More than 130 attendees, including VCs, SAP customers and partners, and SAP senior executives attended Demo Day and heard pitches from the 7 HR SAP.iO startups.
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In 2017, SAP.iO, an open innovation model enabling visionary startups to use the power of SAP data, APIs, platform technologies and new business models, launched its two components, the SAP.iO Fund, and SAP.iO Foundries. The SAP.iO Fund invests in external, early-stage enterprise software startups that enable SAP customers to realize the new, highly incremental value to investments in SAP solutions. The SAP.iO Foundries are SAP’s global network of top-tier startup programs, including accelerators that enable startups to build innovative software that delivers value for SAP customers.
Since its launch, SAP.iO Fund and Foundries have driven early stage startup innovation helping its customers win in their markets. To date, SAP.iO has over 125 startups in more than 8 locations across 25+ industries. Last year, SAP.iO Foundry launched a demo event for nine female-led startups in New York.
Der Softwarehersteller SAP eröffnete kürzlich in München einen neuen Standort seines Startup-Accelerators SAP-Foundry. Für das Accelerator-Programm werden bis 1. Juli B2B-Startups gesucht, die E-Commerce-Lösungen oder Anwendungen für Multichannel-Kundenbindung entwickeln.
1. Ram, SAP is a purpose-led organization. What is one thing you do, in life or business, that demonstrates this?
I am often asked why we are doing this. Well, fundamental to everything we do is for our customers’ benefit, which is in turn reflected in business performance. It turns out that these groups of founders, such as women and minorities who have traditionally been ‘underinvested in’, consistently deliver high business returns, because they are building solutions that customers want. It makes sense to prioritize and emphasize our efforts and investments to support these groups – they’re doing all the right things.
As managing director of SAP.iO, I have global responsibility for supporting early-stage external startups through our unique mix of investments and incubation. As part of this, I am extremely proud to be driving SAP.iO No Boundaries, our commitment to supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs in business to business tech, through which we have pledged to support more than 200 select, high potential B2B tech startups by 2023.
Some critics ask if we have lowered the bar. My response to that is absolutely not! It simply means we need to search harder to find these entrepreneurs because they generally don’t have the access or the network to find funding or customer introductions that other groups typically enjoy. So it’s not about giving special favors, but it’s about ensuring we are able to hear their voices.
I personally know of the struggles and hurdles that women or other underrepresented entrepreneurs in tech face – in building a network, getting funding, attracting customers and being taken seriously. I personally know women who were told ‘You don’t need an investor, you need a rich boyfriend’, ‘I can’t invest in someone if they are going to have a family at some point’, or even (believe it or not) ‘You won’t date an investor? Sorry, I can’t work with you’.
As an entrepreneur and innovator, myself, this one is personal for me and we need to change the status quo!
2. Ram, who is the one person you consistently read and why?
One person who I consistently read, and follow is Horace Dediu (@asymco), author of the asymco blog and an expert on how innovations are absorbed by markets, and why some platforms end up winning. Horace combines a structured way of thinking with deep content expertise that results in foresight on how the future will evolve, including in areas such as mobile computing and the future of transport (e.g., micro-mobility, electric vehicles). He then tests these predictions over time with a rigorous, data-driven approach, but also notes: “All great insights I’ve ever seen have come from n=1 [data points]”.
I first discovered Horace in 2009 when I stumbled onto his initial blog post where he shared his predictions (starting from 2007) how Nokia / like competitors would evolve through 2014. And, as the years evolved, his predictions came to be stunningly prescient. He ended his first post in this way:
“The key takeaway from this analysis is that the industry standard product cycle for an integrated, platform-based product is 5 to 8 years and if one competitor can achieve a 2 to 3 year cycle, then the more nimble competitor can “turn inside” the industry and, within two cycles, dominate it. Although smaller competitors are able to turn product faster, they are usually unable to sustain the platform heavy lifting (which takes an order of magnitude more effort/assets).”
I think all of us at SAP can recognize parallels to what’s happening in enterprise software, and the importance for SAP to run nimble and simple. And I’ve been hooked since.
