UP.Summit Event Showcases New UP.Labs Logistics Partnerships With J.B. Hunt Transport and Alaska Airlines

At the 2024 UP.Summit, an annual, invitation-only gathering of the world’s most innovative minds rethinking the future of transportation, J.B. Hunt Transport Inc., one of the largest supply chain solutions providers in North America, and UP.Labs, a first-of-its-kind venture lab unlocking the future of transportation and mobility, announced their establishment of the Logistics Venture Lab (LVL).

In addition, Alaska Airlines and UP.Labs officially announced their first new startup, Odysee, at the event, an innovative, new flight schedule optimization software platform that leverages AI and big data to optimize asset configuration for the airline industry and other logistics operators.

LVL, a logistics and freight-focused lab, will aim to launch as many as six startups over the next three years to solve core strategic challenges within the industry. The startups, the first of which the companies target to begin launching in 2025, are inspired by opportunities to drive efficiency and solve common problems faced by providers in the logistics and freight transportation space. They will focus on key industry service areas such as brokerage, dedicated, intermodal and truckload, among others.

“From the inception of modern intermodal transit to digital freight matching platforms to emerging safety technology and beyond, J.B. Hunt has always been people focused, technology empowered and capacity driven, and we’ve been on an innovation journey since our founding in 1961,” said Shelley Simpson, President and CEO at J.B. Hunt. “Our collaboration with UP.Labs will continue this journey as we look for new ways to disrupt, adapt and accelerate across the transportation industry.”

“I’m thrilled to be collaborating with J.B. Hunt, a leader in the transportation and logistics industry. Through the Logistics Venture Lab, we will launch startups rooted in big data, GenAI, and emerging technologies to solve industry problems with some of the world’s best entrepreneurs,” said John Kuolt, Founder & CEO of UP.Labs.

The second announcement, highlighting Odysee, follows Alaska Airlines and UP.Labs partnership announced last year and sets a vision to solve core strategic challenges for the aviation industry with new companies that help unlock the future in transportation and mobility.

“What sets Odysee apart is its ability to help airline schedulers assess the various tradeoffs that come with certain schedule changes, allowing them to make more informed choices in building comprehensive flight schedules,” said Odysee Chief Executive Officer Steve Casley. “Our team is excited about the power and efficiency this technology will provide to Alaska Airlines and all future customers and the opportunity to continue building out its functionality.”

Odysee utilizes an operations research-led approach to build flight schedules and rapidly quantify the impacts of schedule changes on revenue, profitability and reliability. The platform can run hundreds of simulations within seconds to provide accurate flight-level insights to stress-test a future schedule. This tool can assess more options and evaluate more variables than the human brain – giving teams the opportunity to make more informed decisions.

“As CEO and a former COO, I know that configuring an airline to use each airplane optimally is a key lever for operational reliability, a remarkable travel experience for our guests, and maximizing revenue,” said Alaska Airlines Chief Executive Officer Ben Minicucci. “I am thrilled that Odysee, the first company launched through our partnership with UP.Labs, leverages artificial intelligence to help our teams put our airplanes in the right place, at the right time.”

The partnership between UP.Labs and Alaska Airlines was established as part of Alaska Star Ventures, Alaska Airlines’ investment arm and is aligned with Alaska’s commitment to innovation and sustainability. Over the next three years, the partnership will launch additional startups focused on solving key challenges in aviation and mobility.

UP.Labs is a venture lab and a core part of the UP.Partners ecosystem, which includes mobility investment fund UP.Ventures and the annual UP.Summit, an event that brings together 300 of the world’s most innovative minds rethinking the future of transportation.

UP.Labs believes that partnering with leading corporations in the mobility space is the fastest way to make an impact on the challenges our society faces. Since its founding in 2022, UP.Labs has worked with corporate partners to identify their most pressing challenges and launch startups built by proven entrepreneurs, product leaders and technologists to develop transformative solutions.