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In New York, Supply Chain Management

Cogniac Visual Intelligence From Cogniac Corporation Available As Part Of SAP’s Industry Cloud Portfolio

Cogniac Corporation, a San Jose, California-based provider of enterprise-class artificial intelligence (AI) image and video analysis, announced that its Cogniac Visual Intelligence offering is now part of SAP’s industry cloud portfolio for the travel and transportation industry. The solution integrates with SAP S/4HANA and SAP Intelligent Asset Management solutions including SAP Predictive Asset Insights and is available on SAP Store.

Through its SAP partnership, Cogniac Corporation offers solutions to enterprise customers across the broad logistics sector, focusing on fleet and infrastructure management of rail, metro, ports, airports, and road transport. Cogniac’s platform provides effective AI vision at enterprise scale providing SAP’s industry cloud portfolio and intelligent suite a no-code / low-code AI vision solution for customers seeking to improve and optimize the efficacy and safety of their logistics and transportation operations. Cogniac’s technology can be deployed to meet customer needs within SAP S/4HANA and SAP Predictive Asset Insights solutions, leveraging the strengths of AI vision in predictive analysis, failure and anomaly detection, and optimization of maintenance scheduling and execution.

“Our continued partnership with SAP represents an exciting opportunity to bring our AI vision platform to a global and diverse audience,” said Vahan Tchakerian, Chief Partnership Officer at Cogniac. “The Cogniac platform is purpose-built for scale, ease of integration, and real-world applicability. We believe our platform is an excellent fit for the SAP ecosystem and their customers, and we’re thrilled to be building upon a strong partnership.”

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In Global, Foundries

5 Visionary Companies Transforming Their Supply Chains with Startup Innovation

Now more than ever, businesses need to respond effectively to changes in supply, demand, and market conditions – and we’re proud that over 25 SAP.iO startup solutions for supply chain management are integrated with solutions like SAP S/4HANA and are available on SAP Store to help our customers become more agile.

In this round-up, we’re proud to highlight 5 stories featuring visionary companies that are working with startups to transform how they manage their supply chains.

 

Coca-Cola Hellenic & Shippeo: Leveraging real-time transportation visibility for logistics operations

Coca-Cola Hellenic worked with Shippeo to improve functional efficiency and simplify their operations. By leveraging real-time transportation visibility powered by Shippeo, they were able to improve collaboration with carriers to improve service levels, reduce transportation costs and simplify back-office activities.

Shippeo works with SAP Industry Cloud & SAP Logistics Business Network and is available on SAP store.

Anheuser-Busch & Wise Systems: Proactively planning out deliveries and reducing late deliveries by 80%

Anheuser-Busch collaborated with Wise Systems to optimize its delivery network in record time. By replacing manual planning with an app-based delivery routing platform, Anheuser-Busch was able to reduce late deliveries by 80% and reduce their fuel costs by 6% year-over-year.

Wise Systems work with SAP S/4HANA & Industry Cloud and is available on SAP Store.

Danone & Flowlity: Optimization of raw materials and packaging in the food industry

Danone, a world leading food company, worked with Flowity to optimize its stock levels and increase the accuracy of their consumption forecasts. By deploying Flowlity, Danone is now able to dynamically adjust their safety stock and replenishment, resulting in a reduction in shortages and inventory levels.

Flowlity works with SAP ERP & SAP S/4HANA and is available on SAP Store.

Unilever & Scantrust: Farm-to-Fork Traceability with QR codes

Unilever worked with Scantrust to differentiate their products from their competition and validate origin statements by introducing a blockchain-powered traceability solution. By embedding QR codes on their packaging that linked to Scantrust’s gateway containing farm-to-fork details, Unilever was able to develop a new level of trust with their consumers and increase sales for their food and beverage products in Vietnam.

Scantrust works with SAP Logistics Business Network & SAP Industry Cloud and is available on SAP Store.

EnergyAustralia & NET2GRID: Unlocking new revenue streams for EnergyAustralia

EnergyAustralia was looking for a way to analyze energy data in order to empower their customers to take actionable measures to reduce their electricity bills. They worked with NET2GRID to connect smart meter data with a consumer-facing app that resulted in greater customer engagement and increased customer loyalty.