3. What is one life lesson that you’d share with your younger self.
About Ram Jambunathan
Ram is the Managing Director of SAP.iO. In this role, Ram is responsible for the SAP.iO Fund, which makes direct investments into early stage startups and the SAP.iO Foundries, a global network of top-tier, primarily zero-equity ask startup acceleration programs for startups in areas strategic to SAP. Ram has been with SAP for 10 years, leading various strategic initiatives. Before joining SAP, Ram was consultant at McKinsey & Co., a founder of T-Networks (now part of Broadcom), and a Member of Technical Research & Development at Lucent Technologies. Ram has more than 5 patents and more than 10 peer-reviewed publications, and received his doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan Ann-Arbor. In his spare time, Ram practices freestyle rapping about SAP.iO.
Follow @ramjets
SAP is removing obstacles that can get in the way of a startup going from idea to real business. The technology vendor is now providing resources for would-be entrepreneurs through a startup incubator called SAP.iO. The program, which launched in 2017, offers investment and resources — technical and business — for emerging startup companies.
Originally published on Medium by Dima Durah
A typical SAP.iO Foundry program spans over 12-weeks and consists of one-on-one mentor meetings, focused workshops, executive visits, SAP customer visits, weekly status-update sessions, individual IT support and technical integration sessions (we have a dedicated expert on the team), individual business development sessions (we also have a dedicated BD expert on the team), a sprinkling of community events…all leading to Demo Day and it’s legendary after-party.
With SAP.iO Foundry, our mission is to help startups build “with” SAP, via integrations or APIs and provide startups with unprecedented exposure to SAP’s +400K customers. It’s no secret that Inclusive Entrepreneurship is high up on SAP.iO Fund and Foundries list of priorities and a big part of our mission. We want to empower women and minority entrepreneurs to build successful businesses around SAP.
We put together the #Noboundaries initiative to execute programs that can have real impact. After 3 months of planning and doubling our team size in EMEA, we’re excited to officially kickoff our Women and Diverse-led Tech Enterprise Acceleration program on Tuesday, 28 May in Berlin.
Below is an overview of what is planned for the next 12-weeks at the #FoundryBerlin.
More and more workshops, talks, and visits keep being added to the program. Our basic “programing” blocks are split into 4 segments each focused on a fundamental piece of a startup’s acceleration journey with SAP.
Are you ready for the next 12-weeks?
Behind this audacious plan, is a small yet effective team (small input, outsized output). The familiar faces/suspects are now joined by two new members — who have been working tirelessly to build a program that executes 1. on SAP.iO’s overarching mission and 2. adds real-value to the startups’ journey with and beyond SAP.
Our two latest additions to the team on the ground in Berlin are: Astrid Freier,SAP.iO Foundry Berlin Head and Miroslav Dimitrov, Foundry Berlin Program Manager.
We sat down with Astrid and Miroslav to find out their motives behind joining the #iOfamily and what they’re bringing to the table in terms of expertise, skills, and hidden talents.
Q. What made you decide to join the SAP.iO Foundry Berlin?
Astrid: I am a believer in the SAP.iO Foundry concept because it is a frontrunner for forward looking business models. The combination of: fund, accelerator, and the expertise of SAP and its customers with the added emphasis on “no boundaries initiative is very unique.
Miroslav:What first captured me was the mission — helping innovators inside and outside of SAP build products, find customers and change industries. It is very rare to have the opportunity to work with industry leading companies as well as small and innovative startups. Then, I got to meet the team behind this big initiative and I immediately know that I had to be part of it. Frankly, I cannot think of a better job that satisfies all my interests and at the same time gives me the opportunity to wear so many different hats.
Q. How can your unique background, set of skills, expertise, or network help the Foundries’ startups?
Astrid: I am excited to bring in my holistic view of business model and tech and financing/VC to help scale sustainable businesses.
Miroslav: My experience spans from being a consultant, helping our customers implement SAP software, to being part of the Presales Business Architect team, dedicated to advise our strategic customers in Eastern Europe with their digital transformation roadmaps and strategies. Therefore, I believe I can help them with b2b sales, business case development and GTM strategy.
