Boost your competitiveness with top startups!

Why top startups?
Top startups solve critical challenges with unique
IP & billions of Venture Capital.

How do I gain competitiveness
from top startups?
By adopting their solutions
through partnerships and acquisitions.

What vehicle enables me to adopt
top startup solutions, fast and at low risk?
A corporate Venture Client Unit,
as shown by global players such as BMW.

Top startups are critical for the competitiveness of any company

Top startups have unique and protected Intellectual Property to solve complex problems fast.
Top startups leverage billions of Venture Capital to transform their IP with top teams into top products that solve your problems fast.
Companies that leverage top startups harness significant revenue and profitability growth.

Gain competitiveness from top startups through a Venture Client Unit

A Venture Client Unit is a transformative corporate venturing vehicle, as proven at global players such as BMW.
A Venture Client Unit enables to attract top startups and to adopt their solutions fast at low risk through partnerships and M&A.
The Venture Client Unit metrics are ground-breaking. No other corporate venturing tool can match the speed at which it impacts revenue and profits!

How do I establish a state-of-the-art Venture Client Unit?
By working with 27pilots!

What we do

27pilots sets up Venture Client units.

We create your Venture Client unit

We get your organization up and running FAST … so you can benefit from startup solutions in matter of just a few weeks.

To quickly set up your state-of-the-art Venture Client unit:

  • We develop a startup strategy that meets your specific needs.
  • We provide the world’s best process and resources required to operate a world-class corporate Venture Client unit.
  • We integrate Venture Client capabilities with the current processes, resources and culture.
  • We enable the internal Venture Client unit team and stakeholders to operate and manage the corporate Venture Client unit.

27pilots operates Venture Client units.

We operate your Venture Client unit

We are the leading Venture Client Services provider. We have proven that we can operate Venture Client units hands-on with the highest standards:

  • We brand and promote your Venture Client unit within your organization and the global startup ecosystem.
  • We help to identify critical challenges across your entire organization.
  • We attract top global startups to solve problems you know, and those you haven’t thought about.
  • We evaluate startups, negotiate and manage pilots.
  • We scale the adoption of startup solutions with the best resources, including software and data, so your Venture Client unit generates a high, measurable strategic impact via top startups at a positive ROI.

Your organization already runs a Venture Client unit and you are looking for ways to improve it? Or your company runs another startup program and you would  like to implement Venture Client capabilities? We can also help to improve and adapt existing units.

Find out more about our services

Who we are

We invented the Venture Client model, and are the world’s leading provider of Venture Client Enterprise Services. At 27pilots, we believe in results. That is why we closely track and monitor the success of all our actions. We set clear objectives and deliver data-driven reports. This is how we can effectively communicate about the unit, streamline operations as well as facilitate long-term planning.

Find out more about us

Gregor Gimmy, founder and managing director at 27pilots

Gregor

Gregor Gimmy is a founder & managing director at 27pilots. His focus is to establish the Venture Client model as the leading global Corporate Venturing tool.

Prior to 27pilots, Gregor spent 6 years at BMW. He joined to establish an internal innovation strategy team known as BMW Innovation Works. After identifying the opportunity that BMW could benefit strategically from scaling the adoption of startup solutions, he invented the Venture Client model and implemented it through the BMW Startup Garage. Prior to BMW, Gregor started various VC funded ventures in Silicon Valley and Europe. Early in his career, Gregor worked at IDEO (Palo Alto), which he helped transform into a strategic innovation consultancy, and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.

Gregor is an active angel investor, Executive in Residence at the IMD Business School, guest lecturer at INSEAD business school and frequent speaker at conferences such as Slush, 4YFN and DLD.

Gregor studied at TU Stuttgart, Harvard and the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.

Gregor's LinkedIn

Matthias Meyer, founder and managing director at 27pilots

Matthias

Matthias Meyer is a founder and managing director at 27pilots. He focuses on setup and operation of Venture Client units to scale the adoption of startup solutions for our corporate clients.

Before 27pilots, he was founder and head of the BMW Startup Garage. He was co-inventor of the Venture Client model to leverage the innovation source startups for corporates. Starting within the BMW R&D department he grew the BMW Startup Garage to a BMW Group-wide platform for startup collaborations.

In his 14-year long career with BMW, he held several roles in innovation management and strategy. He led the BMW innovation process and innovation controlling. He pioneered Open Innovation at BMW R&D. He has strong experience in product development and led projects from idea to worldwide market launch.

