BMW 'I Ventures' Finds Partner, Seeks N.Y. Apartment

  • March 25, 2011
There's a new venture capital firm in town. BMW's BMW i Ventures, a $100 million VC fund that BMW is placing in New York City, is on the prowl for a space in downtown Manhattan.

BMW says the space will be an incubator for developing technologies and mobility services for urban transportation and navigation. The firm's advent is part of BMW's biggest brand extension to date -- if you don't count Mini Cooper. The company launched BMWi this year at least in part as a channel for a series of hybrid and electrics the German automaker has in the pipeline.

Although the fund doesn't have a pied-a-terre in the Apple yet it does have its first startup, "My City Way," a set of location-aware apps for urban navigation that provides users with information on public transportation, parking availability, and local entertainment.

The startup won this year's "BigApps 2.0" event, a competition hosted by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the NYC Economic Development Corporation that was intended to get software developers to develop Web or mobile applications using city data.

BMW says that as a founding partner of "BigApps" its BMW i Ventures firm will double the prize money awarded to this year's winners and offer two to three winners space in the BMW i Ventures incubator for a limited time.

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