Spotlight: BMWiVentures featured team member Inga Grieger

Inga, please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I grew up in an automotive city Stuttgart, Germany and always had a creative spirit, so I studied Industrial Design with a focus on Transportation Design.  Since then, I've spent over the last 17 years working in various positions across the automotive industry. I started as Head of Design in a leather factory for automotive and aviation leather. I then moved on to a large automotive supplier, where I was responsible for the design of new technologies in the pre-development department. After that, my dream finally came true to work when I began my role at BMW Design.

For the last 10 years, I’ve worked at BMW across various different roles--from design to innovation management to user experiences. Most recently, before joining the i Ventures team, I was the overall project manager for BMW’s My Modes, which was a feature successfully launched with BMW iX that enabled different ambient experiences for the car interior.

What do you focus on at BMW i Ventures?

At BMW i Ventures, I work as the Business Development Manager to build and strengthen the strategic collaboration between the portfolio companies and the BMW Group ecosystem. I serve as the connector between the BMW i Ventures portfolio companies and the BMW network. Additionally, in alignment with the investment areas for BMW i Ventures, I focus on the topic of sustainability.

What do you think are some ways that startups can best optimize their ability to work with a large corporation like BMW?

Startups are driven by their goal to implement their ideas and bring production-ready solutions to the market. For startups trying to get into a big corporation like BMW, it’s best to find someone within the organization who can make the relevant connections to the right persons across the organization.

That’s exactly where I step in. One of the primary ways I help startups is by connecting them with the right stakeholders and relevant departments. I also help startups by shepherding along pilot projects they may have with BMW.

What innovation topics are you most interested in?

From my past working experiences, there are two emerging trends that fascinate me.

The first is smart materials. Smart materials merge haptically beautiful materials with a technical aspect, such as lighting or sensing to make interactions with the materials a more compelling experience. They bring human machine interaction to the next level.

The second trend is virtual reality and mixed reality. These technologies are transforming not just the typical areas like gaming and e-sports but automotive as well.

What advice would you impart to entrepreneurs?

What I consider absolutely important for entrepreneurs is to focus on the customer. Only products that are customer-centric and solve a particular customer need can be successful. When designing a product, you should be able to clearly articulate the Unique Sales Proposition and take the time to constantly reflect on whether the product is actually meeting the customers’ expectations and needs.

What’s something interesting about yourself that most people may not know?

Whether it’s summer or winter, whether it’s for skiing or trail running, I enjoy all aspects of being outdoors in the mountains. My other passion is photography, which is a hobby I picked up while traveling the world. I love taking pictures, especially in the golden or blue hours when the lighting is most optimal for photography. I am particularly drawn to capturing architecture and mountain landscapes with my camera.