United adds eight new partners to $200m Sustainable Flight Fund
United today announced that it has added Aircastle, Air New Zealand, Embraer, Google, HIS, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, Safran Corporate Ventures, and Technip Energies to the United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund.
The fund aims to reduce emissions and drive production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) through investments in start-ups.
The new partners will take the total partners in the United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund to 22.
These corporate partners make up all parts of the aviation supply chain – airlines, aircraft and engine manufacturers, fuel producers, engineering and technology experts, financiers, travel management and more – and have now committed more than $200m while collaborating to provide strategic expertise to help the Fund’s portfolio companies reach commercialisation.
Launched in Since its inception in February 2023, it is the only venture fund backed by a broad limited partner base and created to identify and support start-ups advancing feedstock and technology development focused on increasing the supply of SAF.
United Airlines also allows for consumers to participate as well. Customers can use the United Airlines website or application to contribute to supplement United’s investment in the UAV Sustainable Flight Fund before check-out. Airline passengers can contribute either $1, $3.50 or $7.00. Over the last 12 months, more than 115,000 people have contributed nearly $500,000.
“SAF is the best tool we have to decarbonise airplanes, but we don’t have enough of it. To create the fuel supply we need for our fleet, United recognised that we would have to help build a brand-new industry from scratch – like wind and solar in previous decades,” said Andrew Chang, managing director, United Airlines Ventures. “As part of our effort to build a new sustainable aviation ecosystem, we recruited a group of partners with the industry expertise to support our startups with both financial and strategic capital, to help them navigate the entire process from conception to commercialisation.”
With more than $200m in committed capital, the fund’s portfolio company have made major inroads to develop SAF. Some of these include, Cemvita’s pilot plant in Houston, OXCCU’s construction on pilot plant in UK and EH2 opening first manufacturing plant.