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In Article, Inclusiveness

Gentry Women in Tech Conference 2019

On June 20th, SAP.iO & SAP presented the Gentry Women in Tech Conference 2019, themed: INVESTING IN FUTURE LEADERS in Palo Alto. It brought together some of Silicon Valley’s leading VCs, C-Suite Executives, Founders, and Entrepreneurs. The conference spotlighted innovative and creative ways women in technology are forging their careers and fostering up-and-coming women in the tech space. The packed agenda was kicked off by Judith Williams, Head of People Sustainability and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer @SAP and emceed by Diane Dwyer, Emmy-Award winning journalist. Anita Sands, Board Member @Symantec, Service Now, and Pure Storage gave an impressive speech on what “being a women in tech” means and how important it is to ensure more equality by shaping a diverse future in tech. She also encouraged the audience to focus on the 5 “A”s (ASK, ADVERTISE, AMPLIFY, ADVOCATE and ASSERT), in other words and bottom line: “If you don’t ask you don’t get and who gets the credit does matter”.  

Next was a great fireside chat with Anna Brockway, President and Co-Founder @ Charish and an insightful panel with another group of inspiring leaders including Jennifer Pardini (Moderator), Sr. Editor @ Gentry, Keri Yen NG, former VP Quality/Regulatory/Clinical @Willow, Meredith Hoffer, Director of Marketing @Google Search, Robyn Sue Fisher, Founder & Chief Brrrista @ Smitten Ice Cream and Sarah Schaaf, Attorney and Founder @Headnote. Main takeaway was to “drop the rubber balls and keep on juggling the glass ones”.

The afternoon continued with a discussion on THE POWER OF NEGOTIATION with Rachel Forin, PhD, CEO @Terapore as well as Derek Blazensky, Partner @ The Pareto Group, followed by the BUILDING A PERSONAL BOARD panel moderated by Sherri Douville CEO @Medigram including Kara Egan, Principal @ Emergence Capital, Vanila Singh, MD, CMO @ The US Dept of HHS, and Elizabeth Vilardo, MD, CEO of Foundations @ Sutter Health Bay Area. THE MALE ALLIES panel including Steve Sordello, CFO @ LinkedIn, Don Heider, Executive Director @ Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @ Santa Clara University and Mylea Charvat, PhD Founder + CEO @ Savonix  moderated by Kristi Markkula Bowers, CEO @ Flyx Systems highlighted the importance of male allies and how to work hand in hand with men as mentors, collaborators and sponsors. 

The event concluded with a rooftop cocktail party after two fireside chats with Linda Yates, CEO Mach49 in conversation with Linda Grasso, Host @ SheSez Podcast, editor In Chief @ Ventura Boulevard and Michelle Zatlyn, COO + Co-Founder @ Cloudfare in conversation with Judith Williams, Head of People Sustainability and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer @SAP. The conference celebrated the second annual gentry women in tech issue brimming with carefully curated interviews with some of technology’s most fascinating rising stars.

In Video, Inclusiveness, New York

Food Waste + Hunger are #Solveable

Jasmine Crowe is a social entrepreneur and founder and CEO of Goodr Co., a sustainable food surplus management company that leverages technology to reduce food waste and feed the hungry by redirecting surplus food from convention centers, airports, and businesses to people who are food insecure.


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In Article, Inclusiveness, Global

Capital Database for Women Entrepreneurs

We all know the numbers by now: women CEOs get only about 2.3 percent of all venture capital. At Inc., we want to change that equation. There are now dozens of venture funds seeking out women-led businesses, one of those is SAP.iO. The only problem? There’s never been an easy way to figure out who these VCs are and what they’re looking for. With the Fundery, you can discover who’s looking to invest in female CEOs and diverse founding teams, in specific industries, geographical areas, and funding stages.

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In Foundries, Blog, Inclusiveness

Why we’re partnering with The Riveter

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.

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In Press Release, Featured, Foundries, Berlin, Inclusiveness

Walking the Talk: SAP Invests in Female and Diverse-Led Startups

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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In Foundries, Inclusiveness, Press Release

SAP and Rawabi Tech Hub Announce Winner of the SAP.iO Rawabi Startup Challenge 2019

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.

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In Article, Inclusiveness, Global, Portfolio News

Women-Owned Mobile Startup Leads Microlearning Revolution

Serial entrepreneur, So-Young Kang, is reinventing how people learn, with a personalized, mobile experience. Lightyears ahead of yesterday’s content delivery training, the Gnowbe microlearning mobile platform represents Kang’s life work to make learning easy – for as many people as possible. Instead of participant headcounts or feedback scores, Gnowbe measures skills development based on someone’s demonstrable capabilities before and after training. One customer saw improvements of almost 30 percent in the sales behaviors of employees who participated in microlearning modules on Gnowbe.

Gnowbe is among the HR startups participating in the SAP.iO Foundry San Francisco, an accelerator for early-stage enterprise tech companies. Besides mobile microlearning, these startups are using AI-enabled recruiting, and development tools based on behavioral science.

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In New York, Article, Inclusiveness

New York on Tech Announces Judges for the 2019 Innovators & Disruptors Awards

Sallie Jian, Program Manager, SAP.iO chosen as judge for the 2019 Innovators & Disruptors Awards. The Innovators and Disruptors Awards & Ceremony will celebrate the outstanding achievements of 20 leaders in technology and 5 Ultimate Innovators and Disruptors in the field. Award winners are diverse founders and professionals from some of the world’s most recognized companies and fastest growing startups who are leaving a measurable impact on the industry and in their respective fields of work.

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In Article, Inclusiveness, San Francisco

Five Years Strong: Silicon Valley Forum’s 2019 Women in Tech Festival Makes Waves in Silicon Valley and Beyond

Now in its fifth year, the Women in Tech Festival features two days of inspirational talks, panels, keynotes, and startup pitches, as well as networking opportunities. This year the Silicon Valley Forum welcomed SAP.iO as Silver Sponsor, partnering with the Women in Tech Festival underlines our belief in the importance of inclusivity at work.

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In Inclusiveness, San Francisco

SAP.iO & Sheroes: Shuchi Rana in conversation with Sairee Chahal

Amazing evening with Shuchi Rana and Sairee Chahal, the Founder and CEO of Sheroes sharing her wisdom and talking about lessons learned as an entrepreneur. Her insights led to an incredible dialogue around what the future of work looks like and how women are an important part of solving problems with technology and the need to create an inclusive culture. Her community-meets-deep technology approach has made Sheroes a globally formidable platform, changing the game for women and their aspiration. Over a million women have directly benefited and Sheroes aims to impact over 100 million women in the next five years.  An Aspen Leadership Fellow, Sairee is recognized for her achievements globally including Cartier Award, Editor’s choice for L’Oreal Women’s Award and Most Powerful Women in Indian Business.

Learn more about SAP.iO Foundry San Francisco
Learn more about Sheroes

In Blog, Berlin, Inclusiveness

Underrepresented: #womanintech Realties in Berlin Vol. 1

One of guiding principles of SAP.iO Fund and Foundry is its focus on Inclusive Entrepreneurship — which is about empowering women and minority entrepreneurs to build successful businesses around SAP. We’re proud that more than 40% of SAP.iO’s startups are founded or led by women and/or minority entrepreneurs.

But recent reports show that despite the best efforts, the ecosystem in Europe as was whole is still lagging behind.

Whilst most of us were busy with holiday shopping and wrapping up 2018, an alarming report was released on Dec 6th — to remind us of the urgent work ahead in 2019…

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