Alaska Airlines launches aviation-focused startup program with Los Angeles venture lab

Alaska Airlines wants to help more startups take off.

The Seattle-based airline announced Thursday a partnership with UP.Labs to launch Airline Venture Lab, a new collaboration to create aviation-focused spin-out startups.

The partnership, announced at the UP Summit event in Dallas, plans to deliver its first startup by next year. UP.Labs said it will focus on building startups that solve various pain points in consumer aviation travel, including routing, aircraft maintenance, revenue management, guest experiences, and more.

“We know that sometimes our innovation comes from within our company, and sometimes it takes key partners to unlock,” Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in a news release.

UP.Labs operates under the umbrella of UP.Partners, a Los Angeles-area investment firm that also manages a venture capital fund called UP.Ventures. Alaska Airlines is a limited partner in the fund.

Launched in 2022, UP.Labs bills itself as a so-called “venture lab” that works with corporate partners in the mobility sector. The firm recruits business executives, investors, and corporate partners to spawn new startups. The goal is to enhance the transportation of people and goods, making it cleaner, faster, and safer by tapping into the scale and resources of its corporate partners.

Through a partnership with Porsche, UP.Labs launched a startup that sells a machine learning platform that captures and analyzes electric vehicle performance. The Los Angeles-based company raised $5 million in seed funding.

UP.Labs’ approach is similar to Seattle-based startup studio Pioneer Square Labs, which partners with corporations to develop ideas for potential spinouts and product innovations. The firm recently collaborated with Seattle-area manufacturing conglomerate Fortive to test ways to integrate AI into a business plan.

Alaska Airlines rolled out a number of tech features over the past few years, from electronic bag tags to AI to better map out flight routes. The airline reported profit of $240 million in the second quarter, up 73% from the year-ago quarter.

electric vehicle