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Supporting Innovations to Reduce Risk for Critical Infrastructure Essential Workers

Across the world, individuals, communities, and businesses are struggling with changing regulations imposed to counter the COVID-19 pandemic. From lockdowns followed by the easing of those measures to renewed restrictions as new infection rates spike, a hodgepodge of rules and guidelines are creating confusion on how businesses should resume operations, and “who’s allowed to do what”.

Fortunately, this same set of conditions is inspiring rapid and important changes on a global scale. Amid this environment, SAP.iO has been delving deep to support startups that can help businesses and the world adapt. We’ve been building a space for collaboration to back relief efforts for COVID-19. And we’ve been amazed and humbled by the incredible amount of creativity and good work we are witnessing.

Alleviating risks for essential workers

One of the efforts we are excited about stem from HyBird, a startup we are supporting as part of the SAP.iO Foundry Singapore Industry 4.0 program. Its platform, Clarity, helps alleviate health and safety risks for critical infrastructure workers.

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How Innovation Can Help Industries Emerge Stronger From The Crisis

As the crisis slowly ebbs and economies round the world tentatively re-open, it’s time for organizations to regroup and plan their next act. At the beginning of the crisis, companies needed to rapidly innovate to maintain business continuity, ensure liquidity, support remote work and focus on employee safety.

The next act will require organizations to refocus their innovation efforts on their core businesses in their specific industries, to recover in the short run, and set them up for growth in the long haul.

Whether it is Amazon’s latest acquisition of autonomous driving startup Zoox for potential contactless freight delivery opportunities, or Lululemon acquiring ‘at-home’ fitness startup Mirror, some of the smartest innovation continues to emerge from the startup open ecosystem.

Popwallet for mobile contactless consumer experiences, Pecan for AI based revenue growth management, TVPage for online influencer marketing and ClearMetal to fortify supply chains with ML based freight tracking, are some of the latest innovations relevant for industries to rapidly recover in these pandemic times (Source: SAP.iO Fund and Foundries).

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SAP.iO Supports Employee Experience Management Tech Solutions

SAP.iO recently announced its investment in workforce optimization software company Andjaro. The company, based in Paris and founded in 2015, provides a unique marketplace dedicated to helping organizations post staffing needs directly on its real-time workforce optimization platform. The solution—available for purchase at the SAP App Center—allows businesses to reallocate available and voluntary internal staff from other locations within the organization. This not only minimizes HR costs but more importantly, improves the employee experience by offering them the chance to work at other parts of the organization and get compensated for a temporary relocation resulting in a more interconnected and happy workforce.

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Sampler Raises $4 Million as demand spikes amid pandemic

Sampler has raised a $4 million round in funding. The round was led by existing investors StandUp Ventures and BDC Capital with participation from EDC, Factory LLC as well as new investors from Calgary-based ​female-led financial platform​, The51. The closing was managed by Chase Irwin, partner at Dentons Canada LLP, and brings Sampler’s total amount raised in equity financing to $10.3M since its inception in 2013.

The product sampling platform, which helps CPG brands distribute product samples to digitally targeted consumers direct-to-home, saw a spike in demand as in-store sampling, trade shows, and events were cancelled worldwide as a result of COVID-19. The company experienced a 300% increase in sales in Q2 2020 compared to the same period last year and user engagement doubled during the months of March and April as consumers looked to discover new products from home.

“We’ve been working on Sampler for seven years and built a unique platform that connects brands and consumers through in-home product experiences. Though we could not have predicted the sudden shift in the market, we were ready. When the pandemic hit and in-store demos, events, and trade shows were brought to a sudden halt, brands had to quickly rethink how they were going to deliver such a crucial element of their marketing strategy as product sampling in a socially distant world. Our company’s growth accelerated quickly and we’re thrilled that this investment will allow us to continue carrying our vision forward while driving new product offerings that will change the way retailers, trade shows, and events conduct product sampling forever.” said Marie Chevrier, Founder and CEO of Sampler

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Carsten Maschmeyer investiert in ein Startup, das Maschinenbauer wie Bosch, Siemens und Co. fit für die Zukunft machen will

Starinvestor Carsten Maschmeyer hat sich an dem Berliner Startup Zksystems beteiligt.