NET2GRID works with SAP Industry Cloud, SAP Extension Suite and SAP Integration Suite and is available on SAP Store.

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In Tel Aviv, Business Technology Platform

nwo.ai’s story with SAP Data Marketplace: Unlocking the Value of Your Data

If you have a business, you likely have a lot of data. It’s your one true source for insight to understand your customers, their needs, and what they want.

But data is more than just information, it’s an asset. There are many ways to unlock the value of data, but few providers can give you all these benefits at once. The possibilities are limitless with SAP Data Marketplace’s ability to bring all of your data together in one place for instant insights and seamless integration into applications like SAP Data Warehouse Cloud.

In this story, we introduce you to a use case enabled by NWO.ai, a data & analytics startup, that is among the first Data Providers to be listed on the Data Marketplace. You will also be able to understand the main benefits of SAP Data Marketplace for you as a Data Provider, why it’s so important, and what value it can bring to your company.

“We want to give our customers an opportunity and an easy way to get instant insights from various alternative data sources and merge them with their operational information. And we see Data Marketplace as part of Data Warehouse Cloud as a perfect environment for that, because majority of the SAP products are already connected there. It is as simple as clicking and collecting all the necessary data, both internal and external, in one place.”

-Miroslav Dimitrov, Chief Operating Officer at NWO.ai

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In Tel Aviv, CRM & Customer Experience

Sampler enters grocery retail with UNFI deal

Sampler is launching a grocery retail offering by partnering with UNFI, North America’s largest grocery wholesale distributor.

Since the pandemic disrupted the retail environment over 18 months ago, brands have been left to find new and innovative ways to reach consumers outside ambient in-store sampling. Sampler’s digital product sampling platform allows brands to send physical product samples, typically in the form of a regular box of new products to the homes of digitally targeted consumers, bringing the in-store sampling experience right to their doorstep.

Now, major grocers, including those the U.S., will get the opportunity to add a sample to a consumer’s order through a pop-up that appears at the end of a pickup or delivery order, the Sampler experience pops up and asks if the purchaser wants a product sample, part of a shopper marketing program move into the digital space.

“Food is one of the hardest things to sample…and has always been a pretty big category for Sampler,” says Marie Chevrier, Sampler’s CEO and founder. “We’re looking to food entrepreneurs find new ways of distributing.”

The UNFI team up comes on the heels of May’s Sampler / Dentsu Canada partnership, granting one another more access to startups and established CPGs.

“Dentsu was our way of showing that large media companies understand the importance of what we call ‘digital product sampling’ or ‘incentive-based marketing,’” Chevrier says, adding that and UNFI is another big supporter of that message.

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In Paris, CRM & Customer Experience

Airport retailer deploys MishiPay mobile self-checkout

Airport retailer and restaurant company Paradies Lagardere is expanding its fleet of MishiPay Scan, Pay & Go mobile self-checkout technology to 20 more airports in the U.S. and Canada.

During a successful pilot in the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Paradies Lagardère saw the clear impact of MishiPay’s technology: by enabling shoppers to scan and pay for their desired products using their own devices, store associates were able to repurpose a portion of their shift from manning a cash register to other valuable tasks such as restocking, sanitizing high traffic sections, and assisting customers.

The technology is being embraced by customers, according to the release, with an average satisfaction rating of 4.85 out of 5, with over 90% of shoppers making a purchase when they have opened the app, which does not require a download.

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In Paris, Network & Spend Management

The next steps for SCALUE, a game-changer in procurement analytics

A lot has happened since we last talked to Thomas Teichmann, one of the co-founders, along with Samir Kharkan, and managing director of SCALUE, in 2019. Since then, their tool became available at SAP® Store, the online marketplace for SAP and partner offerings. They also welcomed Dr. Ulrich Piepel, former top manager from RWE | innogy and current Senior Advisor from BCG & SAP Ariba, to their advisory board.

“Procurement analytics is the next step, replacing legacy spend cubes and bringing a new dimension to procurement organizations in terms of total spend transparency, process efficiency, automation, savings, and maverick buying,” saysDr. Ulrich Piepel, former CPO of RWE and innogy about the future of procurement analytics.

