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In Press Release, Portfolio News, Foundries, Press

FindMine for SAP Commerce Cloud Now Available on SAP® App Center

FindMine, a New York-city fashion tech start-up, announced that its FindMine app for the SAP® Commerce Cloud solution is now available on SAP® App Center, the digital marketplace for SAP partner offerings. FindMine for SAP Commerce Cloud allows brands and retailers in fashion, beauty, and home goods to help customers answer the age-old question, “How should I use this?” for every product.

Providing guidance to e-commerce shoppers in choosing outfits has historically meant lots of manual work. FindMine learns to mimic a company’s stylists through Artificial Intelligence to truly scale outfit guidance. This lifts online revenue and shopper engagement. For consumers, it recreates the experience of getting styled by a personal stylist. FindMine for SAP Commerce Cloud achieves significant revenue gains by showing shoppers three different ways to wear each item, resulting in higher CLTV, AOV, UPT, conversion, and margin.

Achieving this experience without automation is physically impossible for most retailers. With FindMine, every outfit, furniture/decor set, or makeup look can feature in-stock products, maximizes revenue lift, and looks like it’s been hand-picked by the company’s merchants or stylists. Most importantly, it reinforces what the brand stands for and differentiates it from competitors. FindMine for SAP Commerce Cloud has reduced time around this activity by more than 90% for merchandisers.

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In Foundries, Press, Article, San Francisco, Network & Spend Management

SAP Startup Spotlight: RoadGoat

Kurosh Hashemi is the founder and CEO of RoadGoat. Prior to starting RoadGoat, Kurosh founded and led the Ultraviolet LED Lighting business at Philips Lighting, which was acquired by Apollo Management. Kurosh also has extensive expertise across the Internet of Things and location data. He earned his MBA at UC Berkeley, where he was a Haas Merit Scholar. In this interview, he will talk about why he founded RoadGoat, what his solution has to offer, and what’s next for the company.

E-3 Magazine: What exactly does RoadGoat offer?

Kurosh Hashemi: RoadGoat is a pocket travel guide. We provide user-generated data for over 4 million travel destinations – neighborhoods, towns, and cities. Travelers can use RoadGoat to figure out how safe a place is, whether an area is low-risk for COVID-19, if it is tagged for business travelers or foodies, and much more. We even provide a travel map for users that they can automatically update with all their social media accounts, business trip data, fitness trackers, Google Maps, and more. We initially started as a consumer app but we’ve now teamed up with Concur to deliver the same great experience for business travelers.

How does your solution work?

Hashemi: At the heart of our technology is a database of over 4 million travel destinations. Our users contribute meaningful insights about each of these destinations and we supplement this guidance with some more data-driven insights such as information about COVID-19, safety, when to go, budgetary ratings, and more. All that customers need to join RoadGoat is a WIFI-enabled device, as it is a completely free platform.

Why did you start RoadGoat to begin with?

Hashemi: We started RoadGoat because we felt that there was a lack of information about travel destinations. While sites like TripAdvisor, Google, and Yelp give great context about local businesses, no one is providing context about neighborhoods or towns – that’s where we come in. We help you understand if a destination is good for business travelers, nightlife, foodies, and more. Is it safe? What’s the COVID-19 situation? Is it LGBTQ+-friendly? Our users rate, rank, and tag destinations to help guide each other.

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In Foundries, Press, Article

Where are they now? Revisiting the Hot 25 Startups for 2020

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to fully convey what a strange and difficult year this has been for the travel industry. While the stress of COVID-19 has permeated every sector and role, it seems particularly challenging for startups and their founders – many that ended 2019 with great momentum as part of an industry that was in the midst of record growth.

The good news is there are many travel startups that are finding ways to not just survive but in fact thrive through this extraordinary year, whether by reconfiguring budgets, pivoting their products, developing partnerships, identifying new opportunities or a combination of all four.

On Monday next week we will release our selection of the Hot 25 Startups for 2021. In preparation for that, we have checked in with the companies that made the cut one year ago – our Hot 25 for 2020. We asked them to answer two questions: 

  • Despite the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, what have been a few highlights of 2020 for your company (any partnerships, funding, change in strategy, pivots, etc.)
  • What are your priorities for 2021?

We heard from almost all 25.

Bacarai

  • Highlights: In the spring, we completed the SAP Concur Accelerator, which paved the way for Bacarai to be exposed to the broader business travel market. 
  • Priorities: With demand for student travel at a near standstill, we’ve turned our focus to building out more features in our platform. We don’t expect much to change in the first half of 2021 and are really looking towards the spring of 2022 for group travel to bounce back (pending a vaccine).