Nach Informationen von Business Insider flossen bei dem Deal, an dem noch andere Investoren beteiligt waren, insgesamt drei Millionen Euro.

Zksystems entwickelt Software für die vernetzte Fabrik. Die Gründerinnen sind überzeugt, dass Maschinen künftig im Abo-Modell mit intelligenten Zusatzfunktionen angeboten werden.

ScanTrust and SAP to enhance food traceability

Over the last ten years, large, global food producers have been steadily losing market share to smaller, local brands mainly due to the loss of trust in the food industry. Addressing these challenges, ScanTrust, the developer of patented QR-codes and the global software solutions provider SAP have partnered to develop end-to-end, farm-to-consumer material traceability solutions for the SAP Logistics Business Network.

The solution enables brands to collect and trace batch-level information on raw materials, ingredients and finished products. Among other benefits, brands can use this to identify which products are affected by product recalls instantly. 

Thanks to the integration with the Scantrust connected goods platform, this data can now also be linked to a unique ScanTrust QR code, which is printed on product packaging and made available directly to end consumers. Scanning codes with a smartphone enables brands to deliver compelling stories around the provenance of their products, gain valuable data and insights on consumer behaviour based on QR codes and create a direct communication channel with consumers.
With the integration and the combined solution offering, ScanTrust and SAP together accelerate digitization in the food chain. It is expected that as more projects come online, the benefit of being able to connect directly to consumers will pay for itself, both as a win for brands and for consumers.

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SAP.iO Foundry Accelerator: Helping Startups Turn Untapped Data into New Business Opportunities for SAP Customers

The world is constantly evolving, whole industries are emerging in revolutionary ways — all because of increasing amounts of accessible data which is changing the way we use and allocate resources. As a result, now more than ever before, there is a tremendous opportunity for enterprises to capture numerous sources of previously untapped data, which can then enable predictive decisions, and even drive or create whole new utilizations. If you’re anything like thousands of SAP customers, you know how valuable innovation is and the advantages of adopting groundbreaking solutions, early.

Startups innovate at lightning speed and have made their mark on the B2B space with their disruptive business models and daring technology-fueled visions. Yet, what they lack is the reliability, market recognition and proven track-record. This is why the SAP.iO Fund and Foundries were created, to act as a bridge between SAP customers and startup innovations within the larger and thriving SAP ecosystem. The unit’s mission is to invest, accelerate and incubate startup innovation that strategically expand the SAP ecosystem to create value for SAP customers.

“Our mission is to empower the innovators that will simplify and transform the way business operates. To execute against our mission, we accelerate startups that are changing the face of enterprise software,” said Alexa Gorman, SAP.iO Foundries EMEA Head.

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SAP.iO’s Accelerator Program is Looking for Startups With Solutions in the Utilities Industry

SAP.iO Foundry Tel Aviv, SAP’s startup accelerator program, is opening its next cycle and looking for startups that help solve some of the biggest challenges facing the Utilities Industry, as well as startups that are looking to break into the Utilities field.The Utilities Industry has a staggering effect on our daily lives, and energy companies have a large responsibility to bring a constant supply of energy that will support our modern way of living. Looking ahead, this responsibility will only grow. With international pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the increasing demand for alternative energy sources, energy suppliers will be tasked with upholding existing regulations while facing several new challenges and updating regulations.

