of tech executives agree, betting on innovation partnerships as integral to their strategy, particularly with AI-powered startup solutions.

Making AI Accessible via Innovation Partnerships

We are proud to share that 麻豆原创.iO has surpassed the 125-mark for in our partner ecosystem. These solutions are fully integrated with 麻豆原创 and available via for immediate adoption by 麻豆原创 customers. The encompassing solutions range across lines of business and industries, including finance, HR, supply chain, and customer experience.

This milestone demonstrates our commitment to helping 麻豆原创 customers flourish in a rapidly changing world by enabling the easy extension of their software landscapes with tailor-fitted solutions that meet their specific needs.

In 2024, we鈥檒l continue to scale our award-winning ecosystem through and in 11 innovation hubs around the world.

Examples of Tailor-Fitted Solutions

As a testament to our thriving ecosystem, let’s look at two examples from our portfolio: Yellow.ai and Nyris.

utilizes generative AI to uplift customer and employee experiences via dynamic chatbots and voicebots, handling over 2 billion interactions each quarter. This startup solution seamlessly integrates with 麻豆原创 Customer Experience and 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors software, facilitating omnichannel experiences across diverse employee and customer touchpoints.

has leveraged AI to build a powerful visual search platform that provides users with an intuitive way to instantly find what they want using images, keywords, or barcodes. The platform integrates with 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud to enable no-code search solutions.

The Symbiotic Relationship Between Startups and Corporates

A study by suggests that businesses can benefit from partnering with AI startups in areas such as technology, talent, and change management. For those AI partnerships to be successful, the findings suggest a shared understanding of data rights, governance, risk management, and pricing methodologies.

By partnering with startups, businesses can get fresh perspectives, customized technology solutions to a specific industry or functional problem, and specialized skills they might not possess internally. In return, established companies offer startups scalability, market presence, and credibility.

This symbiotic relationship enables both entities to stay on top of industry trends, drive AI innovation, and maintain a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving technological landscape. This rich environment of shared learning and continuous improvement then bolsters the entire AI ecosystem.

Alexa Gorman is senior vice president and global head of 麻豆原创.iO

Fast forward two-and-half years to the spring of 2023, and not only has Cogniac found a strong market for its technology, it has earned a place among the vanguard of enterprise-class CV software, having been as a leader in the field alongside the likes of AWS, Google, and Microsoft.

How does a company ascend so far, so fast? In the case of San Jose, California-based Cogniac, it couldn鈥檛 have happened without superior technology, a partnership-driven mindset, and an openness to work with 麻豆原创 to develop an industry cloud solution that readily integrates with the 麻豆原创 portfolio to bring more value to customers.

Cogniac鈥檚 Visual Operations Intelligence platform is one of more than 300 apps and integrated end-to-end solutions developed within 麻豆原创鈥檚 industry cloud and is available to customers across multiple industry verticals in . Cogniac鈥檚 technology also has been integrated into the solution, providing AI-enabled visual inspection capabilities for the shop floor to customers in a range of industries.

Cogniac is among a wave of up-and-coming companies that are blazing a trail for other independent developers to follow, showing how to leverage the expertise and resources of 麻豆原创 and system integrator partners to quickly scale up and monetize their intellectual property and technology. It鈥檚 all part of 麻豆原创鈥檚 鈥渙ne-portfolio鈥� approach, which is rooted in the belief that by working together, companies that are actively engaged in 麻豆原创鈥檚 industry cloud 鈥� including independent developers, global and regional services partners, and others 鈥� can create solutions that generate more value for customers and themselves than they otherwise would working individually. The one-portfolio approach is first and foremost about solving customers鈥� business problems, whether the solution comes from an 麻豆原创 partner, 麻豆原创 itself, or a combination of the two.

In Cogniac鈥檚 case, the solution was born from the 麻豆原创.iO program and, following a , it鈥檚 now fully commercialized for customers in travel and transportation, automotive manufacturing, mill and mining, industrial manufacturing, and other verticals seeking to upgrade and automate their visual inspection capabilities for quality management and maintenance.

Here鈥檚 where the implementation expertise of another industry cloud partner, Montreal-based Syntax, enters the picture. As a system integrator, Syntax is playing a critical role in scaling and implementing Cogniac鈥檚 technology for customer use cases. It鈥檚 yet another example of how combining an independent developer鈥檚 domain expertise 鈥� for Cogniac, its computer vision driven by AI 鈥� with a system integrator鈥檚 expertise 鈥� Syntax is deeply experienced in customer implementations where IT and OT converge 鈥� and 麻豆原创鈥檚 end-to-end business process expertise, resources, reach, and positioning can result in a solution that fills an obvious customer need. Not only can creative industry cloud partnerships like these result in new revenue streams and market opportunities for developers and system integrators but they can bring solutions to market much faster than before.

Speaking of speed, the Cogniac-developed visual inspection capabilities within 麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing can be implemented by Syntax at enterprise scale quickly, in a day or two, because they readily integrate with existing camera infrastructure and workflows. The low-code/no-code AI technology behind those capabilities represents a huge step forward in shop floor automation for a wide range of use cases, enabling high-speed inspection with greater accuracy at a lower cost. In this case, AI could also stand for augmented intelligence, for its ability to help customers make better decisions faster, as well as for automated intelligence, for its ability to free human beings from monotonous, repetitive inspection tasks.

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

The industry cloud relationship between Cogniac, Syntax, and 麻豆原创 is a great illustration of the innovation mindset driving the one-portfolio approach, where instead of taking it upon ourselves to develop proprietary solutions in areas where we aren鈥檛 necessarily strongest, like computer vision, we combine forces with partners to come up with collaborative solutions that deliver more value to the folks who matter most: our customers. To support that approach, 麻豆原创 has updated its compensation models to make it easier and more attractive for partners to monetize their intellectual property and expertise on industry cloud.

When all this comes together, as it has with Cogniac and Syntax, the result is a win-win-win for customers, partners, and 麻豆原创.

Philipp Raub is product manager for Visual Inspection at 麻豆原创.
Bianca Ruebartsch is global head of Energy and Natural Resources Ecosystem at 麻豆原创.

鈥淥rganizations are struggling to forecast energy costs in a volatile market and understand the impact of new trends such as e-mobility on operations and finance,鈥� said Catherine Garcera, global head of Sustainability, Services Industry at 麻豆原创. 鈥淭hey need resilience against the current energy crisis and the ability to grow and generate profits while meeting corporate sustainability goals.鈥�

Step 1: Power Up Energy Savings with Digital Twins

Lowering energy consumption and operating costs begins with a thorough understanding of an organization鈥檚 energy data. Leading-edge companies are using digital twins to capture and analyze real-time energy usage data including electricity, natural gas, and renewables. That鈥檚 the purpose behind Flexinergy, an energy management software platform developed by , an 麻豆原创 partner. The platform creates a digital version of an organization鈥檚 energy contracts and usage, allowing the customer to pre-calculate the bill. Information can include distribution costs across subsidiaries, taxes, size and location of facilities, occupancy rates, external temperatures, and more. This helps customers catch invoice mistakes, evaluate energy efficiency, and reduce consumption.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not unusual to find discrepancies between what the bill should be and the provider鈥檚 actual invoice,鈥� said Erwin Guizouarn, CEO and founder of Evolution Energie. 鈥淐ustomers also use our software to better forecast energy costs in case of price fluctuations, new contracts, or supply chain disruptions.鈥�

Guizouarn said that customers can be overcharged up to 5% on an annual basis due to billing errors. As for cost reductions, one large airport saved 17% in energy consumption.

Real-time data became particularly important for organizations during the recent energy crisis. Guizouarn said that customers can explore what-if scenarios, factoring in changeable energy prices and other parameters like lower carbon emission fuels, revised contract terms, or hedging to lower risk in case of energy price fluctuations. Ongoing alerts notify decision-makers of deviations to the plan, say if energy prices climb higher than expected, helping companies adjust strategies as needed.

Evolution Energie first began working with 麻豆原创 through its participation in the Green Tech and Sustainability cohort of , the company鈥檚 global B2B accelerator. With shared business-to-business target markets, both companies are proving the incredible power of connected data.

鈥淢erging energy-related data with financial information from your system and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information from , you can see the impact on profitability and emissions objectives,鈥� said Garcera. 鈥淵ou can adjust operations by day, week, or even season to gain efficiencies that could increase profits while meeting sustainability commitments.鈥�

Step 2: Transition to Green Energy

Moving to green energy is another step that energy-intensive companies can take to achieve ambitious decarbonization targets. Some customers are increasingly focused on purchasing renewable energy, as well as producing green energy and investing in green assets. Here, too, a digital twin can help companies capture energy usage and resultant costs while tracking CO2 emissions from electricity, biomass, hydrogen, and other renewable sources.

鈥淵ou can balance your green energy strategies against the cost of new contracts and greenhouse gas emission targets,鈥� said Garcera. 鈥淚n addition, companies need to ensure the provenance of the green energy they consume for accurate reporting against corporate sustainability objectives, supporting the brand鈥檚 image and building trust with customers and investors.鈥�

Step 3: Realistically Explore New Energy Trends

While the vision is to consume as much green energy as possible, organizations are tempering sustainable business plans with reality. Some industries like aviation aren鈥檛 ready for full decarbonization; there鈥檚 limited availability of sustainable aviation fuel and it will take significant efforts to revamp complex infrastructure. In any case, organizations require energy strategies that combine finance, risk management, and sustainability.

鈥淔ast-moving energy prices on top of changing sustainability regulations mean that companies have to continually monitor costs to find more efficiencies, and prove compliance with corporate commitments and industry regulations,鈥� said Garcera. 鈥淭he more you can accurately anticipate disruptions, the better you can make decisions to adapt for business resilience.鈥�

Green Market Revolution Fueled by Informed Data

Connected data is foundational to managing energy consumption and costs. analysts predicted that by 2025, 75% of large cities and communities will form industry ecosystems with IT, architectural, engineering, and real estate firms to share data, applications, and expertise to address ESG issues. With zero-emission mandates moving apace, researchers advised organizations to continuously follow the price and performance and capability improvements in renewable energy systems and also 鈥渨ork with supply chain partners to improve procurement efficiencies.鈥� As unpredictable as the next crisis may be, organizations can stay grounded with accurate data to build a resilient future.

Susan Galer is a communications director at 麻豆原创. Follow me @smgaler.

While some of us were working on our sourdough starter, it seems that others were digging in on their big idea.

One such entrepreneur is Anastasia Kiku, COO and co-founder of , a packaging-as-a-service company launched in 2020. Looking around and seeing a city that had become desensitized to its single-use plastic addiction, Kiku and her business partner set out to flip the script on single-use plastic.

But where does one start?

This is the question facing many innovators when they are ready to take the leap on their business idea. For Kiku, the answer came knocking through , a long-time partner of 麻豆原创 and leading social entrepreneurship accelerator program focused on providing game-changing resources and experiences for young people, ultimately helping to amplify their impact on their entrepreneurship journeys.

鈥淲hat no one tells you is that, first, it can be really lonely. And second, it will be hard to show up each day and keep going,鈥� says Kiku.

This is where the network of support and mentorship became invaluable to fuel momentum and get their idea off the ground, as the experienced professionals participating in the program 鈥渒now that the road to entrepreneurship is not perfect, so even though they are advisors, mentees can be candid and feel that their mentors have their best interests in mind.”

At 麻豆原创, employees invest their time in mentoring early ventures like to help scale their businesses. Externally, this investment also takes place through partnerships with organizations such as , & , and .

We sat down with Kiku to learn more about her League of Innovators mentorship experience. Hear from Kiku in this interview for a deep-dive on what it takes to get your idea off the ground and what no one tells you about launching your startup.

Thinking outside the box often means thinking differently from within your organization.

麻豆原创 has its very own startup accelerator program, , which has helped over 450 external startups and internal ventures accelerate their growth while enabling thousands of 麻豆原创 customers to access innovation. As part of this program, 麻豆原创 Labs Canada recently launched True North Ventures Startup School, which leads employees through the basics of entrepreneurship from pitch to product.

Whether you are launching your startup solo or leveraging entrepreneurial support internally, 麻豆原创 knows when we help cultivate fresh ideas, innovators are empowered to take the leap.

Cindy Fagen is managing director of 麻豆原创 Labs Canada.

In 2018, 麻豆原创鈥檚 network of no-equity-ask external startup accelerators was embarking on a journey: exponentially scale its global ecosystem of innovative startup partners to help 麻豆原创 customers extend their 麻豆原创 software landscape. At that time, the team was shocked to learn that despite the fact diversity yields better innovation, the majority of venture funding primarily goes to invest in startups founded or led by a very narrow demographic. For example, only 2.3% of global venture capital (VC) funding went to startups with only female founders, and Black women in the U.S. had raised just .0006% of all tech venture funding since 2006.