Hotailors

  • Highlights: We have taken advantage of the downturn in business travel and used this lull to develop our market offer, our technology, strategic framework and human capital. Just before the world went into lockdown, we were invited to join a three-month SAP.iO Foundry San Francisco acceleration program, which we completed successfully. We built an integration between our tool – which services business travel for extended workforce – with SAP Concur and SAP Fieldglass. We’ve also created new solutions to align with the new reality, such as strengthening the “duty of care” aspect of our technology. We have also been developing an AI module, which will allow a user to find a hotel that fits their preferences a lot quicker and more precisely. Our innovation has had interest from Oracle, and we will be further developing the idea using their Cloud solution. We also raised $3 million, which has given us financial security during the pandemic and has allowed us to focus on developing our innovation and technology.
  • Priorities: Our solution is part of the digital transformation in business travel – and ironically, it’s easier to introduce it when business travel isn’t taking place. We have strengthened our sales team and prepared a three-pillar sales strategy, which we are already implementing. First, our analysis shows that small- and medium-sized companies will start traveling again quicker than corporations, therefore, we have channelled our sales efforts in this direction. We are also reaching out to companies and sectors whose employees need physical meetings and hence travel right now – for example production plants and shipowners. Second, we have created an offer for TMCs that is an annual revenue share (when these customers start travelling again), which will allow TMCs to focus their energies on their core business, while their business clients in turn will gain access to the newest travel technology that will increase their safety and reduce their travel spend. The third pillar that we have been developing is channel sales, in cooperation with our strategic partners, such as SAP, EY and Oracle. We already see traction on all abovementioned fronts, which shows we have been making the right decisions. To be able to scale our business faster and take full advantage of the current situation – and with commitment from one of our strategic partners – we are looking at running an A round in 2021.

Jet-Set Offset

  • Highlights: The global pandemic highlighted the climate effects of travel, as we witnessed firsthand the drastic reductions in emissions and short-term environmental benefits when air travel halted. This has increased consumer awareness about carbon emissions from flying, and as we return to flying, Jet-Set Offset is making it easy for travelers to be climate positive. At the start of 2020, we participated in the SAP.iO Foundry San Francisco B2B travel technology accelerator, with six other early-stage enterprise startups. This led to Jet-Set Offset becoming an SAP Concur partner, and building the first enterprise carbon offset option for SAP Concur customers. Jet-Set Offset is now powering the technology and marketing behind The Good Traveler — a sustainable travel brand started by San Diego Airport Authority and now used by over 20 of the most climate-aligned airports in the country. We’re looking forward to forming even more industry partnerships as we work toward a decarbonized future for aviation. We’ve also developed a partnership with Bluesource, the leading developer of offset projects throughout North America.
  • Priorities: In 2021, our top priority is the official launch of our green flight booking technology. We’ve spent the last several months building a decision support tool for point of booking that provides eco-conscious travelers with the opportunity to book a flight based on carbon emissions — not just price and schedule. Because carbon emissions can vary by up to 20% per flight route, this technology will provide consumers with even more data to inform their travel decisions and support our growing community of sustainable travelers and businesses. The technology also offers even more opportunity for new and exciting partnerships within the aviation industry. We’re also looking forward to growing our roster of climate-focused nonprofit partners to provide even more choices to our Jet-Set Offset users, welcoming new enterprise customers as employees begin to travel again, and fundraising to accelerate our growth and develop new technologies.

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In Press, Portfolio News, ERP & Finance

Impact Manager from Soley Now Available for Purchase on SAP® App Center

Soley announced that its Impact Manager application is now available for online purchase on SAP® App Center, the digital marketplace for SAP partner offerings. Soley’sImpact Manager integrates with SAP S/4HANA® and delivers insights into a customer’s product portfolio and the value chain issues it affects.

Discover and Manage Critical Business Impacts on Your Product Portfolio

Soley supports decision makers in the industry who work under time pressure and enormous complexity. By organizing the whole product portfolio in one comprehensive KPI dashboard, Soley unveils analytical insights and shows where decisiveness is required. The tool, thereby, allows its users to prioritize work on business-critical topics along the value chain that add real value to their customers.

“We provide data driven insights that cut right through complexity and transform them into actionable tasks. That’s how you unlock potential in the millions with a click of a button” says Maximilian Kissel, co-founder, Soley GmbH.

At SAP App Center, businesses can discover approximately 1,600 innovative partner solutions that integrate with and extend SAP solutions. There, customers can find the SAP-validated partner apps they need to grow their business. And for each purchase made on SAP App Center, SAP will plant a tree. Find, try, and buy SAP partner solutions digitally at www.sapappcenter.com.

