sustainability Archives • SAP.iO

Corinna Schmidt In Munich, Featured, Energy & Natural Resources, Sustainability, Announcements, Foundries

SAP.iO Foundry Munich Launches Sustainability and Energy Management Program to Drive Startup Innovation

September 27, 2023 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today launched a virtual startup program focused on sustainability and energy management at SAP.iO Foundry Munich. A jury of experts from SAP, alongside SAP partners and customers evaluated numerous applicants and selected 12 startups to join the program.

The energy and natural resources industries have undergone a significant transformation in recent years, moving from centralized fossil fuel-based operations to a more decentralized and diverse landscape powered by renewables. This shift has been driven by environmental concerns and technological innovations that promise to make extraction and processing more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable. The movement requires companies to develop intelligent solutions for energy generation and storage, water management, and circular production processes, while striving for energy efficiency in their own operations.

During the five-month, equity-free program, SAP will work with the selected startups to integrate and jointly offer solutions for this new more sustainable reality. The startups will receive curated mentorship, access to SAP® technology and application programming interfaces (APIs), and exposure to SAP customers with the opportunity to develop high-impact proofs of concept.

The following startups are participating in the program at SAP.iO Foundry Munich:

CibusCell provides a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform to companies in the hydrogen value chain for analyzing potentials, digitizing processes, and optimizing production and collaboration.
enercast provides accurate power generation forecasts that enable customers to efficiently operate their assets, ensure grid stability and increase their trading margins.
envelio offers an intelligent grid platform that transforms power grids into digital, flexible and interactive smart grids.
evergen provides an advanced energy management software platform that uses machine learning algorithms to optimize and digitize the use of renewable energy assets across the entire energy chain.
EZZING offers digital solutions that optimize the entire value chain of the photovoltaic sector and solar energy in the field of distributed generation.
greenventory builds a digital twin of a city or supply area and analyses its energy potential and uncovers future opportunities.
HData helps companies access and analyze energy regulatory information instantly, reducing the burden of regulatory work while enhancing the business value of energy data analysis.
Kerith supports companies to achieve maximal savings, secure their energy supply for the long term, and find the right strategy to realize their sustainability goals.
Recyda analyses the recyclability of a company’s entire packaging portfolio according to leading industry standards and automates the calculation of EPR fees and plastic taxes for international markets.
S1Seven provides a digital material passport that connects auditable quality and sustainability data.
Sympheny provides evolved energy planning through optimized energy supply solutions for buildings and districts.
Tronity helps companies gain full control over their EV data, benefitting from full transparency of their charging costs and take advantage of smart document management

For more information, visit https://sap.io/muc-f23/.

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/.

Kelli Kohout In Uncategorized

How GrainChain Is Leveling the Playing Field

GrainChain has been nominated in HackerNoon’s annual Startup of the Year awards in McAllen, Texas, USA.

Meet GrainChain

GrainChain is working to level the playing field for producers and all other participants along the global agricultural supply chain by directly addressing current pain points such as reliability of data, traceability, the speed of payments, and access to financing and insurance.

My Role

I am Tom DeRosa, Director of Marketing for GrainChain. I have the privilege of crafting GrainChain’s story and sharing it with the world, from what we do to how we do it and the impact we are making across the global agricultural supply chain.

I’m excited about our most recent campaign: interviews with the producers, lenders, and other supply chain participants that we work with. There are real people and real world success stories behind our impressive technological innovations.

How We’re Disrupting/Improving the Agricultural Industry

We’re bringing the technological tools that large-scale producers use and making them available to small to medium-sized producers.

GrainChain is working to take an industry that is still relying on paper and labor-intensive practices and move it toward a productive, sustainable future, helping producers, buyers, storage operators, lenders, and other supply chain participants around the world.

Our software ecosystem solves problems for all participants at every stage of the supply chain, providing better visibility, efficiency, and data. We are not merely aggregating data but generating it, and the reliability of this data allows us to open up new opportunities in the marketplace.

Standing Out from The Crowd

We are unique because we are not creating solutions in search of a problem.

We’re not building blockchain and IoT-driven solutions because that technology is popular and draws attention–we are constantly seeking out the best technology and approaches available to solve real-world problems faced along the agricultural supply chain.

More importantly, we are applying these technologies the right way.

