Top 50 Rising Stars 2022 (in alphabetical order by CVC unit): Jim Lockheed, investment principal, JetBlue Technology Ventures
Jim Lockheed is a principal at JetBlue Technology Ventures (JTV), the corporate venturing subsidiary of airline operator JetBlue. He joined the unit in 2019 as an investor before he was promoted to his current role the year after.
Regarding his background, Lockheed said: “My dad and grandfather were pilots so I grew up around hangars and aviation; it inspired an interest in aerospace and travel at a really early age.
“It is really exciting to dig into these passions from an investor perspective and to think about how future technologies and trends will fundamentally change the way people and goods move throughout society and around the world.
“As a former entrepreneur, it is also extremely rewarding for me to be able to help other incredible founders.”
At JTV, he backs and supports early-stage developers of technologies and products related to commercial aviation and travel, focusing on artificial intelligence, machine learning, e-commerce, biometrics and identity, data science, mobility, process automation, predictive analytics, augmented reality, sustainable travel and robotics.
Before JTV, Lockheed had spent five years as an entrepreneur, having founded RoseCity 3D, which provides commercial drone services in industries including real estate, construction, film and insurance, in 2014. He also co-founded drone-powered construction inspection service Western Apex two years later.
Prior to that, he held a four-year stint from 2009 at a defence and aerospace group Boeing’s Insitu subsidiary, where he helped operate surveillance drones and manage operations for the US Department of Defence schemes.
Lockheed is a veteran of the US Air Force, spending six years from 2008 as an F15 avionics technician, and holds an MBA from University of Oregon and a bachelor of science in technical management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
