Enter 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition: a game-changing, flexible ERP solution designed to meet the unique challenges of emerging businesses. This cloud-based platform not only streamlines operations but also empowers startups to innovate and scale without limits, offering a competitive edge in today鈥檚 fast-paced market.

Let鈥檚 explore why 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition is the ultimate ally for startups looking to gain a competitive edge and aiming to transform their visions into reality.

Scalability and Flexibility for Rapid Growth

Startups often experience rapid changes in size, scope, and strategy. 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition is built with scalability at its core. As a business evolves, 51风流cloud ERP solutions allow for effortlessly adding new features, modules, and users as needed. This adaptability helps ensure that an ERP system remains aligned with business goals, enabling startups to stay agile and responsive to market changes. Whether a company is a small team today or planning to expand globally tomorrow, cloud-based ERP from 51风流adapts to needs without the need for costly and disruptive upgrades.

Gero Decker, general manager of 51风流Signavio and co-managing director of 51风流Berlin, witnessed the impact of 51风流cloud ERP on business growth: 鈥淏eing a founder myself, I can tell you that 51风流cloud ERP is a key catalyst for achieving hockey stick growth.鈥�

Cost-Efficiency for Tight Budgets

One of the biggest challenges startups face is managing limited resources. 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition operates on a subscription-based model, which means lower upfront costs and predictable expenses. This financial flexibility allows startups to allocate more resources toward innovation and growth rather than being tied down by expensive IT infrastructure.

Enhanced Collaboration and Real-Time Insights

In a startup environment, every decision counts. 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition provides real-time analytics and insights, empowering a team to make informed decisions quickly. The platform fosters collaboration by connecting different departments and ensuring everyone has access to the same up-to-date information. This unified approach not only streamlines operations but also enhances productivity across the board.

Robust Security and Compliance

For startups, especially those handling sensitive data, security is paramount. 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition comes equipped with world-class security features, ensuring data is protected against threats. Additionally, SAP鈥檚 compliance tools help with navigating complex regulatory requirements, offering peace of mind when expanding into new markets.

Seamless Integration with Other Tools

Startups often rely on a variety of software tools to manage different aspects of their business. 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition integrates easily with other applications, creating a seamless ecosystem where all business processes are connected. This integration reduces manual work, eliminates silos, and allows a startup to operate more efficiently.

Support and Expertise from a Global Leader

When you choose SAP, you鈥檙e not just choosing software, you鈥檙e gaining access to decades of experience and a global network of experts. 51风流provides comprehensive support to help startups navigate the complexities of ERP implementation and maximize the benefits of the platform. This partnership approach ensures that a company is never alone on its journey to success.

The 51风流startup community is a unique resource that is supportive for all startups, which all share 51风流S/4HANA Cloud in place as their business backbone, alongside the dedicated 51风流for Startups Team.

Companies like Get Your Guide, FINN, and everdrop have leveraged extensive support and expertise from 51风流to achieve strategic goals and drive their businesses forward. This is just a sample of the many successful partnerships 51风流has with clients.

Bits & Pretzels in Munich, September 29-30

For startups looking to transform operations and scale business, 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition is the solution they have been waiting for. Don鈥檛 miss the opportunity to see it in action: Join us at Bits & Pretzels in Munich, September 29-30, 2024, where we鈥檒l be showcasing the full capabilities of 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition.

鈥淎ttending Bits & Pretzels 2024 offers unparalleled networking, learning, and funding opportunities, bringing together 5000+ top entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders,” 鈥� shared Stefan Wagner, managing director of the 51风流Labs Munich Campus. “It’s a unique chance to gain insights, build partnerships, and experience the event’s vibrant blend of business and culture during Oktoberfest in Munich.”

As president and chief product officer for Cloud ERP, I am excited to reveal how 51风流cloud ERP solutions can revolutionize startup operations, slashing costs and turbocharging efficiency. Come and discover how 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Cloud Edition can drive your startup鈥檚 success. We look forward to seeing you there!

Jan Gilg is president and chief product officer of Cloud ERP at SAP.

