Deep Tech · Corporate VC · Active

Airbus Ventures

Airbus Ventures is the $500M+ corporate VC of Airbus Group, founded 2015, investing from Menlo Park, Paris and Tokyo. Independent fund structure with long-term horizon alignment to Airbus aerospace,…

Stage Pre-Seed → Series B
Ticket $2.0M - $15.0M
Quantum focus Quantum Computing · Hardware, Quantum Computing · Software
Geography Global

Investment thesis

Airbus Ventures is the $500M+ corporate VC of Airbus Group, founded 2015, investing from Menlo Park, Paris and Tokyo. Independent fund structure with long-term horizon alignment to Airbus aerospace, defense and mobility strategy. Invests Seed to Series C across aerospace-adjacent deep tech: quantum, space, aviation, materials, cybersecurity. Cheques $1-15M, lead or co-lead.

Quantum portfolio is aerospace-application trimodal: IonQ (trapped-ion, public 2021 via SPAC — early backer), Q-CTRL (Sydney, quantum control firmware + quantum navigation; concrete Airbus-side use case as Airbus Helicopters flight-tested Q-CTRL's magnetometer-based quantum navigation for GPS-denied environments), and QC Ware (quantum algorithm software, acquired 2024). Portfolio exposure is triangulated on sensing, navigation and enterprise algorithms — exactly the applications with near-term aerospace pull.

Value-add: unmatched aerospace/defense commercial-pull. Airbus Defence & Space is a natural customer for quantum sensing (magnetic anomaly detection, SAR navigation), quantum communication (EuroQCI satellite QKD), and quantum simulation (materials, flight dynamics). Paris/Tokyo footprint aligns with France's PROQCIMA and Japan's RIKEN quantum programs.

Differentiated as the most aerospace-specific quantum CVC, offering founders a concrete flight-demo and defense-procurement channel rather than purely financial optionality.

Anti-thesis

The patterns that trigger a fast no with this fund.

  1. Strategic CVC: investments must map to Airbus aerospace / defense use cases (optimization, materials, sensing, secure comms), pure-software or consumer-facing quantum plays are off-mandate
  2. Avoids pure-research / no-roadmap-to-revenue plays: demands credible path to industrial pilots and integration with Airbus engineering
  3. Geography / sovereignty sensitive: European or allied-jurisdiction preferred for defense-adjacent stacks, ITAR / export-controlled targets are friction
  4. Hardware modality agnostic but prefers teams already demonstrating partnership traction with aerospace / defense primes
  5. Conflict-of-interest risk: companies competing directly with Airbus business lines or locked-in to rival primes are unlikely fits

Notable quantum portfolio

Full portfolio →
IonQQ-CTRLQC Ware

Reach out to Airbus Ventures

A cold email and a 1-page brief, ready in two clicks.

Website