Original article here…

Investing in Female Founders — Lessons from Behavioral Finance, Gender Research and Real Life Experiences

A story of a conversation between an academic researcher, VC investor, CVC investor and an entrepreneur

2019 brought more female-founded unicorns than ever before, and more new female partners at VC firms. Despite this progress, VC remains one of the most gender-skewed industries in the US. Last year, approx. 87.8% of the VC funding was raised by all male founder teams. We also see an emerging evidence that the disruption caused by COVID-19 is bound to disproportionately affect women. As reported by Pitchbook, Q1 2020 already showed a decline in share of deals with startups founded by women.

Wait… but why?

I am a nerd. I studied Finance & Accounting, I studied Psychology, and then I got an MBA. I have always been fascinated by behavioral economics and academic research proving that we are irrational in a systematic way when making decisions under uncertainty. If you haven’t read yet — Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is a good place to start. Yes, he is that psychologist who was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Now, why it matters in VC. Mixed gender or women-led startups are not performing worse than male-led — actually it’s quite the opposite. So isn’t it rational to invest in them? From behavioral economics, we know that decisions under uncertainty are influenced by the actual framing and context. Biases and heuristics come into play when it comes to VC investing — it is no different than thinking about weighing potential gains and losses under uncertainty. So what can we actually do to help scale investments in female founders if we can’t change how we’re all wired? Let’s look at it from three different perspectives represented by (#1) a researcher, (#2) two investors, and (#3) an entrepreneur.

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AI-Fueled Startup Turns Disrupted Supply Chains Into Last Mile Opportunity

When Shamir Rahim, founder and CEO of VersaFleet, transformed his bio-medical startup into an AI-powered transportation management system, he never imagined being at the epicenter (in a good way) of a supply chain revolution during a worldwide pandemic. As anyone desperately searching for toilet paper discovered earlier this year, the last mile is the crucial link in every supply chain.

“We wanted to provide our customers with a command center view of last mile product delivery with cost and time savings,” said Shamir Rahim, founder and CEO of VersaFleet. “As our customers slowly open up again, VersaFleet is providing greater agility so they can quickly adjust logistics for maximum efficiency, whether people are out sick or returning to work, quarantines are lifted or imposed again, and operational hours shift at any time.”

Huge time savings improve customer experience 

Planners using VersaFleet’s SaaS-based cloud platform can dynamically schedule, dispatch, and track deliveries. Meantime, drivers send updates on completed deliveries in real-time using a mobile app. The algorithm also factors in data from orders connected through an ERP system like SAP S/4HANA.

“In a few clicks, planners can see which drivers are available, including their working hours and location preferences. They can select the most efficient route plan that uses the fewest vehicles traveling the least amount of distance for the highest number of items delivered,” said Rahim. “This reduces planning time from hours to minutes, saving valuable resources.”

Based in Singapore, VersaFleet serves customers primarily in Southeast Asia across many industries including consumer packaged goods, food manufacturing, white goods, casinos, and environmental services. One customer’s recent go-live actually coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Malaysia. It proved fortuitous for the global health and beauty retailer.

“Their implementation of VersaFleet couldn’t have come at a better time,” said Rahim. “Despite working remotely from their respective homes, the planners were able to work collaboratively in real time. They were able to restock high-demand items like toilet paper and sanitizing wipes up to five times a day, something they had never been able to do before.”

The company has slashed daily planning time by 90 percent, from up to four hours down to under 10 minutes. In addition, by digitalizing proof-of-delivery, the retailer sped up billing processes four-fold. Instead of waiting for drivers to return from their routes with paper-based records, finance immediately receives delivery confirmation for same day invoice processing. This kind of business agility cascades down to boost the customer’s experience.

“Companies can reduce stock-outs, which is so important in meeting people’s heightened demands, especially with fast-moving consumer goods,” said Rahim. “Several of our other customers have improved customer service levels by 50 percent.”

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Meet the SAP.iO HR Tech startups! Join us as we celebrate an incredible journey with the HR Tech startups from the SAP.iO Foundry Paris Spring 2020 cohort and a panel of thought leaders who are blazing new paths in the Future of Work.

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