Global Corporate Venturing Rising Stars Awards 2018: #25 Ajay Sharma

Ajay Sharma is an investment principal of JetBlue Technology Ventures (JTV), the corporate venture subsidiary of US-based JetBlue Airways, which invests in, incubates, and partners early-stage startups at the intersection of technology and travel.

Sharma joined JTV shortly after it was founded in February 2016 and, according to his colleagues, has been an integral member of the team ever since, helping to review more than 2,000 startups and make 14 investments to date.

Bonny Simi, president of JetBlue Technology Ventures, said: “Ajay has a natural passion for investing that shines through in his work. His ability to forge meaningful relationships within the VC and startup communities is just one of the many reasons that he’s a key member of our team.”

At JTV, Sharma’s primary investment themes include the use of unique datasets and artificial intelligence to transform business applications, the revolution of predictive maintenance and operations and the evolving regional transportation ecosystem and said he had a passion for working with early stage founders on team-building, iteration of product market fit and scaling go-to-market operations.

In January, JTV took part in Flyr’s series A round that raised an $8m for the fare analytics company. JTV had previously invested in Flyr during its seed round in 2016.

March saw JTV invest in US-based wireless industrial network developer Filament’s series A round, which totalled $15m. Verizon Ventures co-led the round with Bullpen Capital.

In April and August, JTV backed Zunum Aero and Betterez during their funding rounds for undisclosed amounts. Zunum Aero is a US-based hybrid electric aircraft developer, which has also been backed by Boeing’s HorizonX, and Betterez is a US-based bus and coach ticket booking platform.

Sharma has more strings to his bow beyond just investing and CVC, as he appreciates working in internal environments too: “One of the most rewarding projects I worked on this year came from an internal ask at JetBlue Airways, where the vice-president of customer support tasked us to help reimagine the future of Contact Centre.

“I spent a great deal of time in Salt Lake City with our customer service team, learning about our crew members’ goals for engaging with customers, and in the end, we were able to make both a JTV investment and JetBlue commercial deal with Gladly, an omni-channel customer service platform.”

Sharma is more than just a company man as he currently serves on the associate board of Build, a non-profit dedicated to enhancing the education of youth in under-served communities through experimental learning and entrepreneurship. He is also an adviser to innovative scaffolding company Urban Umbrella. He holds a BA in Economics from Rutgers University and remains an active member of the Rutgers community to this day, serving as a mentor to students.

Prior to joining JetBlue Technology Ventures, Sharma managed early- and growth-stage investments in enterprise technology companies at Compound Ventures, Bregal Sagemount and Lightview Capital, in part through his MBA course at NYU’s Stern School of Business. There, he was also the VP of the Stern Private Equity Club.

Before beginning his career in venture capital, Sharma worked as a product manager at BlackRock, where he developed and introduced new products for BlackRock Solutions, a division that provides a scalable and technology-enabled analytical, risk management, and financial advisory platform Aladdin, to investment banks, asset managers, insurance companies and government agencies worldwide.