Matthias is a frequent speaker at conferences and holds an MBA in Innovation & Business Creation from TU Munich and UC Berkeley. Prior he studied Safety Engineering and received a Ph.D. degree.

Matthias's LinkedIn

Ana Carolina Alex, founder and managing director at 27pilots

Carolina

Carolina Alex is a founder & managing director at 27pilots. Her focus is to build a culture at 27pilots corporate customers that embraces collaboration with startups, and to assure a singular Venture Client experience for the startup and corporate teams.

Before 27pilots, she was Lead Program Manager at BMW Startup Garage. Carolina was instrumental in executing on the Venture Client vision and managed numerous startup projects.

Carolina holds a Master Degree in Entrepreneurship & Innovation Management from TU Berlin and Warsaw School of Economics.

Carolina's LinkedIn

Maximilian Marquart, founder and managing director at 27pilots

Maximilian

Maximilian Marquart is a founder & managing director at 27pilots. He is responsible for the Product Development especially for the Venture Client System and the Venture Client Process. Through intelligent use of software, he constantly aims to further improve the scalability, quality and impact of the Venture Client Services.

Prior to 27pilots, Max spent three years at diverse BMW plants to develop innovative production processes and three years at BMW’s innovation management department where he coordinated innovation workshops between incumbent suppliers and the BMW Group Board. At the BMW Startup Garage, Max was instrumental to further develop Venture Client the Venture Client processes and software tools.

Max is passionate about new technologies and envisions to leverage the efficiency of modern production processes within innovation management.

Maximilian holds an Engineering Master from TU Munich, and a Ph.D. in Product and Production Engineering from RWTH Aachen and ETH Zurich. He holds eight patents.

Maximilian's LinkedIn

Success stories from our clients!

We have been trusted by global leaders of varying industries to set up and operate their Venture Client units. From manufacturing companies to service providers, from centralized to decentralized organizations, 27pilots understands the complexity of multinational corporations.

Logo of BMW Group

BMW Group

As a leading provider of individual premium mobility, the BMW Group is always looking for the latest trends and technologies. The collaboration with startups is more important than ever. Therefore, in 2015, the BMW Startup Garage was founded. As the Venture Client unit of the BMW Group, the BMW Startup Garage enables to identify and adopt cutting edge solutions from top startups worldwide for all divisions in a very fast way. In order to increase the number of startups in the program continuously, the BMW Group also works with external partners such as 27pilots.

Go to BMW Venture Client Unit

Logo of BSH Hausgeräte GmbH

BSH Group

BSH Startup Kitchen is the Venture Client unit of BSH. BSH Hausgeräte GmbH is one of the world's leading companies in the home appliance sector and the largest home appliance manufacturer in Europe. Alongside the global brands Bosch and Siemens as well as Gaggenau and Neff, the brand portfolio includes the local brands Thermador, Balay, Profilo, Constructa, Pitsos, and Zelmer.

Go to BSH Venture Client Unit

Logo of LafargeHolcim

LafargeHolcim

LH Startup MAQER is the Venture Client unit of LafargeHolcim. Headquartered in Switzerland, LafargeHolcim is the leading global building materials and solutions company, with around 75.000 employees in around 80 countries. LafargeHolcim experts solve the challenges that customers face around the world, whether they are building individual homes or major infrastructure projects.

Go to LafargeHolcim Venture Client Unit

SIGNAL IDUNA Gruppe

signals Startup Client is the Venture Client Unit of SIGNAL IDUNA Gruppe. Signal Iduna is one of the largest insurance companies in Germany with roughly 10,000 employees, more than 100 years of experience and € 5.6 billion of revenue from more than 12 million customers. Its product portfolio ranges from health to homeowner insurance, from disability to life insurance, from legal protection to travel insurance. Signal Iduna provides value-added services that complement its core products and increase the overall satisfaction of its customers.

Go to Signal Iduna Venture Client unit

Get in touch!

Are you a startup with a unique IP and VC funding? Do you want to become a partner to global industry leaders? Head over to our Venture Client units and find out if they are looking for a startup like yours.

Is your company ready to become a leading Venture Client and attract great startups that solve critical challenges within your organisation?

Does your VC have an interesting pool of talented startups? Or are you looking for new ways to find top startups who already managed to get Venture Clients like BMW, BSH or LafargeHolcim?

Get in touch with us!