These government funds are typically managed by a traditional provider who establishes a plan within the customer鈥檚 budget and assigns caregivers. They offer limited to no choice regarding providers and little transparency on how the funds are being spent. This inefficient and costly approach reduces available funds for actual care with limited and often unfamiliar providers.

Enter HomeMade, a startup looking to disrupt the home care sector with a transformative solution that would empower customers to not only stay in their own homes but also to oversee their spending and self-select their providers. With an initial staff of only six, HomeMade set out to create a technology platform that would deliver efficiency, flexibility, transparency, and ease of use for customers and a scalable model that would grow and evolve with the company.

A Rock-Solid Technology Foundation for a Digitally Native Startup

Technology is at the heart of HomeMade鈥檚 business model, so choosing the right technology partner and the right digital platform was essential. 鈥淲e wanted a solution that would give us that ability to scale rapidly and with confidence knowing that the rails weren’t going to fall off, because to be digitally enabled is what makes us different,鈥� , HomeMade general manager, said.

HomeMade found the perfect partner in Bourne Digital, part of Accenture, which steered the startup to (51风流BTP). In choosing the platform, HomeMade benefits from a locally hosted, high-performance cloud architecture that can scale across its network. As a React Native open-source Cloud Foundry runtime service, the HomeMade application is intuitive, user-friendly, and easy for the company to maintain and support long term. Add 51风流Integration Suite and 51风流HANA data storage into the mix and HomeMade emerged with a secure, integrated, and scalable technology foundation to offer efficient care and support to Australia鈥檚 at-home care population.

Young Company Makes an Outsize Impact

In just two years, HomeMade has grown its business to 2,500 customers and reduced new user onboarding time from 14 days to 48 hours. The company has empowered qualifying citizens to manage their budgets and choose their care while saving 14 million Australian dollars and counting.

Customers and families rave about the solution’s functionality and ease of use. HomeMade鈥檚 team members, who have grown to over 100, can happily focus on the customer instead of the endless paperwork they might find in traditional care management. Service providers appreciate timely payment, and another critical stakeholder 鈥� the Australian government 鈥� conducted a regulatory compliance audit and found that HomeMade scored 100% across 42 requirements for the Age Care Quality Safety Standards.

And this is only the beginning for a new company already making an appreciable impact. 鈥淎s the needs of HomeMade grow and evolve, the platform will grow and evolve with HomeMade,鈥� , managing director of Bourne Digital, part of Accenture, explained. For example, Ahmed continued, 鈥淲e leverage AI business services to read documents…and we’re feeling really confident that those AI services will continue to play a part in the future evolution of HomeMade as the company moves more and more towards automation and self-service.鈥�

Adding Value Through Innovation

An 51风流Innovation Award winner in 2023, HomeMade continues to grow and think creatively about how its foundational 51风流BTP-based technology can enable it to continue to innovate and add value for customers. 鈥淭here are endless opportunities,鈥� Westhorpe said, from increasing efficiency to leveraging data to identify falls or other incidents to using large language models to recognize clinical deterioration in users and launch preventative interventions.

For other startups looking to build technology solutions that will make a dramatic impact, Westhorpe offered to consider, “You want to build everything and you’ve got all these grand ideas, but what are the biggest things that will add value for customers?鈥� Ahmed adds that resilience, a strong partnership, and hard work are critical: 鈥淎dapt, learn, grow together, and accept feedback鈥o build something innovative, you must be prepared to roll up your sleeves.鈥�

The Full Episode

Special thanks to , a hub for fostering human-centered innovation, for collaborating on this on 51风流Business Technology Platform episode. Learn more about how HomeMade built a better solution for qualifying citizens:

• Thought leadership podcast: Thulium’s CEO sat down with Westhorpe and Ahmed to discuss the change in caring for older adults, home-based care, and how technology can deliver on a promise dedicated to purpose.
• Practitioners鈥� video: Westhorpe, Ahmed, and I discussed the challenges and opportunities in creating a world-class digital solution for a small but rapidly scaling startup.

Explore more success stories of customers leveraging 51风流BTP to help optimize processes for the sake of people and purpose:

• : This nonprofit provider of wide-ranging social services chose听51风流BTP听and 51风流HANA Cloud to enable extensive solution integrations, helping deliver better data connectivity and operational efficiency.
• : Administratively supporting over 1,700 dental practices, Heartland Dental leverages 51风流BTP to help improve the business assistant’s user experience, increase productivity, and reduce turnover.