SCALUE’s procurement analytics plug-and-play app gives SMEs and corporates a chance to address their supply chain pain points without manually inserting data in an Excel sheet. Their automated, cloud-based technology will soon become a crucial competitive advantage to keep businesses up to date with digitalization.

As a result, the SaaS procurement tool keeps getting the attention of Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs), Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), and other industry leaders looking to improve their digitalization efforts to overcome challenges in the supply chain.

How does SCALUE help CPOs?

With APIs instead of spreadsheets, SMEs and corporates benefit from totally automated data processing (ETL). SCALUE’s benefits include:

  • 20% more cost-efficiency and 80% of time-saving, depending on the industry and supply chain;
  • An empowered team, thanks to their integrated e-learning platform to deliver educational content on procurement terminology and optimization;
  • Data to empower CPOs’ abilities to fast decision-making, preparing the foundations to remain agile should unexpected events happen;
  • And tools for CPOs to optimize and scalue their procurement processes — adding more and more value.

As the points above summarize, SCALUE’s automated and advanced procurement software helps build a transparent, digitally-forward foundation for strategic procurement processes.

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In Featured, Bangalore, Discrete Industries, Announcements

SAP.iO Launches Future of Automotive Startup Program in Bangalore

December 9, 2021 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) announced the launch of a new virtual startup program focused on the future of automotive at SAP.iO Foundry Bangalore. Five startups have been selected by a panel of SAP experts, partners, and customers in India to join the cohort. The SAP.iO program is designed to accelerate early-stage B2B startups that can extend SAP’s portfolio and deliver additional innovation to customers.

“With investments in electric vehicle infrastructure, digital manufacturing and direct-to-consumer distribution, the automotive industry continues to witness a massive transformation,” said Manish Prasad, Vice President, Metal, Mining & Automotive Industry at SAP Indian Subcontinent. “The SAP.iO program brings together industry and startup communities to build robust intelligent and scalable technology solutions that address current business challenges and accelerate growth and agility for the automotive sector.”

SAP.iO’s growing network of top-tier startup programs enables entrepreneurs to extend SAP’s portfolio with innovative software solutions for SAP customers. Throughout the 12-week program, the startups will gain valuable mentorship from SAP executives and leading industry experts, as well as access to SAP® technology, application programming interfaces (APIs), and opportunities to collaborate with SAP customers.

The SAP.iO Foundry Bangalore cohort includes the following startups:

  • Dave.AI is an AI-powered sales augmentation platform that helps brands drive sales with improved and interactive product discovery experiences using a virtual sales avatar.
  • Rezo.AI automates conversations over voice, emails, WhatsApp, social media, and chats using artificial intelligence for efficient and effective customer interactions.
  • Plutomen provides augmented reality and virtual reality solutions for remote assistance and collaboration to help transform the industrial frontline.
  • Electrono is a digital solutions enterprise with expertise in research infrastructure management, remote engineering, design consultancy, and Industry 4.0 solutions.
  • CamCom leverages computer vision and associated technologies to improve the visual inspection process.

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 330+ external startups and internal ventures accelerate their growth while enabling thousands of SAP customers to access innovation. For more information, visit https://sap.io/.

In Munich, CRM & Customer Experience

Presize Reveals the State of Sizing in Fashion E-commerce in Report

As E-commerce continues to become the preferred shopping method for fashion consumers, the most common approach to uncertainty over fit and sizing has been overordering.

According to a new report from Presize, the size solution company with the goal of bringing one billion perfectly sized garments to shoppers by 2023, currently only 2 percent of online fashion shoppers buy perfectly sized garments.

The insights study, which analyzed the top 100 European retailers including Zara, Adidas, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Sezane and Asos, among others, aimed to understand the issues with sizing in the digital fashion industry. Of the companies, 77 shops have size charts on their product pages, 34 shops use size recommendation technology and nine shops do not offer any help with sizing.

Notably, data from Presize shows that not even 1 percent of shoppers click on size charts — finding them outdated. Of the 77 companies with a size chart, only 45 included measuring guides to explain how to navigate finding personal measurements to determine size. The authors of the report noted, by not having these guidelines, the companies made the size charts “meaningless.”

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In Featured

Hey SAP Startup Partners: We’re making the list, are you checking it twice?