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In Foundries, Press, Tel Aviv, Portfolio News

Announcing the Seven Startups in SAP.iO’s Utilities Accelerator

After two months of examining more than 100 candidates from 20 different countries, this week SAP.iO announced the 7 companies that will participate in the program that will be seasoned from Israel. Under the current program, SAP is also collaborating with two of its customers – the European energy company E.ON and the Israel Electric Company, which were also partners in selecting the startups for the program. The program will run for 3 months during which the selected startups will work together with SAP on defining the common solution for the market, on integration with the company’s systems and on addressing SAP customers worldwide.

Original article here…

In Foundries, Press

TOP 100 SWISS STARTUPS 2020

The TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award ranking has become a benchmark in Switzerland’s startup ecosystem. The innovative solutions of Switzerland’s TOP security startups 2020 ensure that digital data, networks, and digital assets are protected, secured, and trustworthy.

PXL Vision was named to the list for the second year in a row. PXL Vision is a graduate of SAP.iO Foundry Berlin’s 2019 FinTech Global Risk & Compliance cohort.

PXL Vision’s software enables the digital identification of people thanks to the use of artificial intelligence. All it needs is a smartphone and a passport. In the Swiss home market, SwissID, banks, and large telecommunications providers are already customers. The multi-award-winning ETH spin-off gained seed funding of CHF 4.6 million this year.

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In Inclusiveness, Fund, Foundries, Press

Henkel hosts ideation hackathon for female entrepreneurs

Henkel’s open innovation and collaboration platform, Henkel dx Ventures, will host its second Xathon, a female ideation hackathon. This year’s main partner is “Global Digital Women”. The hackathon aims to empower female tech talents to develop and shape their entrepreneurial mindset and ideas. It will take place on November 20-22, 2020. The application period is now open and closes on October 30. Interested participants can apply at www.henkel.com/digital-business/xathon-2020.

With the Xathon, Henkel wants to advocate female entrepreneurship, promote innovative ideas and drive gender diversity in the start-up and tech scene. In total, 60 female talents will get the chance to participate in this year’s event. Further partners of the Xathon 2020 are accelerateHer, SAP’s early stage venture arm SAP.iO and MVP Factory.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Xathon is going to take place as a virtual event.

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In Foundries, Press, Berlin, Portfolio News

Helping Startups Turn Untapped Data into New Business Opportunities for SAP Customers

 SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) announced its first data and analytics-focused SAP.iO Foundry Berlin startup accelerator program.

Seven startups have been chosen to participate in the virtual fall cohort held in collaboration with the SAP HANA and Analytics team with focus on the unique opportunities of data and analytics in the business-to-business space.

“Businesses are faced today with massive amounts of data coming into their lines of business practically from everywhere, just like a running faucet,” said Gerrit Kazmaier, president, SAP HANA and Analytics. “Our mission is to turn this untapped resource into a superpower that provides 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.”

SAP.iO Foundry Berlin is part of SAP’s strategic business unit designed to accelerate innovation and drive new business models for SAP. The SAP.iO Foundries program is a global network of equity-free accelerator programs located in strategic startup hubs. It provides startups with access to mentorship, exposure to SAP technologies, and opportunities to meet and collaborate with SAP customers.

The selected startups will work closely with mentors from SAP, to develop proofs-of-concept, access SAP technology and application programming interfaces (APIs), and identify opportunities to collaborate with SAP customers. At the program’s core are the interactions with SAP’s customers who provide invaluable insights and guidance to the startups throughout their time in-program and beyond. The program will run for three months and conclude with a demo day in early January.

The cohort consists of the following startups:

  • C2RO is a Canada-based artificial intelligence (AI) company offering privacy-aware AI video analytics for physical spaces. It leverages the existing surveillance cameras and uses GDPR-compliant and proprietary edge-cloud AI to accurately analyze the behavior, demographics and journey of people. The same way Google Analytics revolutionized the digital world, C2RO is revolutionizing the physical world.
  • datazeit reveals information hidden in web and social media and delivers end-to-end data intelligence to accelerate digital business transformation.
  • Teamcore identifies on-shelf availability and lost sales opportunities. It prioritizes tasks after processing stores sales, stock and in-store data on machine learning (ML) algorithms. The platform enables a structured sales methodology by creating a problem-solving workflow across the entire retail sales and operations team, empowering consumer product companies to better store execution.
  • nwo.ai is an intelligence amplification platform that harnesses ML techniques and human metadata to identify global cultural shifts early and throughout the lifecycle of trends across various sectors.
  • Stylumia solves the problems of fashion, lifestyle, sports and home validation, prediction, and design generation. Its data-driven approach combines consumer demand sensing with the client’s own data for context-relevant validation, prediction and generation.
  • Ubermetrics’ new enterprise intelligence solution provides highly actionable signals on business-critical events. Using state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Ubermetrics distills public information from millions of sources down to meaningful events, such as strikes at suppliers, competitor product launches and over 50 other categories.
  • ZEPL delivers an enterprise software-as-a-service data science and governance solution that supports enterprises as they are looking to deliver AI-driven applications to help solve business challenges where massive sets of data are in play.
In Foundries, Press, Tokyo, Portfolio News

