BMW UK has selected five startups for the 2018 edition of its Innovation Lab, now in its second year.

The startups selected include:

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  • Proximi.io: a platform for geo-targeted marketing and advertising;
  • Ocasta: a digital service studio;
  • Overfit: a platform applying analytics to HR;
  • EasyCar club: a p2p car and van hire service, part of EasyGroup; and
  • Dovu: a company using blockchain to enhance mobility’s circular economy.

The startups, which were selected from a shortlist of 21 companies, will undertake a 10-week residency programme at BMW’s UK headquarters in Hampshire. In March, they will pitch their ideas to executives across the group’s Financial Services, Alphabet and BMW UK divisions.

Annina Koskiola, co-founder and chief executive officer of Proximi.io, said: “The potential to use data to create geo-targeted experiences which bridge the digital and physical worlds – from retail to construction, entertainment to education – are endless.

“We are excited to explore some of these applications with BMW for its 2018 Innovation Lab. Working symbiotically with a large, global business is the dream for start-ups such as ourselves. It offers us unparalleled insight into how they operate, what pain points need to be solved and how we can develop truly innovative solutions together.”

Mike Dennett, chief executive officer at BMW Financial Services, said: “The auto industry will see more change in the next 10 years than it has seen in the last 20. We need to act now and go beyond the vehicle to ensure we deliver the best services for customers now and in the future.

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“We’re excited about the possibilities new technologies offer; from geo-targeting data platforms to vehicle-sharing applications. The Lab is an opportunity for us to engage with start-ups and incorporate their proprietary technology into our own business, allowing us to cater for customer needs today, while ensuring services are future-proofed for the customer of tomorrow.”

“There is also a secondary goal the Innovation Lab creates for us: building agility into our own organisation. Innovation is just as much about the process as it is the end result, and we have a lot to learn from start-ups’ way of thinking and working. The inaugural Lab in 2016 went a long way to adapting our mindset and improving our operations. We hope that through collaboration, the Innovation Lab will continue to leave a legacy of entrepreneurial thinking across our business.”

The 2016 Innovation Lab included companies like vehicle database Cazana, loan servicing suite Divido and mobility platform Drover.