SAP.iO Foundry Accelerator: Helping Startups Turn Untapped Data into New Business Opportunities for SAP Customers

The world is constantly evolving, whole industries are emerging in revolutionary ways — all because of increasing amounts of accessible data which is changing the way we use and allocate resources. As a result, now more than ever before, there is a tremendous opportunity for enterprises to capture numerous sources of previously untapped data, which can then enable predictive decisions, and even drive or create whole new utilizations. If you’re anything like thousands of SAP customers, you know how valuable innovation is and the advantages of adopting groundbreaking solutions, early.

Startups innovate at lightning speed and have made their mark on the B2B space with their disruptive business models and daring technology-fueled visions. Yet, what they lack is the reliability, market recognition and proven track-record. This is why the SAP.iO Fund and Foundries were created, to act as a bridge between SAP customers and startup innovations within the larger and thriving SAP ecosystem. The unit’s mission is to invest, accelerate and incubate startup innovation that strategically expand the SAP ecosystem to create value for SAP customers.

“Our mission is to empower the innovators that will simplify and transform the way business operates. To execute against our mission, we accelerate startups that are changing the face of enterprise software,” said Alexa Gorman, SAP.iO Foundries EMEA Head.

The Foundries offer founder-friendly, equity-free programs which help startups scale through expert-led workshops on: Go-to-Market, Enterprise Sales, Growth Marketing, Funding, Technology Scaling, Pricing, Product Management, and Technical Integrations. Located across eight innovation hubs around the world, each Foundry runs annual startup acceleration programs with relevant themes for their markets and partners.

WIN-WIN

On the one hand, these selected startups are complementary to SAP’s product portfolio, filling whitespaces that help SAP customers get more value from the investments they have made or plan to make in SAP products, as well as access to curated startup innovation that is aligned to SAP solutions and quality standards.

On the other hand, SAP customers can learn about, explore, or pilot innovative startup solutions that use cutting edge technologies like AI, ML, and deep learning to address key challenges they’re facing today in areas like the future of work, supply chain, and data analytics.

SAP.iO FOUNDRY BERLIN 2020  PROGRAM

This year’s highly curated virtual program at the Foundry Berlin is developed to focus on the unique opportunities of Data and Analytics in the B2B space and is run in partnership with the SAP HANA & Analytics Team.

“Ultimately what customers want is to understand their business and what data can do for their business. Customers are often faced with the challenge that their data is hard to access or of poor quality. They need the tools and solutions to make decisions with confidence, knowing that the data they are using is accurate, high quality, and accessible,” explained Kate Wright, Product & Development VP at SAP.

At the program’s core are the executive mentors who provide invaluable insights and guidance to the startups throughout their time in-program and beyond.

“Business is faced today with massive amounts of data coming into their lines of business practically from everywhere; imagine it like a running faucet. There are so few means available to turn this untapped resource into business value for everyone. It’s truly important to think about how we can connect people to data so they can use it for the benefit of their customers. Data is vast, we need to tackle it with lots of imagination,” said Gerrit Kazmaier, Head of SAP HANA and Analytics.

• If you are a customer who wants early access to the startups and would like to be involved in the Foundries award-winning programs, then please reach out to the team (email address).
• If you’re a startup that is ready to bring your solutions to SAP’s 440K customers, then join us by applying here. Applications are open till July 15^th. The program will kick off in late September.

Follow SAP.iO to stay up-to-date on the program’s developments.