Q. What is a SaaS tech trend/breakthrough you’re most excited about?
Astrid: There is still a lot of unlocked potential in AI and ML, especially when it comes to strategic customer value. If we can prove how much value was provided this will help our clients’ organizations align their marketing, sales, customer success, and product initiatives around these measurers to really drive customer value creation.
Miroslav: Not a SaaS trend, but it is tech trend I am most excited about. Quantum computing. Although in its very early stages, I believe that this emerging technology would bring incremental change to a range of industries like automotive, chemicals, pharmaceutical and financial services, to name a few. In the long run, it could make the fastest supercomputer today look like an abacus. However, there is still a (very) long way to go.
Q. Who is your role model or #lifegoals?
Astrid: Ada Lovelance Byron, a mathematician of 19th century, who worked on Charloes Babbage’s proposed mechanical general-purpose computer.
Miroslav: Fictional one — James Bond (Daniel Craig), If you think about it, he operates in startup mode — he always ends up doing 90% of the work alone and he does it in style.
Q. Name a book that influenced you beyond words?
Astrid: It is Marc Uwe Kling’s Quality Landbecause he tries to think about our digital society in a futuristic way.
Miroslav: Skin in the game. I like how Nassim Taleb is arguing for/ ‘pro’ the idea that decision makers in all fields should be more accountable of the consequences of their actions — both positive and negative.
***
Prior to joining SAP.iO:
Astrid established and managed the digital ecosystem for Deutsche Bank across Germany’s major startup hubs. In addition to her corporate career, Astrid is also a founder focusing on AI and ML regulatory solutions for banking and insurance industries.
Miroslav is joining us from our field organization unit. He spent 3 years at SAP Bulgaria advising our strategic customers on their transformation projects. Before his stint at SAP, Miroslav was an SAP consultant team lead and project manager working on international implementations across Europe.
Moving to the US when he was just twelve years old, from Saint Lucia, he worked hard through school and college, landing a coveted job on Wall Street. But for Rhoden, he was yet to find his true calling. “While working for one of the largest banks in the world was rewarding, it felt like something was missing, and I tried to fill the void by working harder, but it wasn’t the answer.”
The SAP.iO Foundry Munich officially launched on May 14th with a gathering of over 100 executives, entrepreneurs, collaborators, and colleagues. Philippe Souidi, Head the new Foundry, moderated the program, which featured insights from Alexa Gorman (SVP, Head of SAP.iO Foundries Europe), Moritz Zimmermann (Chef Technology Officer, SAP Customer Experience), and Eugenio Cassiano (Chief Innovation Officer, SAP Customer Experience).
Un véritable tremplin commercial : voilà l’idée derrière la deuxième saison de la SAP.iO Foundry Paris, qui a débuté le 4 avril dernier. Huit startups spécialistes du retail et de l’expérience client se sont lancées dans une intense préparation de dix semaines dans le but de se faire une place dans la galaxie de services associés à l’écosystème de solutions de gestion d’entreprise SAP. “Nous souhaitons leur donner toutes les cartes pour qu’elles se développent sur le marché de SAP”, appuie Sébastien Gibier, directeur de SAP.iO Foundry Paris.
At SAP.iO, we believe that a small input can have a big output. Every day, we help entrepreneurs grow their businesses and deliver solutions that help our 404k+ customers win in a rapidly changing world.
Building a diverse ecosystem of startups around SAP is vital to our customers’ success, which is why we launched SAP.iO No Boundaries, the first inclusive entrepreneurship initiative in the enterprise tech industry. We are on-track to deliver on SAP’s bold commitment to fund or accelerate 200 startups founded by underrepresented entrepreneurs by 2023 and recognize that access to capital is just one component of building a world with no boundaries.
An inclusive ecosystem needs to run differently — and The Riveter is redefining co-working with its network built by women, for everyone. Their founder, Amy Nelson, sums it up perfectly: “Our plan isn’t dealing with existing power dynamics, but rather building a new one.”
