BMW i Ventures Announces $300 Million Fund to Back AI Startups Reshaping the Automotive Ecosystem – AutoMart Canada

Munich / San Francisco, April 29, 2026 –BMW i
Ventures today launched its third fund, putting $300 million behind a
clear premise: that AI will fundamentally reshape how the automotive
industry operates and creates value across its entire ecosystem. Fully
backed by the BMW Group, Fund III will focus on physical AI, agentic
AI, industrial software, manufacturing technologies, supply chain
technologies and advanced materials. The fund will invest across North
America and Europe, from Seed through Series B. The launch brings BMW
i Ventures’ total capital under management to $1.1 billion.

“With BMW i Ventures, we are investing in technologies that will
shape the future of our industry. Our corporate venture capital
activities play a key role in our innovation strategy, complementing
our internal R&D and building strategic partnerships across the
entire automotive value chain”, said Oliver Zipse, CEO of BMW
Group. “BMW i Ventures is launching the third fund at the
perfect time: AI has shown its tremendous potential to transform
products, operations, and entire value chains. Through BMW i Ventures
and Fund III, we are best prepared to leverage these opportunities: We
can anticipate shifts early, act quickly and efficiently on
innovations, and remain at the forefront of our industry.”

AI as Operating Layer of the Automotive World

BMW i Ventures will focus on agentic AI, AI-native enterprise
applications that automate complex workflows in industrial
environments, and physical AI that enables robots and autonomous
machines to perceive, plan and act safely in the real world. As AI
unlocks step-function improvements in productivity, decision-making
and speed of execution, the fund will back innovations across the
automotive value chain in automation, engineering, and manufacturing,
from highly specific production optimization to platforms that enable
connected and intelligent operations across industrial networks.

“With Fund III, we’re backing the founders who are turning AI into an
industrial advantage, on the factory floor, in logistics networks and
across global supply chains,” said Marcus Behrendt, Managing
Partner at BMW i Ventures. “The new fund sharpens our focus
for a world where AI-native software, robotics, and materials
innovation will define the next generation of suppliers.”

“AI is quickly becoming part of the operating system of the modern
enterprise,” added Kasper Sage, Managing Partner at BMW i
Ventures. “We’re particularly interested in AI that can
execute workflows end-to-end, driving real ROI through autonomous
systems. That’s where productivity gains have real business impact.”

Advanced Materials and Circular Supply Chains

For BMW i Ventures, circularity remains a core investment pillar that
supports industrial resilience and helps reduce exposure to
constrained or geopolitically sensitive supply chains for critical
materials. Fund III will continue to back next-generation materials
innovations and technologies designed to advance circular industrial
systems across product design, manufacturing processes, and supply
chains. This includes technologies that support recycling and recovery
of critical materials, circular manufacturing processes, and new
materials that combine performance improvements with more efficient
resource use.

“Circularity is not only about reducing emissions, it’s about
securing access to raw materials and reducing exposure to constrained
supply chains,” said Behrendt. “The new fund’s focus
on AI expands the toolkit for sustainability rather than replacing it.”

Building on More Than a Decade of Experience

Since 2011, BMW i Ventures has invested in more than 90 companies and
realized more than 30 exits. This track record includes successes like
GaN Systems (acquired by Infineon for $830 million) and 11
portfolio companies that have gone public, such as Kodiak, Chargepoint, and Xometry. Active portfolio
highlights include Skylo, a
specialist in satellite connectivity; Embotech, a provider of
autonomous driving solutions for industrial logistics; Tekion, an AI-native automotive retail
platform; Rive, an interactive UI
design and animation engine; and Synera, an AI agent platform for engineering.

Long-Term Commitment to Venture Investing

Through BMW i Ventures, the BMW Group gains early access to
strategically relevant innovations while building insight into
emerging trends and disruptions across global technology ecosystems.
This helps strengthen BMW’s long-term competitiveness and supports the
integration of new technologies into future vehicles, production
systems, and digital services.

BMW i Ventures’ first fund has already returned significant capital,
with positive DPI (Distributed to Paid-In capital), and Fund II is
nearing the end of its initial investment period with over 30
portfolio companies. Fund III builds on the first two funds and is
structured to lead investment rounds while maintaining its footprint
in the United States and Europe. The new fund has the capacity to back
AI-native companies as early as the seed stage, reflecting how quickly
AI-first companies can now be built and scaled. Operating with the
independence and speed of a traditional venture firm, BMW i Ventures
is structured to identify and back emerging technologies well before
they reach the mainstream.

About BMW i Ventures
BMW i Ventures is the independent venture capital fund of the
BMW Group, based in Silicon Valley and Munich. BMW i Ventures invests
in companies that are shaping the future of the automotive industry,
manufacturing, and the supply chain, focusing on physical AI, agentic
AI, AI-native enterprise and industrial software. BMW i Ventures
invests in startups in all phases across North America and Europe,
from seed to growth stage, with an emphasis on Series A and B. Since
2011, BMW i Ventures has invested in more than 90 companies, including
GaN Systems, Kodiak, Chargepoint, Xometry, Skylo, Embotech, Tekion,
Rive and Synera. The firm’s total capital under management is $1.1 billion.

For more information, visit www.bmwiventures.com

BMW Group Corporate Communications

Dr Britta Ullrich, Finance Communications

Telephone: +49 89 382-18364

Email: britta.ullrich@bmwgroup.com

Media Contact BMW i Ventures

PIABO PR GmbH
Janice Sommer
Senior VC Communications
Consultant
Telefon: +49 172 417 9441
E-Mail: bmwiventures@piabo.net