Each solution we have built solves a specific problem that producers, buyers, lenders, storage operators, and other supply chain participants are facing in markets around the world.

We believe no one is really tackling supply chain efficiency, traceability, and liquidity in the holistic way we are, connecting all participants through a single point of truth.

Our Predictions/Thoughts on the Agricultural Industry in 2023

Automation and digitization of processes at each stage of the supply chain will continue to ramp up in 2023, meaning more reliable, real-time data can be captured, stored, and made available to all stakeholders.

This data is key to lowering risk and providing producers with more and better financial options from loans to insurance.

AI is going to be transformative in this industry as it is across all industries. AI can help supply chain participants identify anomalous data and solve problems more quickly.

It can enhance predictive analytics and forecasting so that producers can make their operations more efficient and get better prices in a highly volatile marketplace.

As with many industries, there will be a shift away from proprietary hardware and heavy investments in infrastructure toward cloud computing and mobile apps that allow producers, storage operators, and logistics providers to more quickly and easily integrate technology into their operations.

We’re in an age of amazing advancements in technology, but the key is applying the right technologies in the right way to truly impact the agricultural supply chain.

SAP.iO Foundry Tokyo Accelerates Startups To Help Companies Run Intelligent Sustainable Enterprises

July 10, 2023 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today launched its B2B startup program at SAP.iO Foundry Tokyo to help companies become intelligent, sustainable enterprises. Five startups working in multiple domains and industries have been selected to join the program. The goal is to provide innovative solutions to domestic and global SAP customers by integrating with solutions across the SAP portfolio.

“In the drastically changing market environment, SAP supports companies to become agile and intelligent sustainable enterprises that leverage the latest technology and allow employees to focus on higher value-added tasks and realize sustainable management.” said Hirofumi Suzuki, SAP Japan President and Representative Director. “To realize this, we focus on expanding our important partner ecosystem including innovative startups.. This program will encourage our customers to utilize a variety of new solutions or technologies with SAP systems brought by cutting-edge startups.”

Over the next four months, 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 around the world.

The Intelligent Sustainable Enterprise cohort at SAP.iO Foundry Tokyo includes the following startups:

ALGO ARTIS develops AI solutions to optimize complex operations in a short time with a single click.
Inspiration Plus provides a platform for advanced disaster prevention using digital technology for local governments and corporate business continuity plans.
Milk. offers manufacturing inspection software for industrial customers that is powered by AI-based hyperspectral technology.
primeNumber Inc. optimizes the process of data utilization by helping build an environment where anyone can quickly and easily use data.
SMITH&VISION uses image recognition technology to automatically capture information from packages for logistics.

Corinna Schmidt In Featured, Announcements, Shanghai

SAP.iO Greater China Kicks Off 1st Pop-up Program in Taiwan

May 26, 2023 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) launched the first pop-up program for startups in Taiwan in parallel to the 2023 SAP NOW Taiwan event. The program specifically targets startups with sustainability use cases and/or startups with enterprise solutions that employ model based control (MBC), supply chain finance, robotics, AI, or data analytics technologies.

During this 5-month program, the five selected startups will build and develop long-term partnerships with SAP by defining joint use cases and exploring 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 Greater China program in Taiwan:

BSOS is a B2B supply chain FinTech company that solves the asset liquidity problem with Web3 technologies.
e-Formula provides three major services of energy, communication and intelligence to make customers’ sustainable development intelligent, compatible and integrated.
BBTruck is a one-stop supply chain logistic service for every business.
RV Automation is a people-centric robotics solution.
MoBagel is a no-code generative AI/ML platform for enterprise analytics to build sustainability together.

Corinna Schmidt In IoT Startup program, Singapore, Featured, Sustainability, Announcements

SAP.iO Foundry Singapore Kicks Off Intelligent Sustainable Enterprise Program

23 May, 2023 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) and Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) have launched the Intelligent Sustainable Enterprise program, a 6-month program focused on supporting tech startups to build innovative solutions for businesses in the following areas: 5G, internet of things (IoT), robotics, data analytics and augmented, virtual, or mixed reality (AR/VR/MR).

As we continue to navigate the challenges of a highly disruptive and rapidly evolving world, it is becoming increasingly important for businesses to not only be profitable, but also sustainable and intelligent. By using innovative technology, enterprises can make informed decisions and respond to market changes quickly. Companies that are more agile and intelligent in their decision-making processes are best positioned for long-term success in today’s competitive business landscape.