As a steward of purpose-driven innovation, 麻豆原创 recognized its duty to be intentional about how it invested in and scaled its ecosystem of software startup partners. It recognized that driving inclusive entrepreneurship in the enterprise software and VC industries could accelerate innovation, reduce bias, and drive better outcomes.

In 2019, 麻豆原创 launched , the first comprehensive inclusive entrepreneurship initiative for underrepresented and underestimated entrepreneurs in the business software industry. 麻豆原创 pledged to scale 麻豆原创.iO Foundries with a focus on inclusive entrepreneurship and set an ambitious target of supporting at least 200 startups founded or led by underrepresented entrepreneurs by 2023.

The 麻豆原创.iO team crafted a clear and effective strategy to achieve this commitment:

• People: Scaled a diverse team and mentor community of leaders with connections to different communities around the world. The 麻豆原创.iO Foundries team is currently 63.3% female and represents more than 15 nationalities, compared to 麻豆原创鈥檚 overall 34.3% women in the workforce.
• Processes: Committed to investing the time to empower more entrepreneurs to start up with 麻豆原创, review every application for the program, set transparent criteria for selecting startups to participate in programs, and regularly measuring progress.
• Participation: Attended, sponsored, and hosted events such as , StartOut Equity Summit, , and more to expose underrepresented founders and their investors to the opportunity of partnering with 麻豆原创.
• Partnerships: Created partnerships with organizations including the United Nations Foundation, World Economic Forum, , , Gentry, Chatham House, StartOut, and more.

Great Impact

Implementing this strategy has been so successful that by July 2022, 麻豆原创.iO achieved its goal of supporting 200 startups founded or led by a female or underrepresented entrepreneur six months ahead of schedule. The 200 startups make up 44% of the 麻豆原创.iO portfolio of 450 startups and tie or surpass their counterparts in benchmarks used to measure success. They represent:

• 51% of the exits in the portfolio (18 of 35)
• 50% of the unicorns in the portfolio (two of four)
• 42% in cumulative VC raised by startups within the 麻豆原创.iO portfolio (US$2.7 billion of $6.6 billion)
• A greater likelihood to progress in their partnership with 麻豆原创

One of the most successful startups in the 麻豆原创.iO portfolio is female-founded . It recently joined the 麻豆原创 Endorsed Apps, a designation achieved by less than one percent of 麻豆原创 Store partner solutions. Censia augments HR management software provided by 麻豆原创 with AI-powered resume review, passive sourcing, and candidate evaluation software. Censia has successfully closed 14 go-to-market opportunities with 麻豆原创 and major brands such as Tapestry Inc., TJ Maxx, and PepsiCo Inc.

Censia CEO Joanna Riley reflects: 鈥淓ntrepreneurship is about continuous learning and to be able to be part of 麻豆原创.iO, I feel like I鈥檓 cheating. I鈥檓 learning from lessons that have been learned through years of experience that 麻豆原创 has acquired and taking those and applying them to my business so that we have a head start. I would recommend any company, especially [those] focused on enterprise, to look at 麻豆原创.iO as a real solution to build a produce that is great for enterprise.鈥�

Just the Beginning

While the 麻豆原创 ecosystem is thriving and 2021 was an exceptional year for underrepresented founders, that demographic still receives a . Data shows there is still much work to be done, especially with regards to intersectional diversity. For example, in the U.S. received 2.1% of VC funding in 2021, while received only 1.3%.

麻豆原创.iO Foundries plans to build on its momentum and is clear on its objective: prioritize startups founded or led by people whose share of VC funding in the technology industry is proportionally less than their share of the population. Up from 40% in 2018, 45% of the portfolio will represent the 麻豆原创.iO No Boundaries commitment by 2028.

麻豆原创.iO Foundries will work to achieve this goal by continuing with the same execution strategy, but will add geographical representation as a sourcing focus. This is possible because programming has transitioned from fully in person to virtual/hybrid and allows the teams to source outside of the locations of the established 麻豆原创.iO Foundries. For example, in 2022, 麻豆原创.iO . It will also target other countries in existing 麻豆原创.iO Foundries regions such as Nigeria, Pakistan, and more.

Kange Kaneene is vice president of 麻豆原创.iO Foundries North and Latin America and Caribbean.
Max Kahn is director of 麻豆原创.iO Foundries.

The 麻豆原创.iO program is 麻豆原创’s strategic business unit to incubate startup innovation and drive new business models for the company. Besides external startups joining the program to complement existing 麻豆原创 solutions, high-potential entrepreneurial employees are equally empowered by to help 麻豆原创 customers become intelligent, sustainable enterprises. Employees with new business ideas can apply to join the studio full-time and be considered for incubation.

鈥淲e are enabling employee-led ventures 鈥� internal startups 鈥� access to funding and a unique environment to build radically new 麻豆原创 solutions beyond our existing product portfolio,鈥� Ram Jambunathan, SVP and general manager of 麻豆原创.iO Venture Studio, describes the program鈥檚 value for 麻豆原创 and customers. Based on this successful approach to in-house innovation, two new 麻豆原创 teams received funding earlier this year after passing a selection process.

Encore by 麻豆原创 Helps Enable the Circular Economy

Edward Kosec and Bram Purnot鈥檚 paths first crossed at 麻豆原创 while working in their previous roles focusing on procurement and supply chain solutions. In times of increasingly visible consequences of climate change, the future co-founders realized customers were trying to find more localized and available supply to advance their strategic sustainability transformation and move towards circular business models. The need for materials at hand was further accelerated as economies around the world were hit by global supply chain issues prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With this, the foundation for the Encore by 麻豆原创 solution was laid. 鈥淥ur trading platform will simplify discovering, recovering, and selling secondary materials for remanufacturing and refurbishment to ease supply chain disruptions 鈥� while also raising the bar for companies to achieve zero waste,鈥� outlines Kosec, general manager and co-founder of Encore by 麻豆原创.

To enable more such regenerative business processes for companies of all sizes, aggregated supply will be matched with buyer demands across Encore鈥檚 marketplace. The solution integrates into听backend systems, such as 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, and connects听with听core听procurement and asset management solutions, including 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions.

The team is already piloting the solution with customers and partners as听part of Catena-X, an industry alliance for secure, cross-company data exchange in the automotive industry. Catena-X aims to be more sustainable, resilient, and cost-effective thanks to trading aftermarket components, such as alternators or batteries, on the venture鈥檚 marketplace.

The End Is Near for Overpaying Taxes with Tax Eye by 麻豆原创

Building on 麻豆原创鈥檚 strong foothold with customers using the company鈥檚 business software across 25 industries, the Tax Eye by 麻豆原创 solution is set to tap into 麻豆原创鈥檚 unique position as a premium system of record for financial transactions, including vendor contracts, purchase orders, invoices, and payments. During his nearly two decades of helping 麻豆原创 customers with taxation issues, venture founder Mahendrakumar Ganesan identified the opportunity to spot overcharged vendor invoices and the surplus tax amounts corporates are paying on a regular basis. 鈥淎utomating the detection of incorrect tax payments on the one hand and intelligently enabling tax returns on the other is the centerpiece for our solution,鈥� Ganesan says. 鈥淥rganizations will now free cash resources to reinvest into long-term innovation and sustainability strategies instead.鈥�

Ahead lies the task of turning tax-inefficient purchasing transactions into integrated, digital business processes in the cloud. The combined struggle of tackling the complexity and dynamic changes of tax laws, the lack of tax knowledge by non-specialist employees, and implications from inconsistent application of tax business rules 鈥� all intensified by missing intelligent automated tools and technology 鈥� will then be a burden of the past for corporations.

The venture is currently validating its business use case while building a team to turn its vision into a pilot solution.

Learn more about 麻豆原创.iO Venture Studio at . Previous venture forerunners that brought applications to market at startup speed while engaging hundreds of customers include , , and . Encore and Tax Eye have now set out to join our and to build the future of enterprise business processes.

Susanna Havranek is a senior communications specialist at 麻豆原创.

In January 2019, 麻豆原创 launched , the first comprehensive, inclusive entrepreneurship initiative for underrepresented and underestimated entrepreneurs in the business software industry. 麻豆原创 recognized that diversity yields better innovation, but that most venture funding goes to startups founded or led by a very narrow demographic.

Therefore, 麻豆原创 pledged to scale its global network of the no-equity-ask external startup program with a focus on inclusive entrepreneurship. 麻豆原创 also set an ambitious target of supporting at least 200 startups founded or led by underrepresented entrepreneurs by 2023. To achieve this, the 麻豆原创.iO Foundries program has built a diverse team, communicated a clear startup sourcing process, participated in events and partnered with organizations that support underrepresented founders.

As a result, underrepresented startups now make up 44% of the portfolio of 450 startups in the 麻豆原创.iO program and tie or surpass their counterparts in benchmarks used to measure success. They represent:

• 51% of the exits in the portfolio (18 out of 35)
• 50% of the unicorns in the portfolio (2 out of 4)
• 42% in cumulative venture capital raised by startups within the 麻豆原创.iO program (US$2.7 billion of $6.6 billion)
• A greater likelihood to progress in their partnership with 麻豆原创

鈥溌槎乖� firmly believes talent is equally distributed globally and opportunity is not,鈥� said Alexa Gorman, Global Head, 麻豆原创.iO Foundries and Intrapreneurship, 麻豆原创. 鈥淲e are doing everything we can to provide more access to opportunity to founders everywhere while simultaneously adding incremental innovation and value for 麻豆原创 customers.鈥�

During the program, startups receive technical and go-to-market support to help them integrate with 麻豆原创 and become part of a curated ecosystem where their offerings are easily accessible to 麻豆原创 customers.

One of the most successful startups of the 麻豆原创.iO program is female-founded . Recently, Censia鈥檚 app was named an 麻豆原创 endorsed app, a designation achieved by less than 1% of partner solutions offered on the 麻豆原创 Store site. Censia augments HR management software provided by 麻豆原创 with AI-powered resume review, passive sourcing and candidate evaluation software. Censia has successfully closed 14 go-to-market opportunities with 麻豆原创 and major brands such as Tapestry Inc., TJ Maxx and PepsiCo Inc.

Joanna Riley, CEO of Censia, said, 鈥淚鈥檓 learning lessons that 麻豆原创 has acquired through years of experience and applying them to my business so that we have a head start. I would recommend any company to look at 麻豆原创.iO as it is an invaluable resource for startups, especially ones focused on enterprises.鈥�

The 麻豆原创.iO Foundries program plans to build on its momentum. By 2028, it wants 45% of its portfolio to be comprised of startups founded or led by people whose share of venture capital funding in the technology industry is proportionally less than their share of the population. This would be up from 40% in 2018.

The program works to achieve this goal by continuing with its winning execution strategy as well as adding geographical representation as a sourcing focus. For example, 麻豆原创.iO Foundries to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2022 and will target specific countries in existing 麻豆原创.iO Foundries regions such as Nigeria, Pakistan and others.

To learn more about how 麻豆原创.iO is helping innovators start up and scale with 麻豆原创, please visit .

Visit the . Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at .

Media Contact:
Sarah Schwab, +49 6227 765 554, s.schwab@sap.com, CET
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of 麻豆原创鈥檚 2021 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2022 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

Three Trends Drive Investments in Digital Startups

Nino Marakovic, founder and CEO of , 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 麻豆原创鈥檚 corporate venture capital arm, Sapphire Ventures has been an independent financial investment firm for 12 years. 麻豆原创 is the largest investor in the Sapphire Ventures portfolio that totals US$10 billion.

鈥淟ast year alone, more than $60 billion was invested in startups making supply chains more sustainable, intelligent, and resilient,鈥� said Marakovic. 鈥淎nother 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鈥檚 modernizing the workplace.鈥�

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 New York City COVID-19 recovery cohort. 麻豆原创.iO Foundries is the company鈥檚 external startup accelerator. Integrating data from customers, Ivaldi Group鈥檚 software calculates the carbon footprint of an auto supplier鈥檚 spare parts operation, analyzing potential candidates for advanced, local digital manufacturing such as 3D printing.

鈥淐ustomers are interested in finding money where they didn鈥檛 know they were losing it and reducing their carbon footprint,鈥� said Stefani Pellinen-Chavez, COO at Ivaldi Group. 鈥淲e 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鈥uppliers might create local manufacturing centers so the community can partner with larger corporate customers.鈥�

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 麻豆原创 SE and chief technology officer at 麻豆原创, shared how organizations are innovating on 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.

Sustainability Data Shores Up Supply Chain Resilience

Jan Gilg, president and chief product officer of 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, said that organizations are 鈥渏umping all over鈥� resilient, sustainable supply chains, using 麻豆原创 solutions for data visibility that bolsters strategic business advantage. Holding up the example of an everyday item like a cup of coffee, he said that numerous companies worldwide were involved in its production, from the farmers growing and harvesting coffee beans, to a vast network of suppliers and transportation providers that deliver fresh brew to consumers.

