The platform helps airlines and MROs reduce costly aircraft-on-ground delays and excess inventory by using specialised AI to optimise sourcing across global aviation supply chains.
Estonian-founded SkySelect, an AI-powered procurement platform transforming how airlines and maintenance providers source aircraft parts, has secured $9 million in funding.
Airlines face mounting pressure to modernise legacy procurement systems that leave them holding approximately $50 billion in excess parts inventory globally.
When aircraft are grounded due to missing components, airlines scramble to procure parts through manual, fragmented processes that can take days or weeks. Aircraft-on-ground (AOG) incidents, where a plane is grounded waiting for parts, cost airlines around $30 billion each year. Airlines also carry more than $10 billion in excess inventory.
Advancements in procurement technology are enabling airlines and maintenance, repair, and overhaul organisations (MROs) to reduce the number of shipments by up to 30 per cent while keeping fewer parts in stock. This minimises logistics costs and reduces carbon emissions, making operations more sustainable.
SkySelect pioneered the application of AI to aviation parts procurement before AI became ubiquitous in marketplace technology. Unlike generalised large language models,
SkySelect’s platform employs specialised AI to match aircraft part requests with optimal suppliers across its network of thousands of vendors worldwide, providing real-time market visibility. This targeted approach enables just-in-time procurement, building operational resilience while reducing the need for costly safety stock.
The company also partners with major ERP solution providers to streamline the end-to-end part procurement process through seamless integrations.
Since its launch, SkySelect has processed over $6 billion in transactions, with $1.3 billion completed in 2025 alone.
The company is currently landing approximately one new major client per month, with recent additions including JetBlue, Sun Country Airlines, Air Transport Services Group, Widerøe, and Vueling.
Verb Ventures and RockCreek co-led the round, with participation from SmartCap Green Fund, funded by the European Union NextGenerationEU, and existing investors Bain Capital Ventures and Lux Capital.
Erkki Brakmann, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of SkySelect, shared:
“Legacy procurement systems and processes are fundamentally broken. Airlines invest over $40 billion annually in aircraft parts while simultaneously carrying $50 billion in excess inventory — a massive inefficiency that our AI-driven platform directly addresses.
This growth funding validates both our early-mover advantage in applying AI to aviation procurement and the tangible value we’re delivering to customers.”
Alexander Chikunov, founding partner at Verb Ventures, says:
“SkySelect exemplifies the kind of B2B platform we back: a platform that brings transparency to opaque supply chains through data and automation. This new funding positions SkySelect to capture a larger share of the $40 billion aircraft materials market.”
Anahita Smeets, Managing Director at RockCreek, says:
“RockCreek invests in AI and innovative companies that deliver both economic value and operational resilience.
SkySelect addresses a critical bottleneck in aviation by using AI to match supply and demand for parts. With airlines facing billions in losses from aircraft-on-ground delays and excess inventory, we believe SkySelect’s platform offers a compelling solution at scale.”
The investment will be used to enhance its AI sourcing and procurement optimisation tools, helping airlines and MROs build a more reliable, predictable, and sustainable supply chain. SkySelect plans to hire across product development, data science, and customer success in its USA, India, and Estonia offices.
Lead image: Karen Harms.