British Airways owner IAG plans to invest up to €200 million to drive aviation industry innovation following the launch of its new corporate venturing arm, IAGi Ventures.
The airline group, which also owns Iberia, Aer Lingus, LEVEL and Vueling, said its new division will direct funding to “high-potential companies shaping the future of aviation across areas including customer experience, operations and sustainability”.
The planned €200 million investment will be deployed over five years and, according to IAG, is set to be one of the largest investments of its kind globally and the biggest by a European airline group.
IAGi Ventures will target early-stage investments in companies across all global markets, focusing on start-ups and scale-ups developing technologies “that address the most pressing challenges faced by the aviation industry today”.
IAG’s chief information, procurement, services and innovation officer, Jorge Saco, said: “Adopting new technologies will improve our business and the value we generate, which is why we are seeking to work with and learn from top innovators through venturing.”
The new division will run alongside the company’s accelerator programme, which has been running since 2026, and will now be known as IAGi Accelerator.
The launch of IAGi Ventures this week comes after the company posted a 22 per cent uptick in profit to €4.3 billion for 2024.