BMW i Ventures Launches $300M Fund III to Back AI-Driven Industrial Innovation
BMW i Ventures has 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.
For more information: www.bmwiventures.com
