Airbus Central Innovation
Scaling aerospace innovation for business value
Accelerating great ideas into reality
DRIVING INNOVATION
Airbus Central Innovation fosters high-potential innovation both within the company and through start-up engagement. It identifies and develops opportunities to build and grow co-funded, profitable and fully fledged businesses. Airbus Central Innovation also advocates for engaging with startups to further extend Airbus’ competitive advantage. By accelerating the commercialisation of high-value concepts, it actively contributes to company growth and our commitment to sustainable aerospace.
Mission
The mission of Airbus Central Innovation is to:
- Foster intrapreneurship and leverage corporate innovation
- Build and launch new businesses that will support Airbus’ future growth
- Identify and contract with later-stage start-ups to mature and scale concepts through mutually beneficial collaborations
- Actively contribute to the development of future programmes to support Airbus’ decarbonisation goals
Airbus Central Innovation is part of the Airbus ecosystem, operating alongside the company’s existing innovation centres, internal innovation hubs and research organisations.
Focus areas
Corporate innovation
Intrapreneurship is a fundamental part of our company culture. Airbus Central Innovation encourages internal entrepreneurs to conceptualise advanced business proposals for aerospace or adjacent markets. If they fit the Company’s growth strategy, Airbus Central Innovation will help develop a business model and support the building of a viable product or service.
Incubator
The Airbus Scale incubator has the objective of delivering validated business models based on Airbus’ assets to pioneer future markets. By attracting external funds and talent to drive them forward, these viable products or services eventually spin out to create established companies that will generate revenues or equity for Airbus, supporting diversification and growth.
Start-up engagement
We partner with start-ups to scale solutions to pressing business challenges at an accelerated pace. Airbus Central Innovation combines Airbus’ corporate expertise with mature, later-stage start-up experience and know-how to generate value for both sides.
Technology Scouting
Technology scouts allow Airbus innovation professionals to find cutting-edge technologies beyond its borders. The activity focuses on mapping country and global technology trends to the point of need.
Current projects
Airbus Direct Air Capture
Incubator
Airbus DAC is based on International Space Station (ISS) life support technology reusing carbon dioxide. The captured CO2 is repurposed for use as fertiliser or for fuel development.
Videns, Canada
Startup engagement
Montreal-based startup Videns proposes AI solutions to optimise predictive capacity planning for the supply chain feeding Airbus’ widebody programme.
Atlas AI, USA
Startup engagement
This startup was founded in 2018 by Stanford University professors. It premiered the world's first GeoAI platform for enterprise data scientists that is able to combine and interpret spatial data.
The latest from Airbus Central Innovation
In the spotlight
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Airbus NOVA Newsletter
Your go-to source for the latest stories on disruptive technologies and ground-breaking aerospace projects that will transform the way we fly.
