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In Featured, Financial Services, Announcements, Latin America

SAP.iO Foundry Latin America and Caribbean Kicks Off B2B Innovation in FinTech Program  

May 18, 2023 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today launched the 2023 program focused on innovation in financial technology (FinTech) at SAP.iO Foundry Latin America and Caribbean. The 10 startups have been selected by a jury of SAP experts, partners, customers, and investment funds to join the program, with 90% of the startups led by underrepresented individuals. 

2021 was a breakout year for venture capital deals in Latin America, with a total of $16.3 billion invested in startups – more than the previous five years combined. FinTech and financial services account for around 39 percent of this total investment. To address this demand, the SAP.iO program is designed for startups with innovative B2B FinTech solutions such as digital wallets, open banking, banking-as-a-service, and ‘Buy now, pay later’ (BNPL).  

During the 5-month program, the selected startups will work to build and develop long-term partnerships with SAP by defining joint use cases, product integration and various business development opportunities. SAP customers will also be involved in the program by evaluating opportunities for proof of concepts.  

The following startups are participating in the SAP.iO Foundry Latin America and Caribbean 2023 program:  

  1. Agrotoken creates a secure and frictionless ecosystem to make trading grains easier, more efficient and more reliable based on asset tokenization. 
  2. Bankuish simplifies access to personalized loans for gig workers and freelancers by translating their work into a language that financial systems can understand. 
  3. CryptoMate explores and launch Web3 digital transformation through simple APIs. 
  4. Jelou AI enables financial services via WhatsApp using AI. 
  5. Kanoo Pays is a digital wallet that allows users to make secure payments and transfer money from their mobile devices. 
  6. MetaMap eliminates manual and repetitive identity verification tasks for B2C FinTechs, helping them to onboard and verify new users. 
  7. Slice reimagines the financial orchestration by collecting data from multiple sources and structuring a data lake at a comprehensive ledger.  
  8. Synaptic is an open finance solution that automates capturing, processing and delivering data. 
  9. Toku Spa offers a simplified payment system that collects debts, reduces late payment and improves the fidelity of customers.  
  10. Wispok allows users to create QR codes, encrypted graphics, and payment links that are unique to each person and lead to a checkout where users can see the amount due for each payment.  

About SAP.iO  
SAP.iO curates a relevant and diverse startup ecosystem that extends the value of SAP solutions and meets the continuously evolving needs of our customers. Our programs provide dedicated support to the most promising startups as they launch and scale relationships with SAP and our global network of customers, partners, and employees. Since 2017, we have connected thousands of SAP customers with innovative enterprise software startups, helping them find solutions to their unique needs. For more information, visit http://sap.io/.    

In Foundries, Video, Supply Chain Management, Latin America

3 Innovative Solutions Shaping The Future Of Agriculture

Getting food from the field to the table is a complex process. Exposure to pests, disease, or harsh weather can impact the quality of the crops. At the same time, climate change is leading to soil degradation and loss of biodiversity while insufficient land increases the pressure to produce more on less space.

At the recent SAP.iO Foundries Sustainable Agriculture Latin America Demo Day, three startups presented solutions that can help farmers improve the quality of their crops, optimize farming strategies through personalization, and improve biological capital by managing soil more efficiently. These tactics can all play a role in successfully feeding 9 billion people for the next decades.

Improving the quality of raw materials

“In the agricultural industries production plans are based on the quality of raw materials,” said Madeleine Valderrama, CEO and Founder of AI Bruna, a supply chain planning solution powered by artificial intelligence developed by AltumLab Chile. She explained that producers expect the quality of raw materials to be consistent, but reality is different. Because it’s impossible to predict quality with complete accuracy, planners deal with variability by improvising, which can lead to increased use of water and energy and up to 20% loss in profitability.

After eight years working in Chile’s salmon farming industry, Valderrama knew what kind of tools would be required to tackle this issue. AI Bruna uses artificial intelligence and genetic algorithms to factor operational restrictions, deficiencies, and defects into strategic harvesting plans. It connects Planning, Harvesting and Commercial areas, providing a strategic view of the entire operation.

Valderrama used the example of Caña Brava, a sugar cane producer in Peru that is using the tool. In the first stage, months before the harvest, AI Bruna uses historical data such as climate, performance, soil type, water usage, and fertilization patterns to predict the expected concentration of sugar in the harvested cane.

Next, it suggests modifications in irrigation or fertilization as the plants are maturing to make sure the cane will satisfy the commercial contract after the harvest. Thanks to AI, Caña Brava was able to reduce water and energy consumption by over 4% and costs by 11%, and increase production capacity by 7%, and the value of the cane as raw material by 17%.

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In Announcements, Latin America, Foundries, Featured, Sustainability

SAP.iO Foundry Latin America Kicks Off Sustainability in Agriculture Program

October 6, 2022 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today launched its very first program focused on sustainability in agriculture at SAP.iO Foundry Latin America. Seven startups have been selected by a jury of SAP experts, partners, customers, and investment funds to join the program.

