Marcus Behrendt and Kasper Sage, co-managing directors at BMW i Ventures, make up one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2026 Powerlist.
Automotive manufacturer BMW’s venture arm launched its third fund this year, adding $300m to target artificial intelligence technology that will change the face of the car industry.
“We very much believe AI will be a fundamental technology and therefore, a lot of things will build on top of it,” said Marcus Behrendt, one of BMW i Ventures’ two managing partners alongside peer Kasper Sage.
BMW i Ventures was launched in 2011 and invests in startups in North America and Europe, supplying up to $10m per initial investment up from seed to series B stage.
With the new fund BMW i Ventures now manages about $1.1bn. The capital influx does not mean it will increase the cash it provides in each transaction, but it does intend to back more startups at seed stage, a decision driven by valuations for AI companies that tend to get very high, very quickly.
The newly formed Fund III will invest in both hardware and software AI, prioritising physical AI technology that will enable robots and other autonomous machines to operate in real-world physical environments, and agentic AI software that can automate workflows in industrial environments.
The unit’s most recent investment is an example of how AI fits into BMW’s everyday activities. Earlier this month, it was part of a $40m series B round for Synera, a creator of software that combines AI agent technology with a large pool of manufacturing data, allowing changes to be iterated throughout the design process without making mistakes or producing inconsistencies.
For a carmaker, that means the ability to change parameters to car designs across the development process in a matter of minutes, rather than the weeks it would take to manually coordinate data, design tools and internal approvals, radically shortening the development of new vehicles.
“It’s a technology shift similar to maybe the rise of the internet,” said Sage, who was promoted to managing partner in 2021.
“We’re only just starting to scratch the surface of how AI will impact enterprise software, enterprise processes, organisational structures and so on. A lot of stuff is suddenly possible that wasn’t possible before because of the amount of work that would have had to go into it. Now, you can basically automate it away and focus on the things that are relevant, which is – what does this do for our business?”
Since its restructuring into a more independent fund model, BMW i Ventures has refined what many now consider the “gold standard” for corporate venturing: separate fund economics, carried interest for investors and governance that insulates investment decisions from internal politics. Over the past year, rather than changing this model, the team has stress-tested it, thereby proving it can scale across cycles, sectors and geographies.
The challenge is not access to deal flow or capital but maintaining relevance to BMW without compromising investment integrity. Too much strategic alignment risks bias; too little risks irrelevance.
BMW i Ventures’ answer has been pragmatic: enable portfolio companies to work with BMW where it creates mutual value but never require it.
The GCV Powerlist represents the 100 individuals spearheading the future of the corporate venturing industry.
These individuals excel in terms of their venturing approach and structure, number and quality of portfolio companies and in their contributions to the corporate venturing profession.
Here’s a snapshot of their recent deals:
