BMW i Ventures has launched a new $300 million fund with a timely thesis: Artificial intelligence will reshape the way the automotive industry operates. And BMW AG’s independent venture arm wants to be in the driver’s seat.
The fund, announced Wednesday, will invest in early-stage Series B startups in North America and Europe working on artificial intelligence and natural artificial intelligence (a term that includes artificial intelligence applied to robotics and autonomous vehicles), as well as industrial software, advanced materials, and manufacturing and supply chain technologies. This third fund brings the firm’s total capital under management to $1.1 billion.
The catch, of course, is finding AI startups that don’t just follow one of the hottest tech trends in decades.
“We’re always trying to adapt and shift our focus to new trends, not just for the sake of trending, but for what will really define the future,” said Marcus Behrendt, CEO of BMW i Ventures, in a recent interview with TechCrunch.
The company’s previous chapters reflect Behrendt’s thinking. When BMW i Ventures launched its first fund in 2016, autonomous vehicles and digital technology have been at the heart of its investment strategy. Its second fund in 2021 focused on startups working on sustainability and supply chain.
For Behrendt and managing partner Kaspar Sage, artificial intelligence is not only the next big trend, but will also be the foundation upon which other technologies will be built. And ultimately, these will change robotics, how software is developed and how cars are manufactured, they said.
Sage, who is based out of the company’s Silicon Valley office, said some of the biggest opportunities are the ones that may seem mundane but have a much bigger impact. One example is Synera, a German company backed by BMW i Ventures that uses artificial intelligence agents in the design and engineering process, Sage said.
Synera began as an integration software company that helped engineers automate and modernize complex design workflows for industrial engineering. The company then built AI agents on top of its platform, which already contains data on materials, size and other mechanical parameters, Sage explained.
“And what you get out of that is crazy, because you can basically reduce a process of, say, three weeks where people would interact with each other to make a particular change, and you can reduce it to minutes,” Sage said. “And that’s so powerful, if you think about it.”
The VC firm remains committed to other categories it has previously invested in, including advanced materials and circular supply chains. Behrendt said the new fund’s focus on artificial intelligence expands the sustainability toolbox rather than replacing it.”
The company has not yet made any investments from this third capital. But its second fund, which is in the midst of completion, includes investments in a number of AI-focused startups, including five recent ones that the firm isn’t ready to talk about. In total, the firm used the second fund to invest in more than 35 investments.
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