鈥淥ne of our large customers manages 288,000 farmers across two thousand brands of coffee they sell, with thousands of suppliers,鈥� said Gilg. 鈥淲e have an entire portfolio that helps customers like this manage their supply chain and make them more resilient鈥anaging the flow of materials and value. Now we鈥檙e adding the third dimension, managing the flow of environmental information to understand the carbon footprint created while a product is produced, shipped, and brought to their customers. Over one-third of investors have global assets related to companies that are sustainable. Two-thirds of consumers are willing to pay a premium for sustainable brands.鈥�

Follow me @smgaler.

From Silicon Valley to India, two innovators are helping drive 麻豆原创鈥檚 sustainable business vision, revealing how innovation emerges when we thoughtfully connect passionate people with the right information across value chains.

Circular Economy Startup Champion

Since joining 麻豆原创 as an intern on the company鈥檚 global IT organization, Christina Hamilton has been at the forefront of digital transformation, hands-on with customers and partners to infuse leaders with a cloud mindset and help them generate full value from their software investments. Hamilton was among the original team members who helped build 麻豆原创鈥檚 premier program into an innovation powerhouse of hundreds of experts within three years to generate significant cloud subscription revenue for 麻豆原创.

Although she鈥檚 just 28 years old, Hamilton鈥檚 career odyssey has mirrored the digital transformation journey of 麻豆原创 and its customers. Now working in the heart of Silicon Valley, she heads venture operations for , a sustainable business accelerator for early stage high-potential entrepreneurs.

鈥淲e鈥檙e championing a startup culture by investing in small entrepreneurial teams inside 麻豆原创 targeting process improvements supporting sustainable business,鈥� said Hamilton. 鈥淭eams test and iterate quickly, getting solutions into the hands of customers for initial fast results that will become high-growth, high-scale, and high-adoption long term. It鈥檚 about helping companies use the transactional and supply chain data in their 麻豆原创 and non-麻豆原创 systems, along with our industry expertise, to meet their business objectives.鈥�

There鈥檚 nothing that energizes Hamilton more than exploring and monetizing cutting edge opportunities like the circular economy. Among Hamilton鈥檚 latest ventures was , a re-commerce solution designed to help brands refurbish and resell clothing and other consumer goods. It鈥檚 an opportunity retailers have largely missed out on.

鈥淭he circular marketplace is rapidly growing, and direct-to-consumer recycling is a super cool way to give retailers new revenue streams while addressing sustainability commitments,鈥� said Hamilton. 鈥淲orking on the next big thing is an everyday revelation for our team.鈥�

Other projects include e-waste recycling solution , supply chain traceability tool , and the personalized recruitment product powered by artificial intelligence (AI), .

As much as she loves technology, Hamilton is equally passionate about people relationships. Calling herself a jack-of-all-trades, when she鈥檚 not working with internal 麻豆原创 design, marketing, and other groups, Hamilton liaises with prominent educational institutions to grow this vibrant innovation community.

鈥淔ulfilling people鈥檚 goals on a personal and professional level is one of the most enriching parts of my life,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e created a team where people bring their whole selves to everything they achieve. This has been especially important during challenging times like the pandemic.鈥�

Inclusiveness Opens Doors to Career Innovation

Perseverance is the one word that best describes how Asha Sreedhar has lived her life and created success on her own terms as an autism advocate and quality associate at 麻豆原创 Labs India in Bangalore. She is the first to acknowledge how far she鈥檚 traveled — from being bullied at school to enjoying the well deserved accolades of a professional career.

Readers of the book 鈥溾�� can find Sreedhar’s incredible story, while colleagues every day rely on her software testing expertise. Her responsibilities epitomize 麻豆原创鈥檚 digital transformation, which is grounded in cloud-based innovation. She credited her victory in a software testing competition at 麻豆原创 Labs India to her commitment to quality and meticulous attention to detail.

鈥淚鈥檓 a fast learner and very good on details and routine, so this is the right job for me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 now surrounded by people who are accepting, friendly, and inclusive. The best part for me is being appreciated for my work by a strong community of colleagues and friends.鈥�

Sreedhar was born in Africa and moved with her family to the U.S., where doctors diagnosed her with autism at the age of nine. She completed public school and graduated with the highest honors from a community college. When her parents moved back to India, she returned with them, and after completing the employability training program at a local non-profit organization for people with disabilities, she joined 麻豆原创 Labs India in 2015 as part of the company鈥檚 Autism at Work program.

Educating people within and beyond 麻豆原创 has become central to her life as she鈥檚 achieved her dreams. Some of Sreedhar鈥檚 proudest moments include hosting the 麻豆原创 Autism Summit and winning听a for Outstanding Influencer.

鈥淪haring my life story with others helps people understand autism and how they can help family members achieve their dreams in the workplace,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 tell people to be open-minded and learn about autism. With the right education and support, people with autism can explore their interests and find valuable careers. Creating awareness about autism is deeply satisfying, as I鈥檓 helping others and myself move forward.鈥�

Read more stories from the 麻豆原创 Pioneers series.

The days of easy money for startups are waning. In the first quarter of this year, investor funding commitments were down 19% from the prior quarter, the largest percentage decline in nearly eight years, according to analytics firm CB Insights.

Inflation and rising interest rates have made money more expensive. Investors are telling startups to reduce spending to ensure that they can survive if they cannot raise more money over the next two years. That has led many in the tech space to lay off employees or reduce non-essential spending.

麻豆原创鈥檚 Take

With the focus now on producing real business value, programs that offer immediate access to customers are more desirable to startups that need to succeed. The program helps new, innovative business-to-business (B2B) companies scale and grow. With access to customers and the ability to scale, startups can be more confident in securing their next round of funding.

These B2B workhorse startups are less likely to ever capture the attention of the consumer. But their ambitions are similar: to become big and successfully build better products to help their customers thrive.

鈥淪tartups are seeing the value of working with 麻豆原创,鈥� said Alexa Gorman, senior vice president of 麻豆原创.iO, 鈥渂ecause of the access to our customer base that we’re able to give them globally and different markets across all industries.鈥�

Most of the participating startups are headed by founders that have deep industry expertise and have decided to make a leap out of the corporate world and launch something based on their experiences.

鈥淲hat I’ve seen are VCs [venture capitalists] that are not willing to take huge bets on an unproven new way to solve the challenge that businesses are facing today,鈥� Gorman said. 鈥淎 lot of companies are being founded with customers or with a target list of potential customers before they even launch.鈥�

麻豆原创.iO selects startups that already have seed funding, with the sweet spot having received Series A or Series B funds. They usually have their first corporate customers, a team in place, 鈥渁nd they’re ready to scale, and that’s where we can help them,鈥� Gorman said.

鈥淭hey fit where we see customer demand for solutions that we don’t necessarily have in our portfolio,鈥� Gorman explained. 鈥淪o, the companies that we work with are going to be future 麻豆原创 partners.”

The program typically runs from six to eight weeks and offers these young companies mentoring, technical resources, and access to large potential customers. It鈥檚 a fast track to becoming an 麻豆原创 partner, not only by live introduction but also through the 麻豆原创 Store and its much larger 麻豆原创 customer base. The program ends with a Demo Day, during which each member of the cohort presents itself to VCs.

Many 麻豆原创 customers have participated in the program by helping to select the startup participants. With corporate customers participating from start to finish, the 麻豆原创.iO program startups have been successful. In the five years that the program has been in place, only three percent of the startups have gone out of business.

Contact:
Ilaina Jonas, Senior Director of Global Media Relations, 麻豆原创
+1 (646) 923-2834,鈥�ilaina.jonas@sap.com
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room

鈥淪parse modeling AI is a surprising revelation for our clients that need to innovate faster while meeting high-quality standards, whether it鈥檚 electric vehicles, luxury watches, or drug discovery,鈥� said Kenshin Fujiwara, CEO and founder of Hacarus. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e amazed at how we鈥檙e tackling traditional AI鈥檚 dirty secret, reducing the high energy costs of data collection and training, which saves time and our planet鈥檚 resources.鈥�

A Green, Explainable AI Alternative

According to some , training a single AI model using traditional machine learning can equal the carbon emissions of five cars across their entire life cycles. That鈥檚 because machine learning algorithms attempt to 鈥渦nderstand鈥� every detail gleaned from huge amounts of data from scratch. In contrast, sparse modeling doesn鈥檛 require training from tens of thousands of images to yield a strong model for prediction. Because it starts with built-in assumptions, restrictions, and hypotheses, sparse modeling saves time by ignoring what鈥檚 already known. This reduces computational time and energy consumption.

On the factory floor, manufacturers need far fewer samples of both good and bad product parts to train the AI model, speeding up visual product inspections to detect defects and anomalies without sacrificing sustainability. Inside research labs, sparse modeling yields more explainable AI. For example, scientists exploring new drug treatments can more easily distinguish chemical compound reactions. In one pilot project with a pharmaceutical company in Japan, Hacarus鈥� solution performed 56 times faster than a deep learning algorithm.

鈥淪parse modeling is ideal for any precision engineering equipment or research company developing advanced products with less data,鈥� said Fujiwara. 鈥淓lectric vehicle parts are a great example because it鈥檚 a brand-new sector. Automakers and suppliers can create a reliable, AI-based model with as little as 20 images. It delivers the equivalent results of deep learning in a fraction of the time and energy.鈥�

In addition to electric and combustion-fueled vehicle manufacturers, Hacarus鈥� customers in Japan and Europe span numerous industries, including luxury goods, chemicals, and life sciences. A global pharmaceutical company shortened drug discovery computational times by 99% while gaining insights into correlational changes, bringing crucial explainability into the field. One chemicals and life science products manufacturer combined Hacarus鈥� AI technology with sensors to speed up carboxymethyl cellulose sodium (CMC) quality inspections by 600%. CMC is an environmentally friendly plant-derived material used in many products such as lithium-ion batteries and high-grade fish feed. The company expected to reduce inspection labor and training costs by about 50% over the next two to three years.

Using AI for Sustainable Business Innovation

Hacarus is Fujiwara鈥檚 fourth startup, and the company鈥檚 history reflects the entrepreneur鈥檚 gold standard of fail fast until you make it with phenomenal success. The startup began as an Internet of Things (IoT)-based kitchen scale, followed by a fitness app 鈥� all the while focusing on small data analysis 鈥� before arriving at sparse modeling to help industrial and researchers achieve more with less.

鈥淗acarus means 鈥榯o measure鈥� in Japanese, and I鈥檝e always been focused on getting results from small data,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e realized that sparse modeling would help companies gain the benefits of AI where gathering large data sets was not possible or economical.鈥�

麻豆原创.iO Partnership for Shared Sustainable Vision

Fujiwara participated in the energy and natural resources cohort of 麻豆原创.iO Foundry Singapore, the company鈥檚 global B2B accelerator. Along with expert advice and introductions to 麻豆原创 customers, he valued the opportunity to be integrated with and made available on .

鈥溌槎乖� is a global leader in our mutual priority industries, and it helped us understand what customers were looking for,鈥� said Fujiwara. 鈥淚ntegrating inspection data from our sparse modeling AI capabilities with 麻豆原创 solutions helps organizations continue digitalization for Industry 4.0. This reflects 麻豆原创鈥檚 vision for companies to become intelligent, sustainable, networked enterprises.鈥�

While most of Hacarus鈥� customers are currently in Japan, international expansion plans are underway with projects in Europe and growing opportunities in North America. Widely used in academia 鈥� it was the technology used to create the first ever image of a black hole 鈥� sparse modeling is now lighting the way to more sustainable AI.

.

The 听describes sustainability as 鈥渕eeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.鈥� This topic becomes more critical for each new generation. And my generation is on the receiving end of a potentially bleak future. But because I am both a realist and an optimist, I went looking for good news. And I started close to home.

麻豆原创 has a听, one that helps businesses address plights of every kind 鈥� such as social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Here鈥檚 how just a few 麻豆原创 partners are doing their part to make a difference.

Social Sustainability

Social sustainability can be understood as the capacity of the current generation to create healthy and livable communities for future generations.

We saw a dramatic breakdown of communities in the early days of the pandemic, as older people in assisted living facilities, such as retirement and nursing homes, were some of the听听by COVID-19. These communities were left isolated and in danger due to staff shortages and a lack of testing.

Two businesses,听Sanctuary Group听and听NTT DATA Business Solutions, rose to the challenge of understanding and responding to the hurdles COVID-19 presented by focusing on data.

Sanctuary Group, a housing and care provider in the UK, manages more than 105,000 homes. NTT DATA Business Solutions, an 麻豆原创 partner, designs, implements, and manages 麻豆原创 solutions for companies. Working together, they used听听and听听to gain real-time insights into the impact COVID-19 was having on Sanctuary Group鈥檚 customers, employees, and the organization as a whole.

These insights led to changes across the business that reduced the risk of COVID-19 for customers and employees by, for example, determining optimal staffing plans. The effort also resulted in winning 鈥淏est Socially Sustainable Project鈥� at the .

Economic Sustainability

Before the pandemic, most people knew little about the invisible global network of manufacturing and transportation that keeps our store shelves stocked. COVID-19听听and revealed just how fickle they can be.

