Summary Prospectus by Investment Company (Form 497K)

BNY Mellon Variable Investment Fund: Small Cap Portfolio (formerly, Opportunistic Small Cap Portfolio)

Summary Prospectus | May 1, 2026

Initial Shares
Service Shares

Before you invest, you may want to review the fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund's prospectus and other information about the fund, including the statement of additional information and most recent reports to shareholders, online at www.bny.com/variable. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-373-9387 (inside the U.S. only) or by sending an e-mail request to [email protected]. The fund's prospectus and statement of additional information, dated May 1, 2026 (each as revised or supplemented), are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.

The fund seeks capital growth.

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and examples below. These figures also do not reflect any fees or charges imposed by participating insurance companies under their Variable Annuity contracts (VA contracts) or Variable Life Insurance policies (VLI policies), and, if such fees and/or charges were included, the fees and expenses would be higher.

Example

The Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then hold or redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain the same. The Example does not reflect fees and expenses incurred under VA contracts and VLI policies; if they were reflected, the figures in the Example would be higher. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Portfolio Turnover

The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was 67.75% of the average value of its portfolio.

To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in the stocks of small cap companies. The fund currently considers small cap companies to be those companies with market

capitalizations that fall within the market capitalization range of companies comprising the Russell 2000^® Index, the fund's benchmark index. As of February 28, 2026, the market capitalizations of the smallest and largest companies in the index were approximately $1.5 million and $39.258 billion, respectively, and the weighted average and median market capitalizations of the index were approximately $5.236 billion and $1.009 billion, respectively.

The fund's sub-adviser, Newton Investment Management North America, LLC, an affiliate of BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, Inc., selects stocks for the fund's portfolio based primarily on bottom-up fundamental analysis. The sub-adviser uses a disciplined investment process that relies, in general, on proprietary fundamental research and valuation. Generally, elements of the process include analysis of a company's business prospects, estimation of the company's value and the identification of events or a catalyst that could cause the estimated value of the company to change. In general, the fund seeks exposure to stocks and sectors that the fund's sub-adviser perceives to be attractive from a valuation and fundamental standpoint.

The fund typically sells a stock when, in the sub-adviser's view, it approaches intrinsic value, a significant deterioration of fundamental expectations develops, the revaluation catalyst becomes impaired based on subsequent events or a better risk/reward opportunity is presented in the marketplace.

An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit. It is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. It is not a complete investment program. The fund's share price fluctuates, sometimes dramatically, which means you could lose money.

· Risks of stock investing: Stocks generally fluctuate more in value than bonds and may decline significantly over short time periods. There is the chance that stock prices overall will decline because stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and falling prices. The market value of a stock may decline due to general market conditions or because of factors that affect the particular company or the company's industry.

· Small and midsize company risk: Small and midsize companies carry additional risks because the operating histories of these companies tend to be more limited, their earnings and revenues less predictable (and some companies may be experiencing significant losses), and their share prices more volatile than those of larger, more established companies. These companies may have limited product lines, markets or financial resources, or may depend on a limited management group. Investments may be made in anticipation of future products, services or events whose delay or cancellation could cause the stock price to drop. The shares of smaller companies tend to trade less frequently than those of larger, more established companies, which can adversely affect the pricing of these securities and the fund's ability to sell these securities.

· Growth and value stock risk: By investing in a mix of growth and value companies, the fund assumes the risks of both. Investors often expect growth companies to increase their earnings at a certain rate. If these expectations are not met, investors can punish the stocks inordinately, even if earnings do increase. Value stocks involve the risk that they may never reach their expected full market value, either because the market fails to recognize the stock's intrinsic worth or the expected value was misgauged.

· Market risk: The value of the securities in which the fund invests may be affected by political, regulatory, economic and social developments, and developments that impact specific economic sectors, industries or segments of the market. In addition, turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in equity, credit and/or fixed-income markets may negatively affect many issuers, which could adversely affect the fund. Global economies and financial markets are becoming increasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in one country, region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. These risks may be magnified if certain events or developments adversely interrupt the global supply chain; in these and other circumstances, such risks might affect companies world-wide. Local, regional or global events such as war, military conflicts, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, recessions, elevated levels of government debt, changes in trade regulation or economic sanctions, internal unrest and discord, or other events could have a significant impact on the fund and its investments.