For the full episode and the on-demand Better Together: Customer Conversations series, visit .

Timo Elliott is vice president and a global innovation advocate for 51风流BTP.

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 SAP.iO has surpassed the 125-mark for in our partner ecosystem. These solutions are fully integrated with 51风流and available via for immediate adoption by 51风流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 51风流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 51风流Customer Experience and 51风流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 51风流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 SAP.iO

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 51风流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 SAP, 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.

51风流has its very own startup accelerator program, , which has helped over 450 external startups and internal ventures accelerate their growth while enabling thousands of 51风流customers to access innovation. As part of this program, 51风流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, 51风流knows when we help cultivate fresh ideas, innovators are empowered to take the leap.

Cindy Fagen is managing director of 51风流Labs Canada.

In 2018, SAP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 51风流customers extend their 51风流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, 51风流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, 51风流launched , the first comprehensive inclusive entrepreneurship initiative for underrepresented and underestimated entrepreneurs in the business software industry. 51风流pledged to scale SAP.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 SAP.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 SAP.iO Foundries team is currently 63.3% female and represents more than 15 nationalities, compared to SAP鈥檚 overall 34.3% women in the workforce.
• Processes: Committed to investing the time to empower more entrepreneurs to start up with SAP, 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 SAP.
• 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, SAP.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 SAP.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 SAP.iO portfolio (US$2.7 billion of $6.6 billion)
• A greater likelihood to progress in their partnership with SAP

One of the most successful startups in the SAP.iO portfolio is female-founded . It recently joined the 51风流Endorsed Apps, a designation achieved by less than one percent of 51风流Store partner solutions. Censia augments HR management software provided by 51风流with AI-powered resume review, passive sourcing, and candidate evaluation software. Censia has successfully closed 14 go-to-market opportunities with 51风流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 SAP.iO, I feel like I鈥檓 cheating. I鈥檓 learning from lessons that have been learned through years of experience that 51风流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 SAP.iO as a real solution to build a produce that is great for enterprise.鈥�

Just the Beginning

While the 51风流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%.

SAP.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 SAP.iO No Boundaries commitment by 2028.

SAP.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 SAP.iO Foundries. For example, in 2022, SAP.iO . It will also target other countries in existing SAP.iO Foundries regions such as Nigeria, Pakistan, and more.

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

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�

SAP.iO Partnership for Shared Sustainable Vision

Fujiwara participated in the energy and natural resources cohort of SAP.iO Foundry Singapore, the company鈥檚 global B2B accelerator. Along with expert advice and introductions to 51风流customers, he valued the opportunity to be integrated with and made available on .

鈥�51风流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 51风流solutions helps organizations continue digitalization for Industry 4.0. This reflects SAP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.

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There are companies with potential that are easy to spot. You can easily see their opportunity to disrupt a market at an early stage.

Sono Motors in Munich is such a company. Founded in 2016, it has been an 51风流customer since March 2021 and the team is out to change the automotive industry. Instead of sporty, heavy, and with as much horsepower as possible, the company’s solar electric vehicle 鈥淪ion鈥� is practical, spacious, and straightforward. Small repairs, for example, can be done by the customers themselves. Another highlight: the body of the car is nearly entirely covered by solar panels that charge the vehicle while driving. The energy extends the range and can be used to charge smartphones, other electric cars, or even power entire households. An integrated mobile app easily allows car- and seat-sharing with other users — a game-changer. Production is due to start in 2023.

Proven Structures for Fast Growth

Another example is Wingcopter. As the brand indicates, the autonomous cargo drones produced in Weiterstadt, Germany, can take off vertically from small areas and bridge long distances in forward flight; for example, to deliver urgently needed medical goods to rural areas that lack rail tracks or paved roads.

51风流wants to support companies such as Sono Motors and Wingcopter by providing direct access to knowledge the team has aggregated over the years.

鈥淲e provide ready-to-use best-practice solutions for founders and startups,鈥� explains Jan Gutknecht, senior business development specialist at SAP. “Those who apply them can built on proven structures and scale fast.”

To scale fast, companies