Whether you’re a PartnerEdge partner or listed on SAP Store, there is a special benefit just for you.

As you plan ahead for 2022, make sure to utilize your free SAP partnership benefits! Whether you’re a PartnerEdge partner or listed on SAP Store, there is a special benefit just for you.

Find out more here!

Looking for more resources to help you leverage your partnership with SAP? Check out the one and only AlumniHub!

Are you a startup interested in working with SAP.iO? Contact us here!

In Supply Chain Management, Singapore

H3 Dynamics Launches World’s Most Advanced Drone Charging Station

H3 Dynamics announces the launch of DBX-G7, a brand new vertiport system for autonomous drone operations. Smarter, faster, and multi-modal with 5G and 4G, DBX was designed to scale on-going digitization efforts in safety compliance, maintenance and crisis management.

Applications range from smart cities across Asia to various types of industrial sites worldwide.

Developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, DBX-G7 is a direct response to the new telepresence and remote work paradigm. DBX performs all the functions of an on-site drone pilot: navigation, docking, stowing, battery charging, data retrieval, transmission, and cloud-based processing. Autonomous systems such as DBX help reduce the need for on-site presence and can help alleviate rising labour shortage pressures.

“With accelerating digitization, the need for structural scans is also growing while pilot availability is limited. We are looking to close the gap with our DBX autonomous drone stations.” Says Samuel Chauffaille, head of H3 Dynamics’ robotics systems division.

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In Singapore, Funding Announcement, Supply Chain Management

NavVis Adds Fresh Funding To Fulfill Its Mission To Digitize Commercial Buildings And Assets

NavVis is a global leader in end-to-end solutions for reality capture and digital twins. The company is on a mission to bridge the gap between the physical and digital world by enabling immediate access to building information, anytime, anywhere. The NavVis product offering includes the world’s most advanced reality capture solution, which allows for rapid digitization of buildings and assets, and cloud-based digital twin software for the manufacturing and construction sector.

NavVis announced that they have received 25€m of fresh equity funding that complements the recent 20€m debt funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB), raising the total investment to 85€m. The round was led by Cipio Partners, with additional capital from previous investors, BayBG, MIG, Target Partners, Digital+ Partners, and Kozo Keikaku Engineering, making NavVis one of the best-funded deep tech startups in Europe.

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In Business Technology Platform

Unlocking The Next Growth Frontier By Using Alternative Data Sources

The holiday gift-giving season is just around the corner, and businesses are hopeful for a strong year-end due to the opening of the economy and the expected lift of the U.S. travel ban. Adobe Analytics forecasts a record-breaking online shopping season, which could top $200 billion.

Factoring in the ongoing challenges around Covid-19, the flu season and the growing adoption of models like buy-now-pay-later and curbside pickup — as well as recent supply issues — in order to avoid empty shelves, companies will need to tap into new data sources to anticipate and meet rising consumer demand.

Buy-Now-Pay-Later (And Hopefully Deliver)

Supply chains and stockouts remain the main issue in front of most businesses ahead of the holiday season. According to Adobe’s holiday forecast referenced earlier, out-of-stock messages are up 172% from the pre-pandemic period. These messages are primarily driven by supply chain factors, including forecasted inaccuracies and strained logistics networks. Ever since the start of the pandemic, we’ve witnessed sudden spikes in demand for unforeseen categories — from toilet paper to thermometers. While the reasons for most of them are clear in hindsight, companies must adapt quickly to stay close to consumer trends.

During the pandemic, we’ve also witnessed reformed consumer behavior and habits when it comes to health, ethics and sustainability. Additionally, they now demand the same commitment from brands and are ready to act and boycott to drive that change.

In this new market dynamic, narrative is king, and a brand’s story has become overwhelmingly shaped by consumers through their reviews, blogs and social media posts. A McKinsey survey reports that 33% of Gen Z consumers and about 12% of boomers choose to buy from companies that align with their values. Businesses must recognize that this will not be a one-time adjustment of strategy but a new competitive factor to consider.

Some of the key questions that need to be addressed immediately include: How quickly can brands embrace change in consumer values, preferences and habits, and to what extent (if at all) can they spot the early signals?