“As one of the fastest-growing regions in the world, South East Asia is a hotbed of innovation and a hub for startups. With its diverse and dynamic economy, rich culture, and young, digitally savvy population, the region presents immense opportunities for businesses to grow and thrive. At SAP, we are committed to supporting co-innovation, and are excited to collaborate with IMDA to create a vibrant ecosystem for startups to achieve their goals,” said Verena Siow, President and Managing Director, South East Asia at SAP.

Highlighting the importance of sustainability of tech solutions within the business and to the environment, 9 startups have been selected by a jury of experts from SAP and IMDA, as well as selected SAP customers to join the program. The selected startups will gain opportunities to work with leading corporates and end users to demonstrate real-world applications of innovative technology to address challenges across various industries.

Through the Intelligent Sustainable Enterprise Program, the selected startups will be given resources and support to commercialise their innovative tech solutions with access to:

Dedicated mentorship by the teams at SAP and IMDA;
SAP’s enterprise customers and IMDA’s network of corporates, startups and industry partners;
SAP’s technology and application programming interfaces (APIs);
Resources in 5G, AR, VR and a panel of consultants on subjects such as design thinking, digital storytelling and UI/UX at IMDA’s innovation hub – PIXEL*

Where relevant, selected startups may enrich their own catalogue of services and offerings by participating in IMDA’s programmes – ranging from 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), trust tech to open innovation platform challenges.

“Innovation plays a critical role in today’s competitive landscape, and we believe in building the ecosystem alongside our partners. With the Intelligent Sustainable Enterprise program, in collaboration with SAP, we will bring in IMDA’s innovation, tech resources, business networks, and leverage SAP’s expertise, to accelerate the growth of our tech startups globally,” said Justin Ang, Assistant Chief Executive of Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).

*PIXEL supports corporates and startups in digital innovation through customised consultation to identify opportunities and develop tech products based on their unique business needs. Powered by the Open Innovation Platform (OIP), corporates can crowdsource for innovative solutions from IMDA’s global network of over 12,000 solution providers. One of the top launchpads in South East Asia, PIXEL also houses specialised labs including AR/VR, 5G, usability testing, as well as co-working spaces.

The following startups are participating in the program:

Ackcio builds wireless monitoring systems to make industrial operations smarter and faster.
Delta Capture effortlessly manages the sustainability of agriculture supply chain
Intangles transforms fleet monitoring standards by leveraging on their proprietary digital twin technology.
QZense helps companies optimize food supply chain operations with their IoT-based automation and analytics solutions.
Scoutbee provides actionable supplier insights for better business outcomes powered by the Scoutbee Intelligence Platform.
SkyMap provides location-based data analytics to deliver sustainability related geospatial AI applications at scale.
Unbox Robotics elevates fulfillment for digital commerce with intelligent vertical robotic sortation.
UNL Global enables businesses to build highly scalable, hyperlocal services and applications with their mapping, location, and data tools.
xSquare leverages intelligent warehouse automation technology to optimize warehouse operations without changing existing configurations.

For program developments and opportunities to participate in innovation workshops with the selected startups, refer to the updates on https://sap.io/sgp-23/ .

About Infocomm Media Development Authority
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) leads Singapore’s digital transformation by developing a vibrant digital economy and an inclusive digital society. As Architects of Singapore’s Digital Future, we foster growth in Infocomm Technology and Media sectors in concert with progressive regulations, harnessing frontier technologies, and developing local talent and digital infrastructure ecosystems to establish Singapore as a digital metropolis.

For more news and information, visit www.imda.gov.sg or follow IMDA on LinkedIn (IMDA – Singapore), Facebook (IMDAsg), Instagram (@IMDAsg) and Twitter (@IMDAsg).

For more information, please contact:

SAP.iO
Steven Tong
Director, SAP.iO Foundry Singapore
steven.tong@sap.com

Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)
Elsa Kimy Yue
Communications Division
+65 8338 8942 | elsa_kimy_yue@imda.gov.sg

Kelli Kohout In New York, CRM & Customer Experience

Obsess unveils Carbon Emissions Calculator for brands evaluating construction of new physical stores

Obsess has launched a Carbon Emissions Calculator for brands to analyse the energy output for bricks and mortar retail stores in comparison to their virtual counterparts.