· Liquidity risk: When there is little or no active trading market for specific types of securities, it can become more difficult to sell the securities in a timely manner at or near their perceived value. In such a market, the value of such securities and the fund's share price may fall dramatically. Investments that are illiquid or that trade in lower volumes may be more difficult to value. The market for below investment grade securities may be less liquid and therefore these securities may be harder to value, buy or sell at an acceptable price, especially during times of market volatility or decline. Investments in foreign securities, particularly those of issuers located in emerging markets, tend to have greater exposure to liquidity risk than domestic securities. No active trading market may exist for some of the floating rate loans in which the fund invests and certain loans may be subject to restrictions on resale. Because some floating rate loans that the fund invests in may have a more limited secondary market, liquidity risk is more pronounced for the fund than for mutual funds that invest primarily in other types of fixed-income instruments or equity securities. Liquidity risk also may refer to the risk that the fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period stated in this prospectus because of unusual market conditions, including

those resulting in a significant amount of the fund's assets becoming illiquid, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons.

· Management risk: The investment process used by the fund's sub-adviser could fail to achieve the fund's investment goal and cause your fund investment to lose value.

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the performance of the fund's Initial shares from year to year. The table compares the average annual total returns of the fund's shares to those of the Russell 2000^® Index and the Russell 2000^® Value Index, indices reflecting the market segments in which the fund invests, and the Russell 3000^® Index, a broad measure of market performance.The fund's past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Performance for each share class will vary due to differences in expenses. More recent performance information may be available at www.bny.com/investments.

Performance information reflects the fund's expenses only and does not reflect the fees and charges imposed by participating insurance companies under their VA contracts or VLI policies. Because these fees and charges will reduce total return, policyowners should consider them when evaluating and comparing the fund's performance. Policyowners should consult the prospectus for their contract or policy for more information.

^* Effective December 31, 2025, the Russell 2000^® Value Index was added as a performance benchmark for the fund.

The fund's investment adviser is BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, Inc. (BNYIA). BNYIA has engaged its affiliate, Newton Investment Management North America, LLC (NIMNA), to serve as the fund's sub-adviser.

Andrew Leger and Gregory P. Manley, CFA, are the fund's primary portfolio managers. Mr. Leger has been a portfolio manager of the fund since September 2021 and is a portfolio manager at NIMNA. Mr. Manley has been a portfolio manager of the fund since July 2025 and is a portfolio manager at NIMNA.

Fund shares are offered only to separate accounts established by insurance companies to fund VA contracts and VLI policies. Individuals may not purchase shares directly from, or place sell orders directly with, the fund. The VA contracts and the VLI policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by the participating insurance companies, over which the fund assumes no responsibility. Policyowners should consult the prospectus of the separate account of the participating insurance company for more information about buying, selling (redeeming) or exchanging fund shares.

The fund's distributions are taxable as ordinary income or capital gains. Since the fund's shareholders are the participating insurance companies and their separate accounts, the tax treatment of dividends and distributions will depend on the tax status of the participating insurance company. Accordingly, no discussion is included as to the federal personal income tax consequences to policyowners. For this information, policyowners should consult the prospectus of the separate account of the participating insurance company or their tax advisers.

If you purchase shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as an insurance company), the fund's distributor and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of fund shares and related services. To the extent that the intermediary may receive lesser or no payments in connection with the sale of other investments, the payments from the fund's distributor and its related companies may create a potential conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial representative to recommend the fund over the other investments. This potential conflict of interest may be addressed by policies, procedures or practices adopted by the financial intermediary. As there may be many different policies, procedures or practices adopted by different intermediaries to address the manner in which compensation is earned through the sale of investments or the provision of related services, the compensation rates and other payment arrangements that may apply to a financial intermediary and its representatives may vary by intermediary. Ask your financial representative or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.

This prospectus does not constitute an offer or solicitation in any state or jurisdiction in which, or to any person to whom, such offering or solicitation may not lawfully be made.