The selected startups innovate on efficient and sustainable farming and optimizing agricultural logistics processes. Over the next 16 weeks, they will have access to curated mentorship from SAP executives, exposure to SAP® technology and application programming interfaces (APIs), and opportunities to collaborate with SAP customers around the world.

The following startups are participating in the SAP.iO Foundry Latin America Fall 2022 program:

  1. Altum Lab (Chile) predicts the quality of raw material months in advance using AI and makes suggestions on how to use it in the production process to satisfy commercial contracts.
  2. CargoSnap (Brazil) is a mobile app that enables businesses to easily perform visual cargo inspections, resulting in less claims, less damage and happier customers.
  3. DigiFarmz (Brazil) provides smart agronomic recommendations for higher yield, profitability, and risk mitigation with less environmental impact.
  4. Drivin (Chile) optimizes deliveries and reduces transportation costs by delivering efficiency and visibility to every process, simplifying management and optimizing the transportation and distribution operations.
  5. goFlux (Brazil) digitizes the entire logistics process, including qualifying carriers, pre-approving suppliers and providing ways of negotiating freight, managing the entire process from contracting, operations to the payment process to the carrier.
  6. Solena Ag (Mexico) turns soil data into diagnostics insights through its proprietary AI engine that provides customized recommendations, helping farmers increase nutrients, productivity, and profitability, while reducing their carbon footprint.
  7. Woocar (Argentina) combines AI and behavioral sciences to improve efficiency, safety, and sustainability in transportation while reducing the carbon footprint and operational inefficiencies.

About SAP.iO
SAP.iO delivers new partnerships and products for SAP by accelerating and scaling startup innovation as well as incubating employee ventures. SAP.iO brings together innovators from every region, industry, and line of business to transform how businesses run. Since 2017, SAP.iO has helped 450+ external startups and internal ventures accelerate their growth while enabling thousands of SAP customers to access innovation. For more information, visit http://sap.io/.

In Foundries, Announcements, Latin America

SAP doubles its commitment to innovation in Latin America

The company concludes the third phase of expansion of SAP Labs in São Leopoldo, Brazil, and announces SAP.iO Foundry, the first initiative in the region to strengthen support for start-ups.

Miami, USA.  June 20, 2022 – To celebrate its 50 years of global innovation and 28 years of commitment to the development of Latin American companies, SAP announced two relevant investments to promote innovation further in the region.

The first initiative has to do with the third expansion of SAP Labs Latin America, its innovation, research and development center that has been in operation for 16 years and is located in São Leopoldo, in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil. With an investment of 35 million euros, the new unit built in this center will add about 850 people to its campus, reaching a total of 2,000 employees with 20 different nationalities. The expansion will also create 200 indirect jobs.

The São Leopoldo site is the first and only SAP Labs center in Latin America, and one of the company’s 14 in the world, designed to support the growing demand of companies for innovative cloud solutions.

The purpose of SAP Labs is to develop solutions with the highest standards to help organizations address major business challenges, including sustainability programs that enable them to measure the impact of their initiatives, management and control of energy consumption, waste management, producer responsibility policies, and high-capacity cloud management technologies.

“In addition to helping companies in the region on their digital transformation journey, another great contribution of SAP Labs is that it supports them in the design of their sustainability strategies, working with experts from around the world to create agile and powerful technologies that have sustainable drivers at the center of everything,” said Dennison John, president of SAP Labs Latin America.

Furthermore, the company announces the launch of the first SAP.iO Foundry in the region to accelerate start-ups across all lines of business and industries. The accelerator will also be based in São Leopoldo, with a virtual presence throughout the region.

SAP.iO Foundries is the company’s global network of external start-up accelerators with no capital demand. It provides technical and marketing support to help new companies become part of a curated ecosystem: its offerings become easily accessible to SAP customers.

“This launch is a turning point in our commitment to innovation in Latin America,” said Cristina Palmaka, president of SAP Latin America and the Caribbean. “All over the world, SAP.iO Foundries enhance the innovative impact of start-ups, offering expertise and insights, multiplying their chances of success. In a region like ours, with so many entrepreneurs, this new support will make a huge difference.”

The first call to take part in the SAP.iO Foundry will be launched in September 2022 and will focus on one of the most thriving industries in the region: sustainability in agriculture. Start-ups that wish to apply for SAP.iO Foundry can do so here until July 22.

Since its launch in 2017, SAP.iO Foundries have contributed to the acceleration of more than 400 startups around the world through its 10 funds in strategic cities such as San Francisco, New York, Berlin, Munich, Paris, Tel Aviv, Singapore, Tokyo, Bangalore, Shanghai, and now São Leopoldo.

About SAP

SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: SAP customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com, our press room, http://news.sap.com/latinamerica, or follow us on Twitter @SAPNoticiasLAC.