The company has created 200+ virtual stores for brands including Ralph Lauren, Coach, NBCUniversal, American Girl, and Charlotte Tilbury.

Retailers can input into the tool flexible values for physical store estimates, including store square footage, daily foot traffic, and number of employees.

Based on these inputs, Obsess calculates the average output for store construction (including material production and transportation, and construction activities) and the average output for store operations (including employee labor, commute and store electricity).

Carbon emissions calculations are based on initial construction and one year of operations for both brick sand mortar and virtual stores. Outbound product shipments are not included in the calculation. Corporate employee and office operations have also been excluded.

Check out the calculator here.

Kelli Kohout In Tel Aviv, ERP & Finance

Sustain.Life Proudly Announces B Corp™ Certification

Sustain.Life, the SaaS platform helping companies across industries measure, manage, and report their environmental impact, today announced its certification as a B Corporation^™ (B Corp^™). The certification reinforces Sustain.Life’s commitment to helping every industry future-proof by decarbonizing and forging a path to net-zero.

The B Corp verification process, administered by the nonprofit, B Lab, measures a company’s social and environmental performance. To become a Certified B Corporation, companies thoroughly review the impact of their operations and business model on their workers, customers, communities, and the environment and must score a minimum of 80 points on the assessment.

“Even before our inception in 2021, I knew that I wanted to build a Certified B-Corporation. It was vital that we aligned with B Corp early on—it provided effective tools and resources to ensure we started on the right path as a company,” said Annalee Bloomfield, chief executive officer at Sustain.Life. “We are very proud of receiving the B-Corp Certification, which cements our strategic vision for the future. It provides confidence for our team and current and future partners that want to make more informed business decisions with the environment in mind.”

SAP Startup Spotlight: Footprint Technologies

SAP invests in a lot of promising startups, and it’s sometimes hard to keep track of them all. E-3 Magazine has selected the most interesting companies to showcase in our SAP Startup Spotlight Series. In this article, we will take a look at Footprint Technologies, which has an app listed in the SAP store.

Matthias Brendel’s is the CEO and co-founder of Footprint Technologies. He founded his first company at the age of 17 and has been working as a “sidepreneur” ever since. After finishing his degree in environmental engineering, Brendel became interested in reducing carbon emissions in combustion engines and joined Audi in 2007. He later had the opportunity to create and lead an innovation unit for new business development in Berlin’s startup ecosystem from scratch: Audi Denkwerkstatt. In November 2020, he joined his early-stage start-up, Footprint Technologies. Since then, he has contributed to the transformation of online shoe shopping into a more individual and sustainable experience. In this interview, he mentions what Footprint Technologies has to offer, how his solution works, and what’s next for the startup.

What is Footprint Technologies and what do you offer?

Footprint Technologies transforms online shoe shopping into a sustainable and individual experience: our software enables online shoppers to precisely measure their feet via smartphone and receive our perfect size and fit recommendation for the selected shoe model. The whole process is seamlessly integrated into their shopping experience: it starts directly in their favorite shop and ends up with the perfectly fitting shoe in the shopping cart. Thus we are avoiding shoe returns for a more profitable and sustainable e-commerce. Our team is based in Berlin, Germany but serves clients from all over Europe, Japan, and the USA.

How does your solution work?

Our software enables people to measure their feet easily with their smartphone and a standard sheet of paper (DIN A4 or US Letter). Using the latest cloud-based computer vision technology, we can determine the length and width of the foot to the millimeter. But measuring the exact foot size is only half the solution. In order to give the best possible size recommendation for the chosen model, we use our unique shoe database. In cooperation with the shoe manufacturers, we have identified and stored the relevant size and fit information for each shoe model here. Knowing feet and shoe dimensions and integrating the latest scientific research from University of Gothenburg Sweden, we recommend a comfortable fit that makes the user happy and prevents returns.

Specright Named to Fast Company’s List of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2023

Specright a leader in Specification Management software, has been named to Fast Company’s prestigious annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2023, honored at No. 3 in the Enterprise category. Specright participated in SAP.iO Foundry New York’s Sustainability & Consumer program and SAP.iO’s Rising stars program in 2022.

