James Parker

Aviation Executive Search, Director at Venari Partners

📍 United Kingdom🔄 Updated September 2026💼 2 investments📅 5 years investing🗓 Last invested Oct 2021
VC🌍 United Kingdom
2
Total investments
1
Early stage
1
Mid stage
0
Late stage
5y
Years active

Portfolio

2 investments · sorted by recency
All investments
Early stage
Mid stage
Late stage
Investor and Advisor to the Board
Oct 2021
Optifly is a leading supplier of next-generation schedule optimization software, utilizing proprietary AI technology to automate and optimize flight schedules for some of the worlds largest low-cost carriers (LLCs). The Optifly solution is responsible for optimizing and automating schedules for over 1,000 aircraft with €17 billion in revenue, delivering hundreds of millions of euros in additional revenue per year to our partner airlines. As used by: Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline Eurowings, Europes leading value airline Vueling, Spains largest airline by fleet size With Optifly, airlines can: - Greatly increase asset utilization with better distribution of flights - Increase profitability by enabling every aircraft to fly more sectors, more routes, more hours and meet their on-time performance (OTP) targets - Automate schedule development from weeks to minutes
Board Member
Jan 2021
Visionary Training Resources, VTR, is a virtual reality software design company co-founded by experienced airline captains who are dedicated to improving pilot training. Standardized, efficient, and modern pilot training is our passion. Since 2017 we have been leveraging the latest technology available to bring airline pilot procedure training into this century. Using immersive, completely untethered VR headsets with built-in eye tracking, VTR has developed a modern alternative to traditional pilot training which is branded FlightDeckToGo. This technology empowers pilots to perfect flows, procedures, checklists, and memory items PRIOR to beginning full motion simulator training. As the industry is faced with an unprecedented demand and dwindling supply of new pilots, the time has come for a different approach. VTR is leading this revolutionary transformation in pilot training resulting in a quicker path to proficiency, higher retention rates, and lower retrain rates. Today’s pilots deserve today’s technology. FlightDeckToGo is that technology.
Experience · 5 entries
All (5)
Investments (2)
Founder (1)
Board (1)
2021
Investor and Advisor to the Board
Oct 2021
Optifly is a leading supplier of next-generation schedule optimization software, utilizing proprietary AI technology to automate and optimize flight schedules for some of the worlds largest low-cost carriers (LLCs). The Optifly solution is responsible for optimizing and automating schedules for over 1,000 aircraft with €17 billion in revenue, delivering hundreds of millions of euros in additional revenue per year to our partner airlines. As used by: Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline Eurowings, Europes leading value airline Vueling, Spains largest airline by fleet size With Optifly, airlines can: - Greatly increase asset utilization with better distribution of flights - Increase profitability by enabling every aircraft to fly more sectors, more routes, more hours and meet their on-time performance (OTP) targets - Automate schedule development from weeks to minutes
Board Member
Jan 2021
Visionary Training Resources, VTR, is a virtual reality software design company co-founded by experienced airline captains who are dedicated to improving pilot training. Standardized, efficient, and modern pilot training is our passion. Since 2017 we have been leveraging the latest technology available to bring airline pilot procedure training into this century. Using immersive, completely untethered VR headsets with built-in eye tracking, VTR has developed a modern alternative to traditional pilot training which is branded FlightDeckToGo. This technology empowers pilots to perfect flows, procedures, checklists, and memory items PRIOR to beginning full motion simulator training. As the industry is faced with an unprecedented demand and dwindling supply of new pilots, the time has come for a different approach. VTR is leading this revolutionary transformation in pilot training resulting in a quicker path to proficiency, higher retention rates, and lower retrain rates. Today’s pilots deserve today’s technology. FlightDeckToGo is that technology.
2014
Aviation & Aerospace Director
Jun 2014
Venari Partners is an Executive Search & Advisory firm. We help our clients to identify, attract and retain essential leadership talent around the world. With 85% of our mandates completed internationally, we are committed to taking a truly global approach and leave no stone unturned. We were founded on the belief that Executive Search experiences, for clients and candidates alike, should be a lot better. Our mission is simple: to provide outstanding experiences to our customers and make them as passionate about finding talent as we are. We do not profess to be able to source candidates across every sector and functional discipline. Instead, we operate in niche markets where our industry knowledge, extensive networks and passion make us a market leader. If we cannot provide a world-class service, we would rather not provide a service at all. We place leaders into the following disciplines: Strategy, Commercial, Operational, Financial, and Digital & Technology. We are sector specialists in these industries: Aviation & Aerospace, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Private Equity & Venture Capital, Retail & Consumer Goods, and Travel, Hospitality & Logistics. For more information on our services and solutions, visit our website and follow us on social media.
2008
Director
Sep 2008
We’re a global recruitment consultancy and part of The IN Group (TIG), connecting people and organisations worldwide since 2003. With a presence across 20+ markets, we specialise in finance, technology, consulting and change, helping businesses build teams that deliver lasting impact. Recruitment, made simple. Leave us a review here - https://www.weareinvestigo.com/reviews
2006
Owner
Oct 2006
Established in 2006, Parker Meller Ltd is dedicated to making it easier for you to sell your property. We have a passion for property and have grown frustrated at having to purchase properties through unprofessional, poorly regulated estate agents. So we decided to start a business which would allow us to buy and sell property without them. We save you agency fees, unnecessary mortgage payments and time by proposing a Chainfree offer.
early stageReal Estate