麻豆原创 partner听Inspectorio听helps听听in the retail and consumer industries with its cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution. 鈥淥ur focus on building more sustainable supply chains and our commitment to the environment are values deeply rooted in our company,鈥� said Inspectorio CEO Carlos Moncayo.

Digitalizing, standardizing, and optimizing management and compliance operations help customers predict and mitigate risks in their supply chains. Due to the services Inspectorio provides, it has been invited to join听 for sustainability in the retail and consumer industries.

Environmental Sustainability

Environmental sustainability has become a major goal for many companies that recognize the need to take action now to help our planet address pollution, water scarcity,听, and more.

鈥淢easurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement,鈥� said Dr. H. James Harrington, author of Business Process Improvement. 鈥淚f you can鈥檛 measure something, you can鈥檛 understand it. If you can鈥檛 understand it, you can鈥檛 control it. If you can鈥檛 control it, you can鈥檛 improve it.鈥�

SupplHi, an 麻豆原创 partner, is all about the measurement. It鈥檚 created a social network for energy and natural resources industries to听. This measurement can help industries visualize their carbon footprint to make data-driven plans and initiatives.

Through its innovation in this space, it鈥檚 been selected to participate in听听for sustainability in utilities, energy, and natural resources.

Join the Movement

The time to make a change is now. 麻豆原创 partners can help businesses build a better future for people, companies, and the world with solutions designed for social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

Learn more about what 麻豆原创 partners are doing.

Grifyn McErlean is a marketing design specialist at 麻豆原创.

鈥淭he free flow of goods is the lifeblood of communities,鈥� said Allison Parker, vice president of Marketing at Wise Systems. 鈥淲e decided to apply machine learning to real-time data that captures what鈥檚 happening on the ground so organizations can better plan and continuously improve every last-mile route and delivery. Drivers have an intuitive, easier experience managing their schedule directly from their mobile devices, while fleet managers have up-to-the-minute plan tracking for resource allocation and utilization.鈥�

Data Intelligence Drives Seamless Delivery Experience

Fast forward to a post-pandemic world facing an 80,000 in the U.S. alone, and Wise Systems is leaving legacy 鈥渄ispatch and routing鈥� systems in the dust. Clients in the food and beverage industry, as well as courier companies, rely on Wise Systems to synthesize orders by product volume, location, and time frames into delivery stops for truck fleets and other vehicles. Fleet managers, dispatchers, and drivers can make tweaks, factoring in their knowledge, including customer preferences. The system monitors traffic and weather conditions in real time, alerting dispatchers to potential risks that could jeopardize scheduled deliveries.

鈥淎utomating the routing process for the perfect, seamless experience requires intelligence up front, along with ongoing monitoring as each day unfolds,鈥� said Parker. 鈥淒rivers appreciate having full visibility into all the data about every delivery stop, including the number of products they鈥檙e expected to deliver. All they need to do is swipe in and out when they arrive and leave. The system can also record proof of delivery. They can also leave notes for themselves or future drivers on our secure app, such as a passcode for a loading dock.鈥�

Machine Learning Perfectly Choreographs Route Plans

Contrary to misconceptions, behind the wheel is not necessarily where drivers spend the bulk of their time. It鈥檚 the on-site visits that eat up the greatest number of minutes during the course of a day. The machine learning models in Wise Systems calculate route plans based on historical and real-time data. Meantime, delivery companies can set delivery status notifications as well, allowing clients to receive updates at specified intervals.

鈥淭he system can more accurately predict service times, taking into account the time it takes to complete a stop and factoring in the preferences of the retailer, hotel, medical institution, or other type of client,鈥� said Parker. 鈥淭he goal is route planning efficiency combined with customer service so people receive their inventory when and where they expect it; this is the number one priority of our clients.鈥�

From a fleet management perspective, machine learning also helps keep vehicles fully utilized to maximum capacity for both route efficiencies and more sustainable business. One global food and beverage client reduced late deliveries by 80, decreasing fleet mileage by up to 15%. On-time deliveries can contribute to a company鈥檚 carbon reduction goals as it reduces redeliveries.

Capturing Performance Metrics with Data Analytics

Wise Systems also serves up analytics that managers and drivers find valuable. Fleet managers can immediately see everything from inventory volumes on the road and delivered, to driver times at any point in the workday. They can benchmark that data against the company鈥檚 performance metrics that typically vary depending on the type of vehicle and amount of goods. They can make fleet size adjustments to better meet vehicle utilization and sustainable business targets. Some clients have increased their fleet utilization on average by 20 percentage points. Data helps individual drivers see where they stand too, as many are compensated with performance premiums for on-time deliveries.

麻豆原创.iO Expands Market Opportunities

When the Wise Systems team participated in the COVID-19 recovery cohort of , they discovered new market opportunities.

鈥淲e learned so much about customer needs from 麻豆原创 experts,鈥� said Parker. 鈥淚ntegrating information from Wise Systems with is a great example of how companies are using connected data between ERP systems, such as order and warehouse management, finance, and last-mile logistics operations and back, to become intelligent enterprises.鈥�

Wise Systems is available on .

Modern Experience Can Help Solve the Driver Shortage

Recruiting and retaining drivers for last-mile delivery is just one segment of the disrupted supply chain, but it鈥檚 a big one. Anything organizations can do to improve the quality of their day-to-day experience matters. As companies modernize the systems that power vast supply chains, don鈥檛 leave the truck driver鈥檚 experience behind.

Follow me @smgaler.

As recently as the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) meetings, the stated, 鈥淩etailers will continue inventing and implementing pragmatic climate change solutions because the needs identified at COP26 demand nothing less.鈥�

To help retailers digitally transform to make their businesses sustainable, 麻豆原创 is featuring a number of offerings, including these:

• The new 麻豆原创 Intelligent Returns Management solution was built to optimize the returns process for the retail industry. The solution uses routing and dispositioning decisions driven by artificial intelligence (AI) to guide products from customers鈥� hands to the final dispositioning steps, ultimately maximizing customer experience and company margins while also mitigating waste.
• The recently updated now offers advanced category management capabilities. It uses customer data science, assortment strategies, business rules and AI to plan space-aware, localized assortments with a user experience designed for the needs of today鈥檚 category manager. Customer-centric, relevant assortments increase customer loyalty, boost profitability and support a more sustainable supply chain.
• The 麻豆原创.iO Foundries program is a network of startup companies with integrations to 麻豆原创 solutions, including:
  • , offering a circular platform that encourages consumers to buy in a more convenient, affordable way with zero waste and connects people, brands and retailers in an engaging way to change consumption habits
  • , helping thousands of e-commerce brands offer carbon-neutral products
  • , leveraging blockchain and the Internet of Things to offer transparency into supply chains for clarity on quality, origin, sustainability footprint and compliance standards
  • , helping customers run their businesses differently with real-time data intelligence from each of their products end to end, from factory to consumer and beyond
  • , with a dynamic and risk-assessment-based quality compliance program that provides digitalization, automation, transparency and traceability
  • , offering a platform for sustainable shipping including reusable packaging, real-time tracking and predictive analytics
  • , providing a purpose-built platform for specification management that fundamentally changes how brands, suppliers, manufacturers and retailers manage data and collaborate to bring products to market

In addition to these offerings, retailers can utilize 麻豆原创鈥檚 entire portfolio of . Learn more in the blog 鈥�麻豆原创 Cloud for Sustainable Enterprises: Taking Action Together.鈥�

麻豆原创鈥檚 solutions enable retailers to integrate sustainable business practices smoothly,听which is critical to a fast-paced industry such as retail. According to Leslie Hand, IDC Group Vice President, IDC Retail Insights, indicates that retail organizations report that, relative to political, social and economic risks, changing environmental targets and regulations will have the greatest impact on their digital transformation and tech investment plans in the next two years. Further, 80% (Asia Pacific) 59% (United States) and 64% (EMEA) of retail organizations agree that their digital technology strategy is an important enabler of their organization鈥檚 broader sustainability efforts.*

For more information about 麻豆原创 at NRF 2022, Retail鈥檚 Big Show, visit and follow on Twitter.

Visit the . Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at .

Media Contact:
Stacy Ries, 麻豆原创 Media Relations, +1 (484) 619-0411, stacy.ries@sap.com, ET
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

*Source: IDC Retail Core Processes and Applications, May 2021.
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2022 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

鈥淢anufacturers across a range of industries process water that is on the scale of megaliters per day,鈥� said Abhyuday Bhartia, chief technology officer at Streamwise D.I. 鈥淥ur devices and decision intelligence platform guide companies through collecting the right data and give them the tools to effortlessly find insights. This transparency lowers operational costs and risk while improving the organization’s ability to meet compliance regulations.鈥�

Streamwise D.I.鈥檚 blue chip customers include recognized brands in the food and beverage, mining, and chemicals industries, as well as municipal water authorities. Customers can gain business value early with smaller initial projects while making further improvements over time.

Bubbling Up Process Inefficiencies

The Streamwise D.I. platform collects real-time information from cameras, IoT-based sensors, and other instruments installed on machinery at the customer鈥檚 facilities. The data becomes a 鈥渄igital twin鈥� that feeds into a cloud-based dashboard, where it鈥檚 analyzed and shared as action items with designated team members. People have immediate access to the information through their mobile device or Web browser.

鈥淲ithin an hour of turning on the system, operations teams can quickly see water contaminant levels and if operations are out of compliance with regulations,鈥� said Bhartia. 鈥淥ver time, the algorithms calculate asset and process inefficiencies, as well as environmental compliance with that company鈥檚 municipal trade waste agreements.鈥�

Among the biggest regulatory mandates is the volume and type of chemicals that manufacturers use in wastewater treatment. The issue is as much about regulatory compliance as cost-savings.

鈥淯sing the data, the operator can adjust mechanisms and treatment processes to stay in compliance and achieve great efficiencies,鈥� said Bhartia. 鈥淲ith historical and real-time data, the platform can create what-if scenarios, and make automated operational control and management decisions. Companies may discover they鈥檙e using types and levels of chemicals that aren鈥檛 necessary.鈥�

One customer, an Australian cereal manufacturer, significantly lowered wastewater treatment operating costs by reducing unnecessary chemical usage. A dairy processing plant lowered trade waste charges by 26% and operator oversight by 80% for a total savings of over one-quarter of a million dollars each year.

Data Reduces Operational Expenses

Addressing environment, sustainability, and corporate governance (ESG) imperatives also hinges on operational efficiencies. In monitoring and analyzing data from water treatment operations, Bhartia said that Streamwise D.I. delivers insights with far-reaching sustainable business impact.

鈥淎re operations working to their optimized efficiency? Are they working to agreed-upon specifications, or are they actually failing? Does equipment need maintenance or replacement?鈥� he said. 鈥淯nderstanding and acting on all of these issues affects efficiencies for energy savings too.鈥�

Digital Intelligence Modernizes Wastewater Treatment

Bhartia has been with Streamwise D.I. since it transitioned into a digital services platform. He agreed with the startup鈥檚 founder, Alastair Lockey, that AI had the power to modernize wastewater treatment, closing the gap between business exigencies and sustainability mandates.

鈥淲astewater treatment systems are inefficient and extremely complex with unique environments and operations,鈥� said Bhartia. 鈥淲e knew intelligent digitalization could help simplify processes, providing operators with actionable insights to meet operational targets, budget objectives, and regulatory mandates. There鈥檚 enormous global potential to make a real difference for business and the environment worldwide.鈥�

Incredible Sustainability Partnership with 麻豆原创.iO

Streamwise D.I. was part of the energy and natural resource cohort of . Bhartia found value in 麻豆原创鈥檚 hands-on product commercialization and go-to-market support.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been an incredible opportunity working with 麻豆原创. We鈥檝e learned so much from 麻豆原创鈥檚 experts, and their validation of our solution has provided us with greater market credibility and visibility,鈥� he said. 鈥淏eing integrated with increases our collective sustainability impact for industrial water management customers globally.鈥�

Streamwise D.I. is available on .

Tech Can Turn Back the Water Pollution Tide

Sustainable business demands technologies to head off increasingly dire predictions about our quality of life and very survival. The said that around 80% of the world’s wastewater is returned to the environment without adequate treatment. These experts predicted that two-thirds of the world鈥檚 population could be water stressed by 2025. But they also made it clear that 鈥渃hange is possible鈥ncreased awareness, strengthened prevention, and smart investments using new technology are needed to turn back the tide of water pollution.鈥�

Follow me @smgaler.
This blog also appeared on .

鈥淲e analyze human behavior in physical spaces and transfer it into actionable data,鈥� said Tim Heaney, vice president of Sales at C2RO. 鈥淲ith a fact-based understanding of the amount of people coming into a space, how they move through it with whom, where they linger, and what they touch and eventually purchase, organizations can manage physical environments more efficiently to improve the customer experience and business results.鈥�

Real-Time Data Eases Commuter Experience

A transportation organization used data from C2RO to improve subway train and bus terminal planning.

