Startups are no longer just the plucky underdogs of the tech world. In today’s fast-paced industry, they’re even catching the attention of some of the largest players in the automotive industry.
Amid the over 7,000 startups mingled and networked during the 2022 Collision Conference in Toronto, a few familiar names kept popping up, including BMW. The company founded over a century ago to build airplane engines, motorcycles, and cars is right at home among the hopefuls and innovators.
However, consider apologizing if you thought BMW would follow tactics from the Google, Apple, or Amazon playbooks of buying up and investing in startups for their own gain. Here, the automaker sees itself as more of a client or customer rather than an overlord.
Advice over Acquisitions
“Our role is primarily about providing guidance,” said Bernhard Schambeck, Head of BMW Startup Garage. The automotive industry is a massive playing field worth trillions of dollars, and it can be intimidating for a startup or new supplier to jump in and understand the needs of the many automakers out there. The BMW Startup Garage is one way BMW gets involved with startups early to help. “Our program helps startups succeed, and it’s about many things from networking to business development and scaling their technology.”
He cites its work with Canadian startup Voiceflow, which creates artificial voice dialogues and conversations, which helped the automaker prototype and test its own in-car, voice-activated virtual assistant. Tight collaboration between BMW and Voiceflow helped to cut the development time of the new voice interface by fifty percent.
This kind of success benefits both BMW and the startup, and from the automaker’s perspective, getting involved early on with the startup is a big deal, which is why they attend and scout these kinds of tech conferences.
Scouting The Future of Automotive
Dr. Frank Moebius is the Head of Technology Management and Forecast at the BMW group, meaning he’s responsible for scouting out these opportunities. “To be a tech scout, you need an endless amount of curiosity,” he says about his job. He adds that the job requires good communication skills and a large phonebook full of open-minded experts to discuss the things he finds.
For example, an engineer at BMW Group would come up to Moebius and his team and ask, “What are the next generation of display technologies coming in?” The scouts would share information about the next five to ten years of displays from big suppliers like Samsung or Panasonic, as well as the smaller startups trying something new, innovative, risky and expensive.
“This is the ‘pull’ principle where we try to pull in a new startup or tech feature that we can use at BMW,” he explains, adding that the automaker would then work with the startup to make everything fit properly.
The alternative is the ‘push’ principle, which starts with a regular forecast of tech trends. “For example, one trend is the circular economy,” he explains. The circular economy is about reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible to reduce waste and improve a product’s global footprint. “While it’s not a traditional tech trend, it’s very important to support sustainability. To deal with this circular economy, we have to manage lots of technologies, recycling, materials, bio-materials, adhesives, all that stuff for dismantling.”
The automaker is looking at all industries, not just automotive, but space, health, and IT to see what they have, and if it can work in the spaces BMW operates in. One example it’s kept a close eye on is bioadhesives. “You’ll see in the next products, step-by-step we will increase our recyclability in the next few years,” he says.
See it Yourself
BMW Startup Garage Photo by BMW
Mobius points out some examples of where the BMW Startup Garage and Tech Scouting teams have found something new: sit in the new BMW iX EV and check out its wooden centre console. It’s translucent with light flowing through it, lighting up labels for the iDrive controller and other buttons. “This translucent wooden material, we had found it, scouted it from two different companies six or seven years ago,” he explains. “They weren’t designed for the automotive industry, but our scouts saw it and said ‘that’s cool, that could fit in our premium cars, let’s make a sample, let’s make a prototype!’ and so they developed it together to fit our needs.”
Schambeck says that the engineers at the Startup Garage are very hands-on, getting the material or product and taking it back to their offices to thoroughly check it out and provide feedback to the startup. He emphasizes that the startups they work with go beyond just technology but include fashion, where the automaker can share automotive-grade specifications to help them meet the needs of BMW or other companies. “This worked for us when we looked at leather alternatives that were originally found on handbags and shoes, and now they’re being worked into a car’s seats,” he explains.
Get a Seat at the Table
It all suggests there’s a huge opportunity for startups of all kinds to gain BMW as a partner. Fortunately, Schambeck shared a few pointers for those looking to make a strong impression on the automaker.
“If I had any advice for the startups it’s that they should listen to their clients, and listen to their requirements,” he said. “They must understand how to customize their product.” To clarify, he’s saying that startups should be flexible, shedding a mentality of ‘this is what we do, take it or leave it.’
Furthermore, he adds that the BMW engineers are a huge part of this process. They’re experts in their given field and aren’t easily impressed. “Sometimes, we get startups bringing in their business development guys rather than the people working on the product or tech. Don’t do that, it’s a waste of time since our engineers want to meet the Chief Technical Officer, or at least the CEO.” Their engineers want all the specifications, the details about a product or technology, and need the nitty-gritty to help them understand if there is a fit at BMW.
So, if you’re at a startup, or have a creative idea or two flowing, don’t hesitate to take these tips to heart: the next stop could be BMW Group HQ.
Keyword: BMW is scouting startups: Here’s why and how to get an invite