Boeing’s startup accelerator spins out and broadens focus beyond aerospace

Boeing’s startup accelerator and investment programme, Aerospace Xelerated, has spun out of the aerospace group to become an independent organisation, backed by external investors and expanding its focus beyond the aerospace sector to defence, shipping and energy.

Headed by Nichola Bates (pictured above), the operation has been renamed XeleratedFifty. It is backed by a strategic partnership with The Fifty Group, an investment platform dedicated to innovation in the world’s most complex industries.

“XeleratedFifty allows us to take a model that has already delivered results in aerospace and apply it more broadly,” said Bates.

Bates and her team had already supported more than 40 startups in 14 countries while part of Boeing, offering mentorship and company-building help as well as financial investment.

“We connect startups with the investment, partnerships, and market access they need to deliver transformative solutions. We have seen first-hand how this approach can close critical capability gaps in aerospace. Now, we are building on our successful track record and applying the same model to other highly hard-to-abate complex industries where innovation is urgent and impact is essential,” said Bates.

This is the second startup investment arm to be spun out of Boeing amid a turbulent few years in which the aerospace company has suffered from safety problems and strikes. In 2021 Boeing’s corporate VC arm spun out as AEI HorizonX, with AE Industrial Partners, a private aerospace investment group, coming in as an investment partner.

The Fifty Group has two other investment firms under its umbrella, including SkiesFifty, a fund that focuses on investments related to sustainable aviation, and MarineFifty, which focuses on investments in sustainable shipping.