Our own Conor Carmody joined a fireside chat at the APEX FTE EMEA Ancillary & Retailing Startup Pitch Session, where he had the opportunity to hear from an impressive line-up of innovators including 22North by Phonon, AEROMOND Group, biztribution, Movmo, Passtination, Platform 195 and Skyfood Airport Delivery.
Reflecting on the pitches and the wider aviation innovation landscape, several themes emerged:
- Find your champion. Success often starts with identifying the internal advocate who understands the problem you’re solving and can help navigate decision-making processes.
- Be ready to scale. Great ideas are everywhere, but organisations are looking for solutions that are proven, scalable and capable of meeting demand quickly. Time-to-market expectations continue to shorten.
- Define your value proposition narrowly. The strongest pitches clearly articulated the problem they solve, what success looks like and why they are the right partner to deliver it.
- Revenue optimisation is a growing opportunity. Passenger experience, loyalty and ancillary revenue continue to attract significant attention, while automation and digital transformation are helping to eliminate manual processes and improve efficiency.
Looking at the wider Irish startup ecosystem, Conor highlighted the strength of the innovation infrastructure available to founders, from Enterprise Ireland supports to innovation hubs and accelerators across the country. With more than €1 billion raised by Irish startups and AI underpinning innovation across sectors, Ireland continues to produce ambitious companies with strong IP and global scaling potential.
One thing remains constant in aviation: safety is paramount. The startups that can combine innovation, commercial value and operational reliability will be best positioned to succeed.
Most importantly, there was no shortage of great ideas in the room. The challenge – and opportunity – is finding ways for startups and industry leaders to grow together.