鈥淏ased on the number of people boarding and leaving trains at certain times and days, as well as which direction they鈥檙e headed at terminals, transportation managers could alleviate traffic crunches,鈥� said Heaney. 鈥淭hey could reverse escalator directions to help people more easily exit or enter terminals. Aligning vehicle dispatches to actual passenger traffic flows reduced wasted trips. It also means fewer people waiting in the cold or forced to stand in crowded cars and buses.鈥�

Real-time data is particularly valuable to manage other operations such as shopping malls and entertainment venues during peak usage times like rush hour, holiday shopping, or performances. Companies can also use historical data for future planning.

Heaney added that monitoring in-person occupancy levels has helped organizations meet social distancing mandates during the pandemic.

Secure, Anonymized Data Powers Informed Decisions

C2RO鈥檚 platform was designed to be fully compliant. The metadata that customers receive on dashboards through a browser or mobile device is anonymized for privacy protection. Companies decide on the frequency of data updates, from real time to hourly, daily, or weekly.

Revenue Growth from AI-Based Algorithms听

There鈥檚 nothing trailblazing about counting customers 鈥� Heaney acknowledged that companies have been doing this for decades. However, C2RO provides highly accurate, granular, data-driven insights based on an organization鈥檚 KPIs.

鈥淭he data shows when someone came inside the store after looking at a promotion,鈥� said Heaney. 鈥淒id they visit the promotional display, examine the item, and visit the POS? Which entrance and exit did they use? This is valuable data to help companies quickly evaluate promotions and make adjustments if something isn鈥檛 working as expected.鈥�

Case in point was a convenience store that used C2RO to determine the relationship between high traffic displays, such as coffee, and other areas where product sales were lower. After discovering that 25% of the store鈥檚 space had no traffic at all, the management made layout changes to attract customers to overlooked areas and increase sales.

鈥淢any customers tell us that their physical spaces are a blind spot, and our data opens their eyes to the metrics of what’s going on in their space,鈥� said Heaney. 鈥淢all owners can quantify the number of people visiting anchor tenants and identify cross-shopping patterns in other stores. With these statistics, they can sell space at a proven premium and help tenants drive stronger sales.鈥�

麻豆原创.iO Grows Market Opportunities with Expertise听

Heaney expected C2RO鈥檚 growth trajectory to continue, thanks in part to support from 麻豆原创 that began during the company鈥檚 participation in the data and analytics cohort of .

鈥溌槎乖粹�檚 brand is strong worldwide and providing us with introductions to their customers is a huge opportunity,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur customer behavioral data is complementary to 麻豆原创 solutions like and . We also valued 麻豆原创鈥檚 sales and marketing expertise, helping us with our product messaging, value proposition, and packaging.鈥�

C2RO is available on .

AI Intelligence Addresses Competitive Market Demands

Originally founded as a cloud robotics startup, C2RO evolved to take advantage of existing video camera infrastructure worldwide. Heaney brings over 30 years of business experience to his position, having worked extensively in telecom, IT, electro-optics, and computer vision.

Besides retail and transportation, he saw potential value for C2RO in industrial manufacturing for production efficiency improvements, as well as sports and entertainment venues, where fans could time food and drink breaks to avoid peak crowds at the refreshment stand.

鈥淭ough markets demand smarter, more scientific solutions to understand space management and visitor behaviors,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e at an inflection point where we can train intelligent algorithms much faster and have secure servers on-site while taking advantage of the cloud. AI-based intelligence is revealing the customer journey to achieve business results never imagined before.鈥�

Follow me @smgaler.
This blog also appeared on .

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

鈥淚ntelligent manufacturing is not only the national policy of the Chinese government but also the only way forward for China鈥檚 economic growth and the transformation of manufacturing enterprises,鈥� said Dr. Chenhong Huang, Global Executive Vice President, 麻豆原创 SE, and President, 麻豆原创 Greater China. 鈥淓ngaging with partners such as startups is critical to succeed in the rapidly growing enterprise software market. 麻豆原创.iO complements intelligent manufacturing software from 麻豆原创 with startup innovation.鈥�

The new Shanghai location reflects 麻豆原创鈥檚 continued commitment to the vibrant Chinese ecosystem. It extends 麻豆原创鈥檚 global network of equity-free startup accelerators in the Asia Pacific Japan, North America and Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions as its tenth 麻豆原创.iO Foundries location. During the 12-week program, the selected startups will have access to curated mentorship from 麻豆原创 executives, exposure to 麻豆原创 technology and application programming interfaces (APIs) and opportunities to collaborate with 麻豆原创 customers.

鈥淲e will be working hand in hand with these amazing startups over the next three months to help them integrate with 麻豆原创 technology and deliver high value to our customers,鈥� said Lalitha Bhaskara, Vice President, 麻豆原创.iO Foundries for Asia Pacific Japan & China, 麻豆原创.

The cohort of startups at 麻豆原创.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.
• 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.
• provides Internet of Things gateway SCADA and automation software for the multilevel control needs of digital workshops and smart factories.
• develops augmented reality products and services that use AI core technologies, such as computer vision, deep learning and intelligent interaction.
• 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 麻豆原创.iO is helping innovators start up and scale with 麻豆原创, please visit .

Visit the . Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at .

Media Contact:
Benjamin Nickel, +49 170 4920616, benjamin.nickel@sap.com, CET
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2021 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

The startups in the cohorts are building innovative solutions to drive sustainability for consumer and retail companies across the value chain in areas including reusable packaging and responsible and ethical supply chain. The startups will also focus on helping companies in the energy and natural resources industries manage sustainability goals including compliance, regulation, tracking and carbon trading.

Over the next 16 weeks, the startups will work alongside curated sustainability and technology experts from Accenture and 麻豆原创, with access to 麻豆原创 technology and application programming interfaces (APIs) and opportunities to collaborate with 麻豆原创 and Accenture customers around the world. The startups will integrate with 麻豆原创 solutions such as and and leverage Accenture鈥檚 and broad industry knowledge, building upon the companies鈥� long-standing partnership and shared commitment to . The following startups are participating in the 麻豆原创.iO Foundries North America sustainability cohorts:

Consumer and Retail

• offers a circular platform that encourages consumers to buy in a more convenient, affordable way with zero waste and connects people, brands and retailers to change consumption habits.
• calculates the carbon emissions of business activities, then programmatically offsets those emissions by funding impactful certified carbon offset projects like planting trees or building windfarms.
• leverages blockchain and Internet of Things technology to offer transparency into supply chains for clarity on quality, origin, sustainability footprint and compliance standards.
• helps customers run their business differently with real-time data intelligence from each of their products end to end, from factory to consumer and beyond.
• provides a dynamic and risk-assessment-based quality compliance program for digitalization, automation, transparency and traceability.
• is a platform for sustainable shipping including reusable packaging, real-time tracking and predictive analytics.
• delivers a purpose-built platform for specification management that changes how brands, suppliers, manufacturers and retailers manage data and collaborate to bring products to market.

Energy and Natural Resources

• accelerates a clean energy future by enabling utilities and consumers to make data-driven energy decisions.
• empowers utilities and energy providers with systemwide visibility, forecasting and advanced controls to balance local renewable supply with flexible demand for a distributed, zero-carbon future.
• incentivizes transparent and traceable collection, sourcing and recycling of plastic waste globally.
• is the world鈥檚 first digital oil analyst. It leverages satellite technology and AI to create a digital twin of the oil supply chain, from well to wheel.
• is a data and analytics company that helps customers reduce their carbon emissions.
• covers the vendor management activities from vendor scouting to vendor qualification, vendor performance evaluation and assessment of vendor financials, compliance and sustainability.

Visit the . Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at .

Media Contact:
Stacy Ries, +1 (484) 619-0411, stacy.ries@sap.com, ET
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2021 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

The market is seeing consumers requesting sustainable products and services through their buying behavior — evidence to which we can see in the numbers. According to a STERN Center for Sustainability Business report, grew more than five times faster than conventionally marketed products and three times faster than the consumer packaged goods (CPG) market. When given choice, today鈥檚 consumer is more likely to select the more environmentally responsible option.

Sustainability has become a critical topic for enterprises to reduce emissions and waste, increase circularity, and use socially responsible practices throughout product life cycles. Simply put, business leaders are listening to the customers鈥� call to buy sustainable products and are looking to address how to make sustainability profitable.

Accenture鈥檚 CEO study confirmed that 99% of CEOs from companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenues believe sustainability is of their business. When it comes to the workforce, research into workplace priorities of millennial and Generation Z employees has found they rank when evaluating the companies they choose for employment. Sustainability matters; from the products you make and how you make them to the type of talent you can attract can all hinge on your company鈥檚 sustainability model.

Even federal governments are stepping in to take action. Recently an alliance of German companies that included 麻豆原创 called for more tangible measures for climate protection from the federal government. The companies said in a that Germany must be put on a 鈥渃lear, reliable, and predictable path to climate neutrality.鈥� With governments requesting action, there is a huge opportunity to engage technologies that optimize carbon emissions, increase operational efficiency by activation of circular business processes, and connect with socially responsible partners to help organizations make better informed decisions.

Accelerate Startups Focused on Sustainability

has the privilege of partnering with startups whose technology assists organizations as they shift their priority toward sustainability. During our work with these companies, we bring them together with 麻豆原创 customers and can learn firsthand what resonates and what solutions meet the industry鈥檚 ever-changing needs.

This year鈥檚 fall and winter cohorts alone support a wide variety of sustainability goals:

• The Future of Work program at 麻豆原创.iO Foundry Singapore focuses on helping customers increase the value of their workforce by developing, managing, engaging, and empowering their people to develop a skilled, healthy, and inclusive workforce.
• The New Mobility program at 麻豆原创.iO Foundry Munich helps customers manage connectivity in transport, fleet management, charging and battery management, and automated and autonomous driving.
• The Sustainability in Retail and Consumer program at 麻豆原创.iO Foundry New York helps customers in the retail, consumer products, and fashion industries drive sustainability across the value chain, including circular packaging and responsible and ethical sourcing, as well as responsible design and production.
• The Sustainability in Energy and Natural Resources program at 麻豆原创.iO Foundry San Francisco supports customers in the energy and natural resources industries build sustainable businesses, improve experiences, and manage their environmental footprint and sustainability goals, including compliance, regulation, tracking, and carbon trading.
• The Circular Economic program at 麻豆原创.iO Foundry Paris helps drive circularity for customers in service industries such as passenger and cargo travel and engineering construction and operations by helping redefine the design, production, demand, and supply of products through their use cycles for reusability, waste reduction, and new value creation.

How Customers Can Get Started

Experience shows that the desire to impact sustainability goals coupled with the innovative technology needed to turn the tide must be looked at as a journey instead of a destination. Industries and companies are at different stages of maturity, with requirements in other areas across teams. The challenge is how to make sustainability profitable.

To help customers get started on this journey, 麻豆原创.iO begins by initiating an innovation session to define and prioritize the critical sustainability areas. Then they leverage their experience and startup ecosystem to discover innovative solutions specifically for the customers鈥� business and provide the opportunity to meet with startups to learn about their solutions. Then the customer can pilot and implement startup solutions that will help achieve your sustainability ambitions.

For insights and key takeaways from our past sustainability cohort with Accenture, read the whitepaper, .

Alexa Gorman is senior vice president and global head of 麻豆原创.iO Foundries and Intrapreneurship at 麻豆原创.
.

From consignment shops and other marketplaces popping up on social media pages to dedicated spaces on e-commerce websites, today鈥檚 consumers are shopping with the in mind. The secondhand market is maturing. We anticipate that the next wave of growth is going to come from brands and retailers taking ownership over their pre-owned items and resell channels 鈥� which will drive incremental profit from secondary product ownership, attract a younger demographic at a lower customer acquisition cost, and increase frequency and loyalty and thus contribute听to overall customer lifetime value while also contributing to sustainability.

But, like any groundbreaking idea, the task of bringing brands into the circular economy can be easier said than done. That鈥檚 when comes in.

Cultivating an environment for in-house innovation by investing in small, employee-led teams to build, launch, and scale products, 麻豆原创.iO Venture Studio has made solving some of enterprise鈥檚 biggest problems its mission. 麻豆原创 employees are encouraged to channel their inner entrepreneur to pitch ideas for new products and solutions to the program. Following a selection process where teams work with mentors to refine their ideas, founders can develop and build their product from within the company.

Feather by 麻豆原创 received nearly US$3.5 million (EUR 3 million) from 麻豆原创.iO Venture Studio to tackle the challenge of bringing the circular economy to large premium apparel, fashion and luxury brands, and retailers.

