SAP.iO: Two Years, Three Key Learnings

#News(Startup) [ via IoTForIndiaGroup ]

The SAP.iO Fund and SAP.iO Foundries invest in and accelerate early-stage startups at the leading edge of B2B software innovation, who leverage a combination emerging technologies like AI or IoT, business process expertise, and new business models. We realize that agile, early stage startups complementary to SAP can expand and enhance the SAP ecosystem and solutions and also give our customers access to cutting-edge solutions. And SAP can help startups target customer needs, connect to SAP systems, and drive scale through access to SAPs broad customer base.

Another key component of our customer focus is ensuring our customers’ access to the best technology and products is not blocked by bias. Research shows that women-led companies have over double the ROI of those led by men; however investors are 60% more likely to fund men than women with matching pitches and credentials. Further, diverse teams perform better. This research tells us that traditional investor “gut” decision-making has made it harder for the best solutions to reach our customers. In response, we launched SAP.iO No Boundaries, and committed to 1) investing in or accelerating at least 200 startups founded or led by entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups by 2023, as well as 2) up to 40% of the SAP.iO Fund’s investible capital in these startups.

By the Numbers:

SAP.iO Fund investments: 19 to-date; 35+ projected by the end of the year
Startups incubated and mentored by the SAP.iO Foundries: 109 to-date; ~170 projected by the end of the year
SAP.iO Foundries: 8 global locations — including new Foundries cohorts kicking off in Singapore, Tokyo and Munich in 2019.
26% of SAP.iO Fund startups are founded / led by underrepresented entrepreneurs
35% of SAP.iO Foundry startups are founded- / led- by female or minority entrepreneurs
3 SAP.iO Foundry programs completed dedicated to supporting great B2B software startups founded by entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups, with a 4th to start in Berlin in May.
43 startups founded- / led- by female or minority entrepreneurs supported by the SAP.io ecosystem.

From our experiences over the past 2 years, we have discovered 3 key learnings from collaborating with startups. (Each one of these will be the subject of their own forthcoming posts)

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