JAL - Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda) has established a new corporate venture capital fund, JAL Innovation Fund II, with a planned equity of USD50 million. The fund will invest in start-up companies and support business partnerships across aviation and related sectors.

The initiative will be managed by Japan Airlines Ventures, Inc., a wholly owned investment company incorporated in Delaware on February 25, 2026. The unit is headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, and is led by chief executive Masato Kunesaki. JAL said the new entity will oversee investment decisions and business collaboration with portfolio companies.

JAL plans to formally incorporate the JAL Innovation Fund II, L.P. by the end of March 2026. The airline said the initiative builds on the experience of the first JAL Innovation Fund, which it launched in January 2019 with external partners.

According to the airline, the second fund will continue investments in aviation-related areas such as mileage programmes, environmental initiatives, and next-generation mobility. It will also expand into what the company described as "frontier domains" beyond aviation, including technologies and business models that JAL has not previously addressed.

JAL said the fund will connect the group's assets with global start-ups and support new forms of innovation for the aviation sector. Various venture capital funds have been established by airlines globally, including JetBlue Ventures, United Airlines Ventures, and IAGi.