鈥淭oday, brands rely on partnerships with consignment marketplaces or outsource to white-label solution providers,鈥� said Joanna Maryewska, general manager and founder of Feather by 麻豆原创. 鈥淚n order to realize the full potential of recommerce and provide a great shopper experience, the ownership needs to come from in-house. We thought that as 麻豆原创, we are in a unique position to build a solution that helps brands fully tap into the opportunity of recommerce and control it on their own terms.鈥�

According to Maryewska, Feather is a cloud solution that enables businesses to pursue recommerce in-house and tap into services providers along the value chain where needed without losing control over the processes, data, and experience 鈥� a feat made possible by combining 麻豆原创鈥檚 vast experience in managing core processes for fashion, luxury, and retail with new innovative circular business processes.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a winning combination for us and for our brand and retail innovation partners,鈥� Maryewska said, adding that blending the two together can lead to transparency into the performance of recommerce and its impact on the broader business.

Feather is one of the first enterprise-ready solutions that permits businesses to facilitate the in-house business processes, capture data, engage with the shopper, and own the end-to-end product life cycle 鈥� all in-house. It acts as an end-to-end managed recommerce solution with three key features: the recommerce experience (business processes), recommerce manager (tracking and reporting), and the recommerce take-back (product intake).

First, the recommerce experience gives customers the ability to manage recommerce processes in-house. This includes back-end integrations and workflows required to receive, add, and track inventory, oversee product movements, then post items onto their own storefront. One checkout that shoppers already know enables a seamless experience.

Secondly, recommerce manager includes analytics and performance tracking dashboards. This feature allows businesses to get a better view and understanding of operations and performance. That way, businesses can align on performance measurement and scale as needed.

Lastly, recommerce take-back supports customers in taking items back from their shoppers. The feature helps create a dedicated journey for buy-back and warehouse routing. Not only that, but it can also manage store credit distribution for participating shoppers.

鈥淭he vision for Feather by 麻豆原创 is to provide a seamless, one-checkout experience that shoppers enjoy,鈥� Maryewska said. 鈥淭o deliver on that promise, we use intelligent features and solutions that integrate with leading commerce and returns solutions, and in doing so, we鈥檙e supercharging our customers鈥� commerce businesses to become more sustainable and intelligent.鈥�

Feather by 麻豆原创 joins other incubated ventures within 麻豆原创.iO Venture Studio: , , , , and .

Camille Nguyen-Tran is head of Content for New Ventures and Technologies at 麻豆原创.

Unlike traditional formats that rely on talking head lectures, Hardskills training programs are more akin to cinematic productions, featuring professional directors and actors who replicate real-world situations culturally aligned to global audiences. The objective is to serve up personalized content that builds someone鈥檚 human skills. As digital natives increasingly dominate the workforce, it turns out that skills such as being open to new ideas, critical thinking, and influencing people are prized just as much as technical know-how in the enterprise arena.

鈥淥ur digital learning platform delivers the content, technology, administration, and metrics that provide personalized, interactive training for people to gain the behavioral and cognitive skills they need,鈥� said Shoba听 Purushothaman, co-founder and COO at Hardskills. 鈥淲ith data-driven assessments, we deliver personalized coaching based on the skills graph of each employee.鈥�

High Training Completion Rates Generate ROI

Hardskills鈥� enviable 94% enrollee completion and certification rates translate to tenfold improvements in return on investment (ROI). Customers have improved practical behavioral skills, such as communication and time management, by 63% within three months. One global tech organization achieved 97% training program completion rates among thousands of employees in 40 countries. That鈥檚 pretty impressive considering typical online learning completion rates clock in at less than five percent.

鈥淐ustomers find that employees can actually learn these skills quickly,鈥� said Purushothaman. 鈥淭his helps create a consistent set of operating behaviors because everyone is learning the same rules for open communication, time management, collaboration, professionalism, and more. In this way, we support the organization鈥檚 strategic growth initiatives.鈥�

How to Scale Individualized Digital Learning

The curriculum consists of learning modules covering 鈥渉igh performance fundamentals,鈥� which is available on the . Employees learn a range of skills that typically do not make it into institutional classrooms. These include building the self-awareness to become more inclusive and open to ideas from people who thinking differently, or how to influence people who don鈥檛 report to you. A leadership program is under development.

鈥淲e track people鈥檚 progress in every module, and reach out to offer help if someone is lagging behind,鈥� said Purushothaman. 鈥淲e鈥檝e won over skeptics who thought learning was confined to school. People of all ages tell us they鈥檙e able to manage bigger teams, yet spend fewer hours at work. Women especially are prioritizing more by learning how to say no. That鈥檚 one of our most popular modules.鈥�

Next Era of Online Learning

Like her two co-founders, Purushothaman channeled her expertise in media and B2B marketing technology content into Hardskills.

鈥淥ur cool movie techniques and technology make the learning experience come alive,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have fully interactive sessions with believable characters like the office underdog, bully, or annoying co-worker who takes credit for the work of others. People are drawn in to listen and learn because it鈥檚 persuasive storytelling. We contextualize modules around relatable, shared experiences such as sports and major world events.鈥�

Born and raised in Malaysia to parents of Sri Lankan origin, Purushothaman absorbed the classic migrant ethos that education was the passport to life. She鈥檚 lived in seven countries and brings a global mindset to everything she has done.

鈥淎lthough I never imagined I’d be living in America or building a company based out of Berlin and Singapore, where I am today is a natural combination of who I am and everything that I’ve done,鈥� she said. 鈥淔rom being an outsider, I learned how to become an insider, be adaptable, and pick myself up.鈥�

Innovation Partnership with 麻豆原创

Landing in Berlin, Germany, four years ago to establish Hardskill鈥檚 European present, it was not until her company鈥檚 inclusion in the cohort that Purushothaman jump-started her company鈥檚 next transformation. This cohort supported startups led by female and/or underrepresented founders.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 resemble the typical entrepreneur at the time, so this was quite transformative,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur network expanded immediately as we forged relationships with 麻豆原创鈥檚 marketing and product experts. People took our calls, and talked with us at meetings. We changed how we thought about our product and go to market strategy, iterating POCs based on expert recommendations. We even hired great people through 麻豆原创鈥檚 network.鈥�

Today 麻豆原创 is also a Hardskills customer. has incorporated the startup鈥檚 training modules into the company鈥檚 strategic commitment to collaborative working. In addition, Hardskills is integrated with .

鈥淥ur partnership with companies like Hardskills reflects 麻豆原创鈥檚 commitment to not only nurture a startup culture in our organization, but also foster co-innovation across our vibrant ecosystem,鈥� said Sindhu Gangadharan, senior vice president of 麻豆原创 User Enablement and managing director of 麻豆原创 Labs India. 鈥淧roviding guidance and mentoring on using the latest 麻豆原创 technologies, we鈥檙e building the next generation of innovators who are helping our customers become intelligent enterprises.鈥�

Online Learning Opens Career Opportunities

Since the first roll-outs of massive open online courses (), online learning was touted as the democratization of education. Fast forward a few years, organizations have discovered employees need personalized training that will open doors to their next career opportunity.

As much as we prize technical knowledge, it鈥檚 the human skills that distinguish star performers.

Follow me: @smgaler
.

鈥淲e help CPG companies and retailers make sure products are available when their customers are ready to buy,鈥� said Sergio Della Maggiora, founder and CEO of Teamcore. 鈥淲hether someone is shopping online or in a physical store, our retail execution platform based on intelligent workflows helps connect data across the supply chain 鈥� from warehouse to shelf, virtually or in-store 鈥� so companies don鈥檛 miss out on sales opportunities.鈥�

Intelligent Automated Workflows Boost CPG Sales

Based on sales data analytics, Della Maggiora said that Teamcore鈥檚 machine learning algorithm detects when products aren鈥檛 selling as planned and, in over 94% of cases, finds the root cause of the problem before assigning a task. Unlike garden variety alerts, Teamcore鈥檚 intelligent workflow notifications keep going until they reach the people who solve the problem. If someone in replenishment can鈥檛 find the product in the warehouse to restock virtual or in-store shelves, the workflow automatically routes that task to the appropriate store sales representatives, all the way up to regional store and supply chain managers.

鈥淭eamcore connects the whole CPG and retail team for opportunity detection sales and doesn鈥檛 stop until someone actually fixes the problem,鈥� said Della Maggiora. 鈥淥ver time, the collected data trains the model, improving its accuracy and ability to make predictions about potential issues.鈥�

Automated Retail Execution Leaves No Opportunity Unturned

Teamcore tackles some of the biggest challenges retailers face. Consider the problem of phantom inventory, which happens when company systems show products at a location, but they aren鈥檛 actually there. Another issue is underperforming promotions. CPG companies can have the best intentions in giving discounts to retailers, but if the right-priced products aren鈥檛 available to customers for whatever reason, the items won鈥檛 sell. Addressing these problems is not as simple as it sounds.

鈥淩etailers deal with thousands of product-related issues happening every day in virtual and brick and mortar stores,鈥� said Della Maggiora. 鈥淒ata from our automatic workflows lets retailers see where the problems are and act faster to correct them. If the algorithm detects that a product is underperforming compared to the same promotions in other locations, sales teams can take appropriate steps, like prioritizing in-store visits, replacing missing signage, or other activities, to help the retailer take full advantage of the promotion.鈥�

Teamcore鈥檚 customers include well-known global brands in food and beverage, personal care, and other CPG sectors across Latin America and the United States. On average, these companies have increased product sales from 3% to 5% by improving on-shelf product availability from 4% to 9% and online product availability from 5% to 15%.

鈥淥ne major CPG company reallocated its field sales team to activities where they could impact greater sales,鈥� said Della Maggiora. 鈥淥nce our data revealed how much time reps wasted on low value store visits, the company shifted the same team to dynamic, higher-value activities that had bottom line business results.鈥�

Data Science Meets Fast-Changing Consumer Demands

Born in Chile, Della Maggiora initially studied business, then began exploring technology during his undergraduate work. He and his cofounders took advantage of a government grant program in Chile to start a software company that developed mobile solutions. Eventually, he applied his eight years of retail operations experience at Walmart to cofound Teamcore. After seeing huge process inefficiencies firsthand, he and his team conceptualized a mobile and desktop app based on data science. Then the pandemic hit.

鈥淲e knew that designing a simple user experience on top of a solid data science platform would help retail operations become more efficient, selling what consumers want to purchase,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen COVID-19 disrupted supply chains, many CPG organizations shifted to e-commerce and faced customer demands in unexpected ways 鈥� everything from rising home cooking trends to spikes in uptake of particular products. Our solution helps brands better understand and adapt to these fluctuating sales cycles.鈥�

麻豆原创.iO Hones Targeted CPG Product Design and Messaging

Della Maggiora and his team began working with experts across 麻豆原创 while participating in the data and analytics cohort. He saw alignment with 麻豆原创鈥檚 intelligent enterprise vision and expected Teamcore to deliver greater value by integrating with 麻豆原创 solutions in and . Teamcore is already integrated with .

鈥淲e鈥檝e learned so much from 麻豆原创鈥檚 consumer products and retail experts about how customers can generate value from our data when it鈥檚 integrated with their enterprise resource planning (ERP), financial, and supply chain systems,鈥� said Della Maggiora. 鈥淭hese insights have helped us in product design and crafting our messages for stronger market resonance on a global scale.鈥�

Follow me @smgaler.

After years working in business development and strategy roles, Gorman took on joint responsibility for 麻豆原创鈥檚 startup acceleration programs at the start of May, along with the intrapreneurship team that supports ambitious innovators within the company.

Creating a Win-Win-Win Scenario for Customers, Startups, and 麻豆原创

The 麻豆原创.iO Foundries program was created as a strategic business unit in 2017. 鈥淲e saw a need to work more closely with startups in a curated way, as startup innovation was becoming increasingly important for our customers in their digital transformation journeys,鈥� Gorman says. 鈥淲ith 麻豆原创.iO Foundries, we are offering them the innovative power of pre-selected startups whose solutions can integrate seamlessly with 麻豆原创 solutions. And while most of the startups are at an early stage, we do a lot of due diligence to ensure that they will be long-term, viable partners of 麻豆原创.鈥�

Gorman joined the team in 2017 and set up 麻豆原创.iO Foundry Berlin, the first of its kind in Europe. Located across 10 locations today, 麻豆原创.iO Foundries make up a global network of top-tier startup programs, including accelerators, that can enable startups to build and scale innovative software solutions that deliver value to 麻豆原创 customers.

Over the past four years, Gorman and her team have been working with over 330 early-stage startups to bring them into the 麻豆原创 ecosystem and make them the next generation of 麻豆原创 partners.

鈥淲e encourage the startups to use or integrate with 麻豆原创 technology and support them in doing so,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚n exchange, the startups expand their ability to scale more quickly through access to our customers and fast-track support to becoming an 麻豆原创 partner. Thus, we can ensure that our customers have access to the latest and best startup innovation that increases the return on their investments in 麻豆原创.鈥�

The 麻豆原创.iO Foundries program has received numerous awards and, most recently, took the lead in GlassDollar鈥檚 corporate-startup innovation rankings.

Currently, 135 startup solutions are available on 麻豆原创 Store. 鈥淓very week, new startup solutions are being added to 麻豆原创 Store where they become available to 麻豆原创鈥檚 sales teams and our customers,鈥� Gorman says.

