Making Travel Healthier: A Game-Changing Disinfectant Technology and a Global Airline

In 2018, Delta connected with Vyv, a startup that produces safe antimicrobial LED lights that continuously kill bacteria on surfaces. Vyv’s lights are only about 20 percent more expensive than a traditional light and continuously disinfect surfaces anywhere from an office to a locker room or even a commercial aircraft.

While Delta’s innovation team was interested, they knew that a pilot with a global airline would require cross-divisional support and executive sponsorship, not to mention ensuring that the startup was ready to engage at enterprise-scale with Delta. So, they introduced Vyv to Engage.

“We told Vyv’s CEO Colleen Costello that one of the best ways to get that executive buy-in to push this forward was Engage,” said Vikram Rajagopalan, Innovation Strategy Lead at Delta. “That paved the execution path.”

Throughout Engage’s go-to-market program, the team worked with Vyv to help navigate the challenges of an enterprise engagement. After months of technical, operational, and regulatory work, Vyv’s lights were successfully aircraft-certified and installed in a Boeing 757 airplane. The Delta team is continuing to put together a scope for a larger fleet rollout strategy of the disinfectant technology.

Finally, Delta expanded upon their commercial relationship by directly investing in Vyv’s Series A financing. The airline wanted to ensure direct alignment of their mission as they build upon their partnership.