This year’s list highlights the businesses at the forefront of their respective industries, paving the way for the innovations of tomorrow. These companies are setting the standard with some of the greatest accomplishments of the modern world. In addition to the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies, 540 organizations are recognized across 54 sectors and regions.

“At Specright, our vision is to live in a world without waste, and we believe the best opportunity to do so is to empower people and companies across the globe with the data needed to make products and packaging sustainably,” said Matthew Wright, Specright Founder and CEO. “It is such an honor for Specright to be named alongside so many incredible, innovative companies and this award is a testament to all of the great work our team has done in driving the Specright mission forward.”

Specright helps companies digitize product and packaging specification data and share and collaborate on that data with supply chain partners to reduce costs and errors, drive efficiency, and increase speed to market. This past year, the company surpassed two million products on its platform globally, supporting Fortune 500 and challenger brands and boasting a 99 percent customer retention rate. Specright also received a patent for its Specification Data Management™ platform, validating the uniqueness of Specright’s spec-first approach to product and packaging development, quality management, and above all – sustainability tracking and reporting. The patent also covers Specright Network, which enables brands, suppliers, retailers, and manufacturers to share live, digital specifications with one another.

SAP.iO Launches Carbon Accounting Startup Program to Help Customers Enhance Sustainability Efforts

October 19, 2022 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) launched a virtual startup program focused on carbon accounting at the SAP.iO Foundry Tel Aviv. A jury of SAP experts, partners, investment funds, and SAP customers, including ABInBev, DSV Global Transport and Logistics, and more, selected six international startups to join the program and build partnerships with SAP.

The increased awareness of sustainability has impacted consumers and investors alike. They are more and more choosing socially and environmentally responsible companies that consider their impact on people and the planet in their business activities. The finance sector continues to evolve as people and businesses transform how they spend, save, borrow, and invest.

SAP.iO Foundry Tel Aviv introduced the “Carbon Accounting” program to help customers enhance their sustainability efforts. The startups will work with the Foundry team as well as leading companies from various fields on integration and partnership with SAP.

Gunther Rothermel, Senior Vice President and Head of SAP Sustainability Engineering, “Data is a critical driver toward sustainability success. Enterprise data collection is a challenge where SAP helps its customers on their journey to Net Zero. It is about using the right tools and the latest innovation to achieve this goal.”

During the program, the 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 worldwide. This includes creating new partnerships and value propositions.

The following startups are participating in the program:

Connect Earth offers API-based data products that track the carbon footprint of financial transactions.
ESGgo leverages machine learning to analyze and optimize enterprise environmental, social and governance (ESG) posture and score.
ESG Enterprise provides integrated SaaS and data analytics for businesses to reduce compliance costs, automate carbon accounting, data collection, and reporting.
SustainCert enables the digital verification of impact claims across carbon markets and value chains, bringing credibility to climate action.
Sustain.Life enables companies to easily measure, manage and report their ESG impacts for shareholders and regulatory disclosure requirements and requests using global regulatory frameworks.
Unravel Carbon helps companies track and reduce their carbon emissions, specializing in Scope 3.

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/.

Corinna Schmidt In Sustainability, Announcements, Latin America, Foundries, Featured

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:

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.
CargoSnap (Brazil) is a mobile app that enables businesses to easily perform visual cargo inspections, resulting in less claims, less damage and happier customers.
DigiFarmz (Brazil) provides smart agronomic recommendations for higher yield, profitability, and risk mitigation with less environmental impact.
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.
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.
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.
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/.

Kelli Kohout In Munich, Interview, Supply Chain Management, Inspiring Innovators, Berlin

Inspiring Innovators: Chicko Sousa Founder of GreenPlat, On No Time for Waste

At SAP.iO, we work with innovative people and new technologies that positively impact our world every day, and we think it’s time to share their stories with you! In our series, “Inspiring Innovators,” we get to hear how leaders of cutting-edge startup technologies overcame, thrived, and pursued their goals. SAP.iO’s Alexa Gorman sat down to discuss the road to success and lessons learned with some of our most inspiring startup founders.