Mission and Vision for 麻豆原创.iO Foundries and Intrapreneurship Program

In her new role, Gorman, who led the 麻豆原创.iO Berlin Foundry and subsequently 麻豆原创.iO in EMEA until the end of April, will be globally responsible for the combined startup activities of 麻豆原创 as well as for intrapreneurship within 麻豆原创.

鈥淭hese two units are two sides of the same coin,鈥� she says, 鈥渁s they both work closely with entrepreneurs and the scaling of ideas or solutions 鈥� 麻豆原创.iO Foundries with external startups, the intrapreneurship team with startup ideas that originated here with 麻豆原创 employees. There are actually many synergies between the two teams that we are now in the process of building out and leveraging.鈥�

The intrapreneurship team has currently just started its acceleration program with over 25 internal teams for different parts of 麻豆原创, developing their ideas to minimum viable products (MVP) in order to try to secure financing just like an external startup would do with a venture capitalist. Once a team receives an initial investment, they then move into 麻豆原创.iO Venture Studio, where they can focus on the development of their startup. 鈥淥ur approach to intrapreneurship is seen as best-in-class, but we are in the process of looking at how we can take intrapreneurship to the next level.鈥�

Gorman considers scaling what they are doing today to be the major challenge in the near future. 鈥淥ur unit is moving from being a 鈥榮tartup鈥� within 麻豆原创 to 鈥榮cale-up,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淭he first few years were all about establishing our brand and curriculum. Now that we have good traction, we have to redefine the processes to be able scale our activities across more geographies.鈥�

Fostering Diverse Talent

Being able to combine a family and a career is a key benefit of working for 麻豆原创, according to Gorman: 鈥淟ots of companies claim to provide an environment where you can have a family and a career, but 麻豆原创 is walking the talk 鈥� and I want young women to see the possibilities our company offers to them.鈥�

About two-thirds of Gorman鈥檚 team at 麻豆原创 are women. With their offices located around the globe, team members also come from a total of 20 countries. 鈥淲e like to think of ourselves as the most diverse team in the corporate world that works with startups,鈥� she says. 鈥淚n our team, we live the diversity focus that we have set for 麻豆原创.iO Foundries and deliver outstanding results.鈥�

Increasing the number of historically underrepresented founders in their programs is something 麻豆原创.iO Foundries set as a goal in 2019 with the 麻豆原创.iO No Boundaries initiative. 鈥淲e’ve increased that number every year, so by now we come close to 50%,鈥� Gorman says. 鈥淲e make sure to tap into the networks where these founders are so that we are able to access the kind of innovation that is created by diverse teams, which is proven to be the most successful kind.鈥� This focus was also given to the intrapreneurship program this year, with a lot of emphasis given to role models.

Gorman鈥檚 enthusiasm for working with female and diverse founders led her to work with a number of like-minded businesswomen in Germany to create the nonprofit network , which is dedicated to increasing diversity in the startup sphere and among investors.

鈥淭here were 12 of us in the beginning and it took us six months of weekends and evenings to launch ,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e created a platform bringing female Angel investors and mentors together with female-founded companies.鈥� In less than 90 days after the launch, over 260 startups had reached out to the network and over 300 experienced female managers and professors joined ready to open their networks, share experiences, and make investments.鈥�

To Gorman, this aspect of her work is particularly rewarding. 鈥淚 strongly believe in diversity, in difference of backgrounds and opinions leading to excellent results, and I want to further encourage that. I would call this a major motivator for my work both in and outside of 麻豆原创.鈥�

鈥淲e are accelerating the design and manufacture of products that are both cost-effective and sustainable,鈥� said Dr. Akshay Patel, co-founder and CEO at Simreka. 鈥淐ompanies can quickly collect and analyze data including materials, manufacturing processes, quality and performance standards, pricing, safety and compliance, and carbon emissions to simulate design options. With these insights, leaders can make product design decisions that will best meet business targets.鈥�

Scaling Sustainability with Cost and Time-Savings

Simreka鈥檚 customers are primarily consumer packaged goods (CPGs) and chemical materials manufacturers in the United States, Europe, Middle East, and Mexico. Professionals in product research and development (R&D), supply chain, materials, quality assurance, sustainability, and manufacturing operations are relying on the software鈥檚 artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithms to answer critical questions like should we develop this new product, redesign an existing one, select this particular material, or take another manufacturing approach? The company also provides data from public sources to support customer decisions.

鈥淐ompanies may decide to manufacture the same product, but in a different way. Or, they realize it makes sense to create an entirely new product,鈥� said Dr. Patel. 鈥淥ur name comes from our simulation software and that 鈥榚ureka moment鈥� our customers have when they see what鈥檚 possible and the best action. They can run a lot more experiments during a shorter timeframe, reducing time wasted, increasing their chances of success, and speeding up commercialization of products that meet cost, safety, and sustainability criteria.鈥�

One manufacturer reduced R&D experiment timeframes by over 80%, saving time and costs. Another customer was exploring alternatives to animal leather in their products. Another was experimenting to find climate-friendly options for petroleum-based plastics and other materials. One company used simulations to remove a component expected to be regulated in the future and replaced it with a safer material while maintaining the product鈥檚 quality, cost, and sustainability.

Scalable Sustainability Worldwide

Although he鈥檚 based in the Netherlands, Dr. Patel grew up and studied in India, where the company also has an office in Bangalore. Long fascinated by alternative fuels and materials, his undergraduate and graduate studies focused on biofuel alternatives and chemicals.

鈥淚 wanted to turn the product ideas in my PhD thesis into a solution that could scale across the globe so that manufacturing companies can speed up sustainable product development and design from the earliest stages through production,鈥� said Dr. Patel. 鈥淪ome of this comes from my parents, who instilled in me a lifelong commitment to do something meaningful in the world.鈥�

Sustainability Is Profitable for Business

Unlike conventional AI and machine learning bots, Dr. Patel said that Simreka鈥檚 technology generates predictions by analyzing a wide range of data from raw materials and manufacturing processes, through external market data. The startup continuously iterates algorithms with customers as they simulate product design and production scenarios.

鈥淭he only way we鈥檒l see wider production and adoption of sustainable products is if they are also affordable and just as high performing and safe as before,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can address climate change, and it鈥檚 good for business too, saving time and resources in R&D and manufacturing.鈥�

Working with 麻豆原创.iO Foundry

As an alumnus of , Dr. Patel appreciated the access to 麻豆原创 experts in , industries, and other cloud-based solutions, including introductions to customers.

鈥淲e valued 麻豆原创鈥檚 openness, especially conversations with its customers, which helped us fine tune our value proposition and gain a better understanding of how we can work together to address market needs,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can integrate data from and other 麻豆原创 solutions with our simulator to help customers generate new insights so that they can create more sustainable products.鈥�

Simreka鈥檚 growth over the past 18 months reflects larger climate change trends for business everywhere.

鈥淪ustainable products used to be something separate, but now customers are telling us that it鈥檚 core to their business,鈥� said Dr. Patel.

Sustainability should not be the purview of a limited few who can afford higher priced, exclusive goods. It鈥檚 for all of us and the future of our planet.

Follow me @smgaler

In fact, according to the , MSMEs make up roughly 90% of businesses globally — there are approximately 400 million of them — and employ 50% of the workforce.

While smaller businesses tend to be more flexible and quicker to change than larger corporations, they are much more vulnerable to deterioration in the business environment. The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed extensive socioeconomic impacts, putting millions of companies worldwide at risk of being forced out of business.

The crisis has hit MSMEs and their workers particularly hard. A significant challenge for them can be access to working capital to run and grow their business. This was already an issue for many small companies before the crisis started. The International Finance Corporation estimates that 65 million firms in developing countries have an unmet financing need of every year — almost twice the GDP of the UK.

Getting Access to Cash Is Tough

MSMEs in particular rely on funding from banks, since they typically do not access capital markets. Over the last decade, of external finance for MSMEs in the euro area has come from bank loans, double the share for large firms.

However, getting a loan can be difficult for MSMEs. Rejection rates have always been higher due to the costs of serving customers and higher risk profiles for banks, as well as a lack of traditional data to accurately evaluate the creditworthiness of MSMEs. This lack of information about the applying business and the limited transaction history are among the concerns and why their lending requests get turned down.

How can this funding gap be bridged?

No Business Can Do Business Alone

Over 5.5 million companies conduct business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce on the newly unified . Between buyers and suppliers, $3.75 trillion of B2B commerce activities transpire. The next phase of evolution is to integrate the physical and financial supply chains. Historically, siloed or inaccessible information from vendors and disconnected systems and teams across the organization posed challenges for companies to react to changes quickly.

Leveraging (麻豆原创 BTP), enables an open ecosystem of financial institutions to integrate and embed relevant financial solutions within the context of every business transaction executing on 麻豆原创 Business Network.

麻豆原创 Supplier Financing leverages the data that was traditionally locked within an 麻豆原创 system to unlock new ways for banks to distribute finance to MSMEs and bridge the funding gap.

Available since 2018 and started as an internal venture in the program, 麻豆原创 Supplier Financing adds capabilities to 麻豆原创 Business Network with a new working capital solution for trading partners, providing millions of transacting suppliers with simplified and cost-effective access to a network of lenders to help improve cash flow. Suppliers can use this free extension as part of their existing subscription. At the same time, their corporate buyers that are already part of 麻豆原创 Business Network will not be charged with IT implementation costs, nor with additional software commitments.

Data Alone Does Not Provide Value

Connecting a stack of applications, data, and business processes gets more complicated by the minute as today鈥檚 businesses operate in an increasingly complex IT environment. MSMEs are no different. Data is king, but with the rapidly growing number of data sources, types, and volume, creating value from data is getting tougher. Aware of these challenges, 麻豆原创 Supplier Financing was built on 麻豆原创 BTP from the ground up. It leverages Ariba Network data such as the supplier profile, invoice, and purchase order and turns it into real insights and business value for the suppliers by matching their financial needs with curated funding partners.

With 麻豆原创 BTP, suppliers can review multiple offers from funding partners without sending paper and scanned PDF documents usually required for due diligence process and funding events. Once they choose an offer and establish the relationship with the funding partner, 麻豆原创 BTP automates the exchange of electronic data between the supplier and their funding partner, thereby improving the daily sales outstanding (DSO) from a few months to only a couple of days.

Since its inception in the in 2017, 麻豆原创 Supplier Financing has facilitated more than $70 million in funding to Ariba Network suppliers. During the pandemic, the former 麻豆原创.iO venture facilitated access to over $40 million in financing for MSMEs in the U.S., supporting a steady cash flow in times of crisis.

Enable Financial Partners to Get the Full Picture

Providing suppliers with access to capital via Ariba Network is one side of the coin. On the other side are financial institution partners in need of verified data to assess the financial situation of these supplier businesses. With 麻豆原创 Supplier Financing on 麻豆原创 BTP, financial partners get unified access to consolidated data across different trading partners along with the ability to integrate data from non-麻豆原创 data sources on a single platform for improved transparency into the financial health of the MSME. This turns raw data into real business value, allowing banks to serve smaller firms effectively and efficiently and to limit the risk of investing in a failing business.

Started with the successful integration into Ariba Network, 麻豆原创 Supplier Financing now aims to scale the matching solution outside of the U.S. and eventually offer it as part of 麻豆原创 Fieldglass, 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud, and 麻豆原创 Concur software.

Vishal Shah is founder of 麻豆原创 Supplier Financing.

鈥淐onnecting customers with innovative startups helps them transform their businesses and get additional value from their investments in 麻豆原创 solutions,鈥� said Alexa Gorman, SVP, global head of 麻豆原创.iO Foundries & Intrapreneurship. 鈥淪tartups are able to scale faster through access to 麻豆原创鈥檚 customers, and 麻豆原创 is building the next-generation partner ecosystem. We鈥檝e been able to create a 鈥榳in-win-win鈥� situation.鈥�

, a global leading facility services provider and 麻豆原创 customer, has leveraged a startup solution to complement its 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Recruiting solution. Olivia, the conversational AI assistant from , helps ISS North America to engage and schedule candidates for interviews at scale to support its immediate hiring needs.

鈥淲e were looking to add a multilingual, high-volume hiring software that allows ISS North America to hire with speed, efficiency and a consumer-grade experience,鈥� said Katrine Husum Jensen, head of People & Culture at ISS North America. 鈥淭he convenience of 麻豆原创 Store helped us discover Paradox, learn more about the solution and quickly assess how we could seamlessly integrate to best fit the needs of our business.鈥�

Paradox was among the HR startups that participated in the 麻豆原创.iO Foundry San Francisco accelerator program and made its solution available on 麻豆原创 Store.

