United Airlines Ventures launches $100m SAF fund

United Airlines Ventures, the venture capital fund launched by United Airlines, has launched a $100m fund to invest in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) start-ups. JPMorgan Chase, GE Aerospace, Honeywell, and Air Canada are lead investors.

The United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund is focused on SAF technology and production start-ups.

“Solving climate change is doable but it requires hard work and real leadership,” said Scott Kirby, CEO, United. “This fund is unique. It’s not about offsets or things that are just greenwashing. Instead, we’re creating a system that drives investment to build a new industry around sustainable aviation fuel, essentially from scratch. That’s the only way we can actually decarbonize aviation.”

Passengers can choose to donate either $1, $3.50 or $7.00 to the fund. The first 10,000 will receive 500 Mileage Plus miles. United says that if every one of the 152 million people who flew on United in 2022 gave $3.50 it would fund a refinery able to make 40m gallons of SAF a year.

United Airlines Ventures is already an investor in Cemvita, Dimensional Energy, and NEXT Renewable Fuels. The airline has also agreed to buy more than 3bn gallons of SAF – more than any other carrier.