Just like The Riveter, we roll up our sleeves and get to work — funding and accelerating companies one-by-one. Our team meets entrepreneurs where they are and provides customized and relevant support to help them thrive. Founders like Shirley Chen (Narrativ) and Jasmine Crowe (Goodr) shared their journeys with the audience at SAP’s annual SAPPHIRE NOW conference and represent the success of over 125 of our alumni who are shaping the future of enterprise tech.
Austin is a hotbed for innovation and we’re looking to discover innovative enterprise tech startups that are focused on Health and Experience Management — the focus of this year’s SAP.iO Foundries Fall Cohorts in New York and San Francisco. The extraordinary business leaders that win the competition will be awarded exclusive, fast-track access to the SAP.iO Foundries Cohorts selection committee, along with membership to The Riveter.
There is so much genius out there waiting to solve urgent challenges and our hope is that our partnership with The Riveter will build bridges to new communities and uncover exceptional startup innovation. Our Austin Pitch Competition will take place this Thursday, June 13 at The Riveter’s incredible space. Join us in Austin and share this with anyone you know who may be interested.
Die SAP sucht Start-ups, die E-Commerce-Lösungen oder Anwendungen für Multichannel-Kundenbindung entwickeln. Diese Lösungen werden dann über die SAP Cloud Platform Extension Factory an SAP-Customer-Experience-Lösungen angebunden. Mehr zum Accelerator-Programm.
Moritz Zimmermann ist seit mehr als 20 Jahren Unternehmer. Direkt nach der Uni gründete er gemeinsam mit Kollegen die Firma hybris, die auf E-Commerce- und Omnichannel-Lösungen spezialisiert ist und im Jahr 2013 von SAP übernommen wurde. Zimmermann ist bekennender Fan neuer Technologien und der Start-up-Mentalität.
In support of SAP’s commitment to the United Nation’s Global Goals, SAP.iO Foundries are supporting underrepresented founders in B2B tech. Meet the SAP.iO Foundry Berlin startup cohort and find out what drives them.
In January 2019, SAP announced SAP.iO No Boundaries, the first comprehensive, inclusive entrepreneurship initiative for underrepresented entrepreneurs in the business software industry, with a goal to support at least 200 startups around the world by 2023 founded or led by underrepresented entrepreneurs, including up to 40 percent of the investable capital in the SAP.iO Fund.
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Um das eigene Produktangebot zu erweitern, setzt der Walldorfer Software-Entwickler auf Kontakte zu Start-ups. So organisieren mehrere internationale Förderprogramme des Konzerns jeweils für drei Monate Workshops und Mentoren-Treffen für junge internationale Unternehmen, die sich mit Software- und Tech-Innovationen befassen. Seit einer Woche arbeitet die sogenannte SAP.io-Foundry in Berlin mit sechs Start-ups, die speziell für Vielseitigkeit im Gründerteam stehen, wie der Konzern heute bekannt gab.
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SAP, one of the world’s biggest enterprise software companies, is about to launch its first startup accelerator in Asia and has picked Japan for its first foothold in the region. While many large corporations see uprising startups as threats, SAP is developing a unique model that works for customers, the startups and itself.
The Japan accelerator will start in July. The application process for the Japanese program has closed, and there are more than 50 applications, from which SAP will select six to eight startups for the program.
Ram Jambunathan, managing director at SAP.iO, the Germany-based technology company’s business unit focused on incubating innovation, recently talked to the Nikkei Asian Review about what startups they seek in Japan and SAP’s ambitious game plan in Asia.
SAP SE and Rawabi Tech Hub are proud to announce the winner of the SAP.iO Rawabi Startup Challenge 2019 which supports rising stars of B2B Tech. UBConnect advanced through multiple qualification rounds held over seven weeks to select the most ground-breaking innovation from a field of competitive contenders. UBConnect is now eligible for six months of SAP mentorship, and will be assessed for SAP.iO Fund investment as well as the SAP.iO Foundry Programs.
