Investor Profile: JetBlue Technology Ventures — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Important update: now SKY VC

JetBlue Technology Ventures was founded in 2016 in Silicon Valley as the corporate venture capital arm of JetBlue Airways. In May 2025, SKY Leasing acquired the venture subsidiary, and in September 2025 the firm rebranded as SKY VC. It now operates as an independent investment platform under SKY, while maintaining a strategic partnership with JetBlue, which continues to hold positions in all existing portfolio companies. The JetBlue Ventures brand itself continues under a brand licensing agreement with JetBlue. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Investment thesis

From inception, the firm's thesis was to invest in, incubate and partner with early-stage startups shaping the future of travel. Under both the JetBlue and SKY banners, the team has focused on enterprise and frontier technologies with broad applications across travel and transportation, aiming to bridge the gap between disruptive startups and established industry leaders and move technologies from concept to global adoption.

Sectors, stages and track record

The firm invests at the early stage across travel, hospitality and transportation. Since its 2016 founding, the team has invested in 55 early-stage startups and made more than 40 follow-on investments, achieving eight successful exits through acquisitions and public offerings. A dedicated fund size has never been publicly disclosed, and the acquisition terms were not disclosed either.

Leadership

The team continues to be led by CEO Amy Burr, who carried the firm through the acquisition and rebrand. On the airline side, JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty framed the sale as part of the JetForward strategy: JetBlue focuses on its core airline operations and path back to profitability while retaining access to the portfolio's innovations through the ongoing partnership. SKY's Co-Chief Investment Officer Matthew Crawford led the acquisition for the buyer.

The new parent: SKY Leasing

SKY Leasing describes itself as a premier aviation alternative asset manager with relationships spanning more than 100 airlines, MROs and OEMs. It operates from five offices (San Francisco, Dublin, New York, Miami and Singapore), draws on a 30-year history of global aviation relationships, and managed more than 5 billion US dollars of aviation assets as of March 2025. Legal advisers on the deal were Kirkland & Ellis for SKY, Cooley for JetBlue and DJL Corporate Law for JetBlue Ventures.

Geographic focus

The firm is based in San Francisco with a historically Silicon Valley-centred deal flow, now amplified by SKY's global aviation network across North America, Europe and Asia.

How to apply for funding

Founders could historically reach the firm through www.JetBlueVentures.com, named in the official acquisition announcement, and the rebranded firm points founders to www.sky-vc.com. No open public application portal or published pitch process could be verified, so outreach realistically runs through the firm's site and the team's travel-tech network rather than a public form.