Meet Chicko Sousa

It has been said that Chico Sousa is a Mechanical Engineer by choice, but a specialist in the acceleration of clean production by nature aptly sums up his journey to entrepreneurship. Starting as a mechanical engineer working for Volvo, Chicko was assigned to projects that produced scrap materials needing to be recycled or reimagined. He left Volvo after successfully managing those projects to start a company that built recycling plants in Brazil, creating 13 new plants over 11 years before selling his company in 2013. He then came to Sao Paulo to help the municipality with public projects, generating environmental improvements in the fight against CO2 emissions and plastic use.

From there, Chicko created a YouTube series where he did interviews inside garbage trucks, much like Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”, to raise recycling awareness. The wild success of this web series helped increase the municipality’s recycling rates significantly but created new issues. They started to see problems with permits as they began selling the recycled materials. At this time, Chicko realized a need to control and manage information to produce the proper flow of materials for licensed recycling and founded the company GreenPlat in 2016.

Working with recycling technologies for over 20 years and with software for almost ten years, Chicko created GreenPlat, a clean production SaaS, which today has more than 690,000 companies registered on the platform. Since 2018, GreenPlat has been a part of the World Economic Forum in the Pioneering Technology category, as they were the first company to use blockchain technology for waste traceability. So far, 1 million tons of waste have been managed through their software; all disposed of correctly without polluting the environment. This means a cleaner and healthier environment for all and for businesses, increased visibility into recycling, compliance, and traceability.

“I think this is a worldwide situation where people are done talking and ready to act. We can see this movement, and it is encouraging. We are ready for action; there is no time for waste.”

What’s Next in High-Growth Digital Innovations

Quantum computing, the composable enterprise, and ubiquitous artificial intelligence (AI) were among the fastest-growing technology advancements that five experts saw reshaping the future of intelligent, sustainable, networked business. Here is a sampling of their insights shared during a panel discussion hosted by Kange Kaneene, vice president of SAP.iO Foundries North America, at the SAP Sapphire Orlando event.

Three Trends Drive Investments in Digital Startups

Nino Marakovic, founder and CEO of Sapphire Ventures, said that enterprise software startups have experienced record-breaking investments in the past two years, driven by the urgency of large companies adopting technology to help them transform and position themselves for the future. Originally SAP’s corporate venture capital arm, Sapphire Ventures has been an independent financial investment firm for 12 years. SAP is the largest investor in the Sapphire Ventures portfolio that totals US$10 billion.

“Last year alone, more than $60 billion was invested in startups making supply chains more sustainable, intelligent, and resilient,” said Marakovic. “Another major investment area is data and machine learning as we see more of the workflows and data move to the cloud. Companies want solutions that help customers manage, orchestrate, organize, and analyze that data. The third high-growth area is future of work. Company shifts from on-site to remote and hybrid work, [coupled with] a tight labor market and wave of employee resignations, have a created a perfect storm that’s modernizing the workplace.”

Data Saves Money and the Environment

Ivaldi Group is a great example of how startups are innovating to help supply chains hardest hit by pandemic-related disruption, in this case, in the automotive industry. Uvaldi Group participated in the SAP.iO Foundries New York City COVID-19 recovery cohort. SAP.iO Foundries is the company’s external startup accelerator. Integrating data from SAP S/4HANA customers, Ivaldi Group’s software calculates the carbon footprint of an auto supplier’s spare parts operation, analyzing potential candidates for advanced, local digital manufacturing such as 3D printing.

“Customers are interested in finding money where they didn’t know they were losing it and reducing their carbon footprint,” said Stefani Pellinen-Chavez, COO at Ivaldi Group. “We review the data, including how far a customer ships products, how long they remain in inventory, how hard it is to source these parts, and how long their factory or facility would be down if this part was not available…Suppliers might create local manufacturing centers so the community can partner with larger corporate customers.”

Holistic Planning with Connected Data Company-Wide

In an uncertain world, supply chain planning has become one of the major challenges for companies navigating disruptions. Juergen Mueller, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and chief technology officer at SAP, shared how organizations are innovating on SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) to collaborate with their ecosystem, explore what-if scenarios for planning purposes and flexibility, and gain competitive advantage. He said that advanced analytics and connected data help people immediately see and act on the impact of material shortages and potential alternatives for factory production lines, suppliers and logistics partners, finance and cash flow outlook, and workforce demands.

SAP.iO Foundry Paris Launches Its New Program: Sustainability in the Service Industries

January 11, 2022 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today launched a startup program focused on sustainability as part of the 7^th edition of SAP.iO Foundry Paris. Eight international startups have been selected by a jury of SAP experts, partners, customers and investment funds to join the program.

