Thomas d'Halluin, managing partner at Airbus Ventures, is one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2024 Powerlist.
Having held the position of managing partner at Airbus Ventures for eight years, and spent the previous eight and half as the investment unit’s chief operating officer, Thomas d’Halluin is a veteran of corporate venturing. The corporate investment arm of the multinational aerospace company Airbus, Airbus Ventures invests in the future of aerospace. D’Halluin has a particular interest in the area between earth and space.
Airbus Ventures made 12 investments in the past year, five of which were in space tech, including US-based space startup Impulse Space, which is focused on developing transportation services for the inner solar system. The unit contributed to its series A round in June 2023. Airbus Ventures also contributed to the $5m seed round for Helicity Space, another Airbus Ventures portfolio company, at the end of last year. Helicity Space is developing a form of fusion propulsion – something that, up until now, has only existed in science fiction novels.
The unit currently has 47 portfolio businesses, with $400m of assets under management
But it is not all space focused for d’Halluin. During the past year, he has overseen investments into such areas as drones, security tech, advanced materials and robotics – Airbus Ventures supported Japanese startup Telexistence’s $170m series B round last year, alongside SoftBank and others.
The unit currently has 47 portfolio businesses, with $400m of assets under management.
Aside from his current role and his time as COO, d’Halluin has been with Airbus for two decades. His journey within the company began in procurement at the Aerolia subsidiary, where he eventually took on the role of procurement and supply chain director, overseeing operations in the Asia-Pacific region, starting in 2010. Prior to his tenure at Aerolia, d’Halluin honed his expertise as the supply chain director
for Airbus in France.
D’Halluin holds a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
The Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist represents the 100
individuals spearheading the future of the corporate venturing industry.
These individuals excel in terms of their venturing approach and structure, number and quality of portfolio companies and in their contributions to the corporate venturing profession.