鈥淛oining 麻豆原创 Store in 2019 helped us scale by amplifying our reach across 麻豆原创鈥檚 global customer base,鈥� said Aaron Matos, founder and CEO of Paradox. 鈥淭oday, our partnership with 麻豆原创 provides customers with a fast, frictionless, mobile-first experience for candidates, hiring managers and talent acquisition teams.鈥�

Find details on Paradox Olivia and the other solutions from 麻豆原创.iO startups .

Since 2017, 麻豆原创 has helped more than 300 external startups and internal ventures accelerate their growth through 麻豆原创.iO, while enabling thousands of 麻豆原创 customers to access startup innovations. Welcoming 100 of these startups on 麻豆原创 Store 鈥� 55 of them founded or led by underrepresented entrepreneurs 鈥� marks a significant milestone on 麻豆原创鈥檚 transformation journey toward a platform company with .

麻豆原创 Store, found at , delivers a simplified and connected digital customer experience for finding, trying, buying and renewing more than 1,800 solutions from 麻豆原创 and its partners.

To learn more about how 麻豆原创.iO is helping innovators start up and scale with 麻豆原创, please visit .

Visit the . On Twitter, follow 麻豆原创 Store at and follow 麻豆原创 at .

Media Contacts:
Benjamin Nickel, +49 170 4920616, benjamin.nickel@sap.com, CET
Cindy McKendry, +1 (503) 231-7274, cindy.mckendry@sap.com, PDT
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2021 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

The company refers to it as the 鈥淎pple ID for everyone in the 麻豆原创 world.鈥� With this, 麻豆原创 customers can link their 麻豆原创 accounts under one ID, represented by an e-mail address, and use it to log on to 麻豆原创 services with a single password.

Security Is Key

Even though using only one set of log-on credentials offers great advantages for 麻豆原创 customers, it also means that if this password is compromised, the attacker may gain access to multiple 麻豆原创 services and accounts at once. That鈥檚 why 麻豆原创 Universal ID developers were searching for a more secure solution that prevents fraud but doesn鈥檛 impact usability.

Authenticating with has been proven to be the most secure way to protect user accounts and devices without impacting user experience and conversion rates. But until now, biometric authentication could exclusively be used in native apps on mobile devices. This recently changed with a brand-new Web standard called 鈥淲ebAuthn鈥� that makes it possible to use biometrics on Websites.

But developing a biometrics-based authentication process, combining it with a secure cryptographic challenge-response two-factor authentication protocol, and integrating it into an existing tech stack takes a lot of time, knowledge, and developer resources.

Biometrics and Cryptography by Hanko

That’s why 麻豆原创 decided to realize this project together with Hanko. The young was invited to participate in a three-month startup accelerator program at 麻豆原创.iO Foundry Berlin in 2019. In a joint proof of concept, the 麻豆原创 team tested password-less authentication with Touch ID and Windows Hello for 麻豆原创 Universal ID.

With their managed cloud application programming interface (API), Hanko enabled 麻豆原创 developers to access a fully-fledged and certified WebAuthn infrastructure right from the beginning of the project. Hanko accompanied the 麻豆原创 team, providing demo code and ready-to-use client and server software development kits. To create an optimal user experience (UX), Hanko also supported the UX team in the development and implementation of the new user flows for the password-less authentication methods.

The Outcome

The result of the proof of concept is a fully functioning 麻豆原创 Universal ID test environment supporting password-less two-factor authentication with WebAuthn authenticators, such as Windows Hello, Apple Touch ID and Face ID, as well as FIDO Security Keys. Since Hanko supplied the main code components, 麻豆原创 was able to integrate the password-less technologies into 麻豆原创 Universal ID with a small team in just one-third of the estimated

time. The test environment will be leveraged for further user testing until the feature is released to 麻豆原创 customers.

Thilo Brandt, IT senior manager for 麻豆原创 Universal ID, confirms that internal tests have produced a consistently positive response, from developer and QA level up to top management. 鈥淭he development effort for introducing password-less authentication was significantly reduced through the use of Hanko. The team helped us to successfully navigate implementing password-less authentication into our application stack and user interfaces.鈥�

Michael Braun, IT chief product owner of Identity and User Management at 麻豆原创, is happy with the outcome of the project as well: 鈥淲ith the help of Hanko, we were able to prove the feasibility of our vision for a password-less log-on for 麻豆原创 Universal ID in terms of technical implementation as well as usability on all major operating systems such as Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.鈥�

Felix Magedanz, founder and CEO of Hanko, is pleased to see that Hanko鈥檚 authentication-as-a-service solution is so well received at 麻豆原创 and that the deployability of Hanko鈥檚 API has been successfully proven. 鈥淥ur project with 麻豆原创 demonstrates the power and the benefits of our password-less API. Seeing our solution being used by one of the largest software companies in the world makes us proud and strongly validates our approach. Through the close cooperation and feedback from 麻豆原创 developers, we were able to improve our solution to make it even more convenient for future customers.鈥�

About 麻豆原创.iO

麻豆原创.iO is 麻豆原创鈥檚 strategic business unit to incubate, accelerate, and scale startup innovation and explore new business models for 麻豆原创. Since 2017, 麻豆原创.iO has helped over 300 external startups and internal ventures both start and scale their businesses while enabling thousands of 麻豆原创 customers to access innovation.

Six startups in the areas of predictive analytics, industrial assets management, workers鈥� safety and wellness have been selected to join the program.

鈥溌槎乖� is committed to helping our customers transform and grow,鈥� said Damien Bueno, 麻豆原创 ANZ president and managing director. 鈥淧artnering with some of the most innovative startups pioneering advancements across the energy and natural resources sectors enables us to do exactly that. This program will help our customers accelerate innovation by tapping into the expertise of cutting-edge startups from across the region, including two Aussie success stories: Streamwise and MOVUS.鈥�

The equity-free program is designed to accelerate innovation and drive new business models for 麻豆原创鈥檚 customers. During the 13-week virtual program, the startups will have access to curated mentorship, exposure to 麻豆原创 technology and application programming interfaces (APIs), and collaboration opportunities with 麻豆原创 customers.

The energy and natural resources cohort includes the following startups:

• offers an easily deployable sensor that monitors ambient conditions including vibration, noise and temperature, and then processes them using machine learning before providing updates on real-time equipment status to minimize unplanned downtime.
• offers wearable technology and a proprietary platform to help companies monitor and respond to worker safety and productivity challenges.
• enables service providers and enterprises to capture and share the built environment as photorealistic digital twins to improve operational decisions.
• delivers data-enhanced automation and decision intelligence that allows mining companies to process real-time information from settling ponds, tailing dams, water management and environmental monitoring processes.
• provides highly accurate AI tools from small data sets to develop explainable solutions used in the medical and manufacturing fields, for better, faster and more-reliable decisions based on AI-driven insights.
• tackles the underlying problem of circadian and sleep disruption by translating the latest in sleep and circadian neuroscience into an app for shift workers to optimize their sleep, alertness, health and quality of life.

To learn more about how 麻豆原创.iO is helping innovators start up and scale with 麻豆原创, please visit .

Visit the . Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at .

Media Contact:
Benjamin Nickel, +49 170 4920616, benjamin.nickel@sap.com, CET
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2021 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

The HR and future of work program is offered in conjunction with solutions, cloud leaders in human experience management. 麻豆原创 will accelerate six early-stage startups focused on recruiting, talent and team management, diversity, equity and inclusion, and collaborative learning.

鈥淥ur customers recognize the need to embrace innovative, cloud-based technologies to advance how they engage their workforce,鈥� said听Jill听Popelka, president of 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors. 鈥淥ur partner ecosystem, including the companies selected for the 麻豆原创.iO program, brings new and creative ways to help our customers address today鈥檚 most important workplace challenges, such as diversity, equity and inclusion, learning, well-being, and more.鈥�

The future of work cohort includes , , , , , and . Learn more about the selected startups .

The five startups in the professional services program offer innovative solutions for intelligent bidding and resource planning, guided business workflow and intelligent revenue. Deloitte, Ernst & Young, McKinsey & Company, NTT Data Business Solutions and 麻豆原创.iO selected the participants.

鈥淧rofessional services firms are facing the challenge of innovating more quickly to maximize utilization rates, hire top talent and deliver outcome-based engagements,鈥� said Jonathan Rhodes, global vice president and head of 麻豆原创 Professional Services Business Unit. 鈥淓ngaging with the selected startups helps to expand our industry cloud portfolio and allows our customers to achieve breakthrough, agile innovation.鈥�

The professional services cohort includes , , , , and . Learn more about the selected startups .

During the 12-week program, the selected startups will have access to curated mentorship from 麻豆原创 executives, exposure to 麻豆原创 technology and application programming interfaces (APIs), and opportunities to collaborate with 麻豆原创 customers. The programs will conclude with demo days in July 2021.

Nine of the 11 startups are founded or led by underrepresented entrepreneurs and follow the initiative to accelerate more than 200 startups founded or led by women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ and others from underrepresented groups in tech by 2023.

To learn more about how 麻豆原创.iO is helping innovators start up and scale with 麻豆原创, please visit .

Visit the . Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at .

Media Contact:
Benjamin Nickel, +49 170 4920616, benjamin.nickel@sap.com, CET
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2021 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

鈥淲e help companies create demand-driven fashion forecasts from consumer data across a holistic value chain,鈥� Ganesh Subramanian, founder and CEO at Stylumia, said. 鈥淥ur demand sensing engine collects and analyzes publicly available global data to rank product trends, providing fashion designers, retail buyers, and merchandisers with a much 蝉颈驳苍补濒蝉.鈥�

More Profitable and Sustainable Business

Forecasting fickle consumer appetites for unseen products has long stymied the most experienced minds in the fashion world. Stylumia can reveal breaking trends, allowing people to make design and merchandising decisions perfectly in sync. This can reduce under- and overbuying.

According to Subramanian, the typical Stylumia customer has improved the prediction accuracy of style and color levels by up to 30% and increased sales and revenue between 25% to 50%, compared to the performance of products not designed and merchandized using the platform. Customers have also reduced excess inventory and carbon footprint levels by an aggregated average of up to 40%.

鈥淲hen products are selling well, companies have less stock and are able to lower their carbon footprint because they鈥檙e using fewer resources while generating the same amount of revenue,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ince our founding, we have reduced the number of garments that our customers have produced by over 60 million while their sales and profits have grown.鈥�

Consumer Intelligence Research on Steroids

From its headquarters in India to hubs in Australia, the U.S., and the UK, Stylumia鈥檚 teams work with fashion, sports, and lifestyle brands that represent companies of all sizes worldwide.

Instead of brainstorming solely by intuition, designers and buyers log in to their personalized portal to storyboard ideas using Stylumia鈥檚 AI-fueled algorithm or their own images for design inspiration. As they select colors, materials, patterns, and other product features, Stylumia instantly surfaces trending demands against the designer鈥檚 ideas. They can view similar products, see where selling levels are highest, and save and share their ideas with colleagues.

For retail merchandisers, the tool improves forecast accuracy for better assortment planning down to the local level. They can see which sizes, colors, and styles are most popular by geography. Subramanian added that the platform is not just for large consumer brands.

鈥淲e鈥檙e democratizing intelligence for small and midsize companies that can use these insights for their growth too, bringing the right products to the right geographies at the right time,鈥� he said.

Data-Driven Growth for the Fashion Industry

Subramanian has over 20 years of experience with global brands in the fashion and retail industry. He founded Stylumia while working at India鈥檚 largest online fashion retailer.

鈥淲e were exploring how to take advantage of the tremendous amounts of data from online retail and I thought, why not create a platform that would help any fashion brand retailer in the world,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e wanted to change the industry鈥檚 culture from intuitive, hit-or-miss decision-making to an economically sound, sustainable strategy with real-world benefits.鈥�

麻豆原创.iO and Stylumia Foster Alignment Around Holistic Intelligence

Having participated in other startup programs, Subramanian was impressed with the support he received as a member of the data and analytics accelerator. The two companies are exploring ways to integrate Stylumia into 麻豆原创鈥檚 omnichannel planning solutions, especially for assortment optimization and fashion demand forecasting.

鈥淭he amount of time 麻豆原创 spent with us was unique. We learned so much from their experts about marketing and selling our product, and working with their ecosystem,鈥� he said. 鈥淕iven 麻豆原创鈥檚 dominance in the industry and the company鈥檚 vision, this is a great opportunity for us to add value with our external data for intelligent demand forecasting.鈥�

Tech-Driven Fashion Is a Culture Shift

If COVID-19 was a stress test for Stylumia鈥檚 demand forecasting strengths, it passed with flying colors. At the height of the pandemic crisis last year, one omnichannel retailer had sufficient data from the platform within six to eight weeks to accurately predict changed consumer demands with 95% accuracy.

鈥淎s a team of like-minded fashion professionals and data scientists, we empathize with the challenges designers and retailers face. We designed Stylumia to support both preseason planning as well as unexpected in-season events, like the pandemic,鈥� said Subramanian. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an important cultural shift for the fashion industry, using technology to add insights that augment human decisions, powering sustainable growth.鈥�

Follow me: @smgaler
.