SAP.iO Foundry Paris, SAP’s startup acceleration unit in France, has already supported more than 50 startups. In three years, SAP has achieved the goal set at the #ChooseFrance summit with the French government in 2018 to support the startup economy.

This new program focuses on four topics related to different issues concerning sustainability in the service industries:

Responsible design and production
Responsible sourcing
Resource recovery and re-use
Responsible consumption

Sébastien Gibier, Director of SAP.iO Foundry Paris, said: “SAP.iO has always been a great incubator for startups. This year, the focus on sustainability will allow scale-ups to amplify their impact. SAP France is delighted to continue this program focused on innovation. We are particularly pleased to have met our objectives set with the government.”

Over the next 12 weeks, startups will have access to one-on-one mentoring 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 Paris program:

ACTRADIS assists companies in the compilation, verification and digitization of documents on a sharing platform.
bloXmove is a decentralized mobility blockchain platform that provides easy-to-integrate interfaces for verifying identities and credentials, smart contracts and revenue distribution.
Cozero offers a digital carbon action platform covering the end-to-end carbon management process of companies to optimize their environmental and economic footprint throughout the supply chain.
HESUS provides solutions for the transport and treatment of soil and construction waste, while reducing their environmental impact.
Leanpath provides a comprehensive food waste prevention platform – including measurement, discovery and automation tools – enabling partner customers to reduce food waste by 50% or more in more than 40 countries.
Liftango guides international organizations and cities in planning, launching and implementing shared mobility projects. It solves parking, congestion and zoning problems by improving the efficiency of transportation services through on-demand transportation technology.
Madaster offers a cloud platform that provides a single point of access to leverage real estate data to meet environmental, regulatory, health and financial ambitions throughout the lifecycle of the object.
TotalCtrl creates digital products in collaboration with restaurants, hotels, municipalities and individuals to eliminate manual processes, streamline food inventory management, easily generate monthly cost of goods sold and accounting reports.

About SAP.iO
SAP.iO delivers new partnerships and products for SAP by accelerating and scaling startup innovation as well as incubating employee businesses. SAP.iO brings together innovators from all regions, industries and sectors to transform the way businesses work. Since 2017, SAP.iO has helped 380+ external startups and internal ventures accelerate their growth while enabling thousands of SAP customers to access to innovation. For more information, visit http://sap.io/.

Corinna Schmidt In Singapore, Featured, Sustainability, Announcements

SAP.iO Foundry Singapore Launches Sustainability Startup Program in Asia-Pacific and Japan

November 25, 2021 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today launched a sustainability-focused virtual startup program at SAP.iO Foundry Singapore. Six international startups have been selected by a jury of SAP experts and partners to join the program.

New ideas and innovative solutions are essential to uncover the impact of emissions and waste across every facet of a business. The selected startups use next generation technologies to drive sustainability outcomes for companies across Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ), in areas such as climate action, circular economy, and socially responsible supply chains.

Over the next 13 weeks, the 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 around the world.

“Achieving our sustainability goals will require all of us to work together at pace, as our planet’s time is running out,” says Paul Marriott, President SAP Asia Pacific and Japan. “Initiatives such as this SAP.iO Foundry program are critical in identifying, enabling, and promoting innovative solutions that can change how our customers’ business is run, and ultimately the impact we have on the world. This program not only helps start-ups accelerate their growth, but it’s also one of the quickest ways to bring the latest innovation to thousands of our customers globally.”

The following startups are participating in the sustainability in APJ program:

Ambee helps people to breathe clean air using artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to analyze air quality, soil, micro weather, pollen, and more.
CarbonClick is a carbon credits marketplace that allows customers to purchase audited carbon offsets, as well as measure and reduce their carbon footprint.
givvable helps businesses to discover and track sustainability credentials, attributes and initiatives of suppliers.
Resync is a cloud energy management company which manages renewable assets, building energy and industrial energy.
Unabiz drives data-driven business efficiency through sensors, manufacturing and cloud platform services for smart metering, smart facilities management, smart logistics and supply chain.
WePower connects corporate energy buyers and retailers with green energy generators so all businesses, regardless of size, can purchase locally produced green energy at competitive rates with full transparency.

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/.