BMW i Ventures Fund is already making a difference in the highly competitive mobile applications market. The recently launched $100 million fund has been a proud supporter of the NYC Big Apps competition in 2011 which rewards the developers of the most creative, best implemented, and impactful applications for delivering information from the City of New York’s NYC.gov Data Mine to interested users.
This year’s winners were the folks from “Roadify”(www.roadify.com), an iPhone App that alerts users to the latest subway, bus, or driving conditions by adding real-time updates from commuters on top of official transit data.
Back in February, at the launch of the new i sub-brand, BMW also launched a venture fund. BMW plans to expand its range of mobility services over the years ahead.
To achieve this, a Venture Capital company was founded in New York City, BMW i Ventures, with an investment totaling up to 100 million US dollars.
The new venture fund is aimed at talent in the New York City area and likely in Silicon Valley that will help the company create an eco-system around the brand. The $100 million will be funding a wide range of mobile applications and connectivity solutions that will enhance the driving experience and connect the customers to their vehicles, and car-to-car communications.
New York-based My City Way is the first company in which BMW i Ventures has taken a stake.
Author: Horatiu B.
Source: http://www.bmwblog.com/2011/04/11/bmw-i ... mpetition/