Germany-based car maker Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) has set up a $100m corporate venturing fund as part of a division working on sustainable cars and made its first deal.
The company will sell two cars, BMW i3 and BMW i8 (pictured), from 2013 under the sustainable BMW I brand and invest in seed and series A round deals through the BMW i Ventures team.
US-based MyCityWay is the first company in which BMW i Ventures has taken a stake alongside venture capital firms FirstMark Capital and IA Ventures and state fund New York City (NYC) Economic Development Corp. News provider TechCrunch said BMW invested $5m in MyCityWay, alongside FirstMark Capital and IA Ventures, which participated in an earlier $1m seed round.
In May at a news provider TechCrunch event, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city (with $3m) and FirstMark (the remainder) had set up a $22m fund with MyCityWay as its first deal.
Ian Robertson, member of the board of management, said: "I am thrilled to announce that we have just signed our first strategic partnership with My City Way. As a mobile app, My City Way provides users with information on public transportation, parking availability, and local entertainment for over 40 cities in the US. Another 40 cities will be part of the global rollout, including Munich, of course."
The group has been working on BMW i since 2007, it said yesterday, but even as late as December denied its plans or activities when Global Corporate Venturing asked.
Robertson said: "The products and services have been conceived around a revolutionary approach: purpose designed and purpose built for sustainable, premium mobility. It’s a new day in our industry; a new era for individual mobility. This is BMW i – Born Electric."
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