United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund launched with $100M in investment

In Illinois, in an effort to rally businesses and consumers, United launched the United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund SM, a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle designed to support start-ups focused on decarbonizing air travel by accelerating the research, production and technologies associated with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The fund starts with more than $100 million in investments from United and its inaugural partners Air Canada, Boeing, GE Aerospace, JPMorgan Chase, and Honeywell. Through the fund, these and potentially additional corporate participants will invest alongside United in SAF technology and production start-ups identified by United. In the past two years alone, United Airlines Ventures has invested in start-ups such as Cemvita, Dimensional Energy, and NEXT Renewable Fuels.

And in a first among U.S. airlines, anyone who buys a ticket on the United website or app now has the option to contribute to supplement United’s investment in the fund. The first 10,000 people who choose to contribute will each receive 500 MileagePlus Miles as a thank-you.