, annual summits that convene more than 100 senior industry leaders, quarterly innovation bulletins on the trends moving the industry, and structured proofs-of-concept that get a pilot live without a heavy lift for either side.
If you're a founder deciding who belongs on your cap table, that's what I'd look for in any platform partner: real industry relationships, people who understand your operating reality, and a team that keeps working for you after the deal closes.
If you're building in travel and transportation and want to understand how our platform could support your company, reach out at inbound@sky-vc.com. We'd love to hear what you're working on.
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