Alaska Airlines' venture lab spins out its first startup: Odysee

Odysee CEO Steve Casley sees dollar signs in data. Or more specifically, AI-powered software that can analyze reams of data to help commercial airlines get the most out of its complex flight schedules. Odysee, the first startup born out of an aviation-focused venture lab formed by Alaska Airlines and UP.Labs, is doing just that. The two companies formed the venture lab last year to create startups designed to address specific issues in aviation travel, such as guest experiences, operational efficiency, aircraft maintenance, routing, and revenue management. Odysee said it has raised $5m in a pre-seed round led by UP.Partners, the Los Angeles-based VC firm that is connected to UP.Labs. Alaska Star Ventures, which launched in October 2021, invested $15m into UP.Partners’ inaugural early-stage fund. Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci flagged scheduling as an issue early on, according to Casley. And it’s no wonder. While there is software that provides flight data analysis and scheduling, Casley argues they all lack the kind of real-time time and — critically — revenue predictions that Odysee is building. “You need some tools to make better decisions, because typically across airlines, schedule changes are made by planners with experience that do it by intuition,” Casley said in a recent interview. “I wouldn't say the seat of their pants, because a good portion of the time they're going to be right because they've seen bad changes and good. But they never really had the data to back up those decisions.”<br/>