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Innovative ideas for more sustainability: BMW Group invites startups worldwide to collaborate
Wed Apr 28 11:00:00 CEST 2021 Informação à Imprensa
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"Open Call 360° Sustainability"-Challenge launched. Startups can apply in seven innovation areas. Applications open until end of June; jury will recognise best startup solutions. Winners to be announced at IAA Mobility in Munich.
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Joao Trincheiras
BMW Group
Tel: +351-21-487-3080
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Author.
Joao Trincheiras
BMW Group
Munich. The BMW Group has set itself ambitious goals
to increase sustainability. To achieve this aim, the company is
inviting startups worldwide to participate in the Open Call 360°
Sustainability Challenge.
Collaboration with young companies can play a key role in promoting
the use of innovative technologies. That is why the BMW Group launched
the BMW Startup Garage back in 2015 and is now taking the next step
with the Open Call 360° Sustainability Challenge.
“We are looking forward to receiving applications from business
founders around the world. We have believed for a long time that
startups have a key role to play in helping us shape individual,
connected and sustainable mobility,” says Bernhard Schambeck, head of
BMW Startup Garage.
The Challenge defines seven innovation areas in which startups can
put forward their products and solutions: Recyclable Materials,
Sustainable Supply Chain, Energy-efficient Production, Mobile
Intelligence, Intelligent Building Management, Customer-centric
Mobility, Sustainable Technologies. There is also a “wild card” option
for exciting topics that do not fit into any of these categories.
The BMW Startup Garage will evaluate all innovations submitted. The
startups chosen will be invited to pitch their solution in late July,
with the chance to win the BMW Group as a client. The final winners
will be recognised at the IAA Mobility in Munich in September. The
decisive factor in selecting startups and determining whether they
move on to the next round is how the solution contributes to
sustainability at the BMW Group in the defined innovation areas.
The winning startups will gain access to the BMW Startup Garage’s
venture client programme. Candidates will have the chance to learn
more about the programme and the seven areas they can apply in during
a one-hour virtual event held from 4-5 p.m. on 11 May. Registration
for the Challenge is now open on the BMW
Startup Garage website. All applications must be received no
later than 28 June.
BMW Group offers long-term collaboration and extensive network
The BMW Startup Garage shares ideas with more than 1,000 startups
in about 30 countries every year, seeking out innovations that deliver
real benefits for the BMW Group’s products, services, systems and
processes. This secures the company early access to innovations that
can be customised before they are ready to market.
In return, the startups gain valuable insights into automotive
processes and have the opportunity to build a network within the
company. They also receive assistance with refining their business
plan. The aim of the programme is to evaluate and enable startups as
suppliers and long-term partners for the BMW Group. Since the Startup
Garage was founded, more than 100 young technology companies with an
investment volume of over 2.8 billion US dollars have gone through the programme.
Extensive commitment to worldwide startup scene
The BMW Startup Garage is one of four pillars on which the BMW
Group bases its collaboration with startups around the world. Through
BMW i Ventures, the BMW
Group invests in fast-growing technology start-ups that can create
strategic value added for the company – focusing on areas including
digital vehicle technologies, autonomous driving and on-demand
mobility. BMW i Ventures secures the BMW Group access to the
technologies of the future.
To support sustainable startups and entrepreneurs, the BMW Foundation Herbert
Quandt launched the accelerator program RESPOND operated by
UnternehmerTUM. RESPOND is the world’s first accelerator program that
supports responsible leadership and thereby helps scale sustainable
business models for a better future in line with the UN Agenda 2030.
Since 2016, the MINI Startup Accelerator URBAN-X has worked with more than
60 startups whose innovations are making life in the city better, more
pleasant, more convenient, more sustainable or more experiential.
These startups are working on solutions for some of the biggest
problems facing cities around the globe, in categories such as
mobility, infrastructure, energy and recycling.