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In Foundries, Shanghai

SAP Launches First SAP.iO Program in China

SAP.iO has launched its first program in China focused on intelligent manufacturing. Five Chinese startups have been selected to join the cohort at the new SAP.iO Foundry Shanghai.

The SAP.iO program is designed to accelerate early-stage business-to-business startups that can extend the SAP portfolio and deliver additional innovation to customers.

“Intelligent manufacturing is not only the national policy of the Chinese government but also the only way forward for China’s economic growth and the transformation of manufacturing enterprises,” said Dr. Chenhong Huang, Global Executive Vice President, SAP SE, and President, SAP Greater China. “Engaging with partners such as startups is critical to succeed in the rapidly growing enterprise software market. SAP.iO complements intelligent manufacturing software from SAP with startup innovation.”

The new Shanghai location reflects SAP’s continued commitment to the vibrant Chinese ecosystem. It extends SAP’s global network of equity-free startup accelerators in the Asia Pacific Japan, North America and Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions as its tenth SAP.iO Foundries location. During the 12-week program, 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.

“We will be working hand in hand with these amazing startups over the next three months to help them integrate with SAP technology and deliver high value to our customers,” said Lalitha Bhaskara, Vice President, SAP.iO Foundries for Asia Pacific Japan & China, SAP.

The cohort of startups at SAP.iO Foundry Shanghai include:

  • AI-LINK Network Co. Ltd. is a mobile edge computing platform that provides 5G services, including terminals, base stations and cloud platforms. It enables industrial automation for customers in manufacturing, logistics and energy industries.
  • TPSON is a fire protection prewarning system provider. It uses artificial intelligence (AI), fingerprint technology, cloud computing and operation services to integrate organically and provide comprehensive fire AI alerts, energy demand management and efficiency improvements for smart factories.
  • SunwayLand provides Internet of Things gateway SCADA and automation software for the multilevel control needs of digital workshops and smart factories.
  • HiScene develops augmented reality products and services that use AI core technologies, such as computer vision, deep learning and intelligent interaction.
  • Geekplus Technology Co. Ltd. uses AI and advanced robotics technologies to create efficient, flexible and reliable logistics robot solutions that help businesses improve efficiency and realize the intelligent and flexible transformation of their supply chain.

To learn more about how SAP.iO is helping innovators start up and scale with SAP, please visit https://sap.io.

In San Francisco, Funding Announcement, CRM & Customer Experience

Breinify Accelerates Momentum in Second Half of 2021 for funding

Breinify, the leading lightweight personalization platform, is pleased to announce continued momentum following a $11 million round of seed funding in April 2021. The company has seen strong continued growth, meeting key milestones set for 2021 including tripling its headcount and 4.3x revenue, adding four new customers, and experiencing zero product downtime, among other drivers of operational success.

“It’s incredible to see how Breinify has grown,” says Diane Keng, co-founder and CEO of Breinify. “We’ve done an amazing job setting the foundations for scaling as we raised $11M in unheard of speeds. Our ‘crawl, walk, run’ approach really resonates with our customers and we’re beyond ecstatic to see how we’ve jump started their personalization journeys.”

New Notable Customers & Partnerships

In the last few years, retail/CPG brands have made quite a shift to become more digital-centric and data-driven. To successfully move the needle for these industries, these brands have to find ways to implement smart personalization. Unfortunately, unless you are Amazon, Google, or the top one or two brands in your industry, these companies face several challenges to enable even the most basic personalization capabilities. Breinify is democratizing data science by finding ways to make predictive capabilities accessible to non-technical, yet data-driven marketing teams. The company’s AI solution enables enterprise marketers to deliver predictive personalization at scale.

“2021 has shown us that brands are hungrier than ever for predictive personalization,” says Keng. “More of the brands we see in our kitchen pantries or bathroom cabinets embrace the importance of relevant personalization, but struggle to get effective experiences up and running. Through word of mouth, we organically quadrupled our customer base and expanded our partnership with more than 80 percent of our existing customers. The time to access data science powered personalization is now.”

Breinify customers include BevMo!, Duraflame, Sally Beauty, and many more to drive $125M in new revenue, 20x results (between split testing) for page visits, and +105% in CRM growth.

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