SAP.iO Foundry Tokyo Kicks Off Accelerator Program Focused on Consumer Products

 SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) announced its first consumer-products-focused business-to-business technology accelerator program at SAP.iO Foundry Tokyo. The cohort will comprise four early-stage startups in the retail, consumer goods and distribution industries.

“COVID-19 has led consumers to adopt new habits and behaviors, which will continue in the long term,” said Hirofumi Suzuki, SAP Japan president and representative director. “This program will allow us to offer our customers new digital technologies to connect with consumers.”

The SAP.iO zero-equity-ask program is designed to accelerate innovation and drive new business models for SAP’s customers. During the 13-week virtual program, the startups will have access to curated mentorship, exposure to SAP technology and application programming interfaces (APIs), and collaboration opportunities with SAP customers.

The SAP.iO Foundry Tokyo Fall 2020 program includes the following startups:

  • ChatBook provides marketing automation solutions to generate leads and deliver personalized experiences across the entire customer journey through instant communications platforms.
  • True Data provides Big Data marketing services and advanced analysis technology at scale by integrating the gender, behavior and other ID data with product-trend point-of-sale data.
  • Vox Japan provides a connected reusable boxing service with remotely operated smart delivery carts that authenticates and tracks delivery and pickup information by smartphone.
In Foundries, Press, Article, San Francisco, Portfolio News

SAP Kicks Off SAP.iO Foundry San Francisco for “Future of Work” Startups

SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) earlier last week kicked off its virtual accelerator program focused on human resources (HR) technology and the future of work, at SAP.iO Foundry San Francisco. The program is offered in conjunction with SAP SuccessFactors solutions, providing world-leading cloud-based, people-focused HR technology.

Over the next 12 weeks, SAP will accelerate six early-stage HR technology startups that are focused on recruiting, talent and team management, well-being and collaborative learning for human resources.

The selected startups 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. The program will culminate at the SAP.iO Cohort Demo Day in December 2020.

“With digital transformation changing the way people work in real time, and a much greater number of employees performing their jobs remotely, we see a trend with our customers to embrace new technologies to ensure employees have the necessary tools to succeed and remain attractive for their employers,” SAP SuccessFactors President Jill Popelka said. “We are looking forward to working with these companies to provide our customers with their innovations as part of the SAP SuccessFactors ecosystem.”

With five out of six startups founded or led by underrepresented entrepreneurs, SAP.iO continues to follow its 2019 SAP.iO No Boundaries initiative and fulfil its commitment to accelerate more than 200 startups around the world.

The SAP.iO Foundry San Francisco program includes the following startups:

  • Cloverleaf uses behavioral tools to provide ongoing insights into team effectiveness and provide customized, contextually relevant coaching to improve performance.
  • Crosschq has pioneered Human Intelligence Hiring, the next essential cloud software category, which includes reference checking and robust talent analytics to help build diverse teams.
  • Cuéntame is the first online mental health platform for Spanish-speaking employees. Cuéntame provides employees access to digital content, meditations and video therapy with certified psychologists, promoting daily mental health care and emotional well-being.
  • Knockri is an AI skills–based assessment tool that reduces bias and scientifically shortlists top-performing candidates to interview.
  • Landit is a personalized career pathing technology that increases the success and engagement of women and diverse groups in the workplace. The platform offers a turnkey solution to enable companies to attract, develop and retain their talent.
  • Mathison is a diversity talent marketplace that uses AI to help employers find candidates for their most important roles. It centralizes the talent network of hundreds of organizations serving underrepresented communities.
In Foundries, Press, New York

Cogniac selected to join SAP’s Fall 2020 Accelerator Program

SAP.iO recently announced the launch of SAP.iO Foundry New York Fall 2020, SAP’s virtual accelerator program that supports startups led by diverse entrepreneurs.

“We are super excited to be part of SAP.iO Foundry NYC Cohort,” says Cogniac’s Co-Founder and VP of Systems, Amy Wang, PhD. “We look forward to introducing Cogniac’s Drag and Drop Visual AI Platform to SAP customers in automotive and manufacturing industries, to bring visibility, focus, and agility and enable them to lead in the new Industry 4.0 world.”

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In Uncategorized, Press, Portfolio News

ClearMetal to Provide Integrated Global Ocean Tracking for SAP Logistics Business Network

 ClearMetal, a leader in Continuous Delivery Experience (CDX) for supply chain and logistics solutions, today announced that it has joined the SAP Logistics Business Network as an SAP partner for international shipment in-transit visibility data. Using ClearMetal’s platform, customers will be able to leverage the most trusted and accurate international freight data to improve on-time delivery, reduce logistics costs and optimize inventory.

The addition of ClearMetal’s international ocean visibility data allows customers to track event status, transportation route and estimated time of arrival using cleaned and enhanced data. By using proprietary machine learning to cross-reference inputs and enrich supply chain data, ClearMetal’s platform draws out hidden patterns, enabling users to make smart business decisions based on up-to-date, trustworthy information.

“We’re proud to partner with SAP to provide customers with high quality international freight data to help them simplify their complex supply chains and enable a superior digital B2B experience in the global transportation space,” said Christopher Mazza, Senior Vice President Customer Experience and Business Development, ClearMetal. “We’re looking forward to helping empower some of the world’s top companies to drive greater profitability in the supply chain using accurate data.”

Using artificial intelligence, ClearMetal reconciles data across hundreds of data partners, thousands of unique data feeds and millions of historical records. The data that ClearMetal provides SAP Logistics Business Network is based on a feedback loop that constantly learns, adjusts, and gets smarter to provide the most accurate data and the best possible customer experience. With the addition of ClearMetal’s international freight data for ocean shipment, customers are able to more accurately determine lead time, promise date and inventory level based on the freight transportation mode, carrier, routing and exceptions – resulting in reduced costs and improved reliability and cash flow.

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In COVID-19, Press, Article, Portfolio News

Shopping Study: Pandemic Accelerates Consumer Demand For Personalized Free Sample Boxes

Consumers are eager to discover new brands, and have never been more open to trying free samples from the safety of their own homes. These were among the recent findings from a consumer shopping behavior survey conducted by startup Sampler.

Ninety-eight percent of respondents reported being more open to new brands, while just two percent said they were sticking to familiar products. What’s more, 98 percent of people were more likely to try new products if they had samples delivered to their home compared to picking them up in-store. Marie Chevrier, Sampler’s founder and CEO, said these findings reflected why product sampling is full speed ahead on a digital makeover.

“Being able to digitally target consumers who have an interest in your specific products is light-years ahead of traditional in-store sampling approaches,” said Chevrier. “Brand managers at consumer packaged goods companies and retailers are amazed at how targeted and measurable they can be, reaching more people who really want their products, and staying close to them. Every consumer brand needs this higher level of targeting, and the pandemic just accelerated that demand.”

Relationships built on personalized samples

Headquartered in Canada, Sampler has helped over 500 of the world’s leading and emerging consumer packaged goods brands send samples to the consumers who are interested in their products, and build lasting relationships that stoke demand for more.

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In Foundries, Press, Interview

HIGHLIGHTS FROM DAY 1 OF ASIABERLINSUMMIT 2020

In the panel on accelerators and startups, Alexa Gorman, head of sap.io, tells: “Once you are in a large organization like SAP, there is not that sense of urgency that you have when you are a startup and you basically have to pay your employees and you need to close the deals to be able to have cash in the till”, she says. Working with startups therefore creates great opportunities: “We were able to create a win-win-win situation.”

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In Press, Global

GCV Powerlist 2020: Ram Jambunathan

Ram Jambunathan has been leading SAP.iO, the corporate venture capital (CVC) subsidiary of Germany-based enterprise software producer SAP, as senior vice-president (SVP) and managing director (MD) since the unit was formed in July 2016.

Jambunathan additionally added the head of corporate strategy role in October 2019 at the parent firm. He said: “As head of corporate strategy I lead a team responsible for developing and aligning long-term strategy across various SAP organisational – board – areas, including cloud and application strategy, go-to-market strategy, technology and SAP’s lines of business.

“The team combines both a deep understanding of enterprise software with a structured approach to problem-solving that drives unique insights and an ability to help ‘see around corners’. Our understanding of where adjacent opportunities and disruption may come is informed by many sources, including the startup ecosystem, and particularly through SAP.iO, SAP’s strategic business unit focused on accelerating innovations and pathfinding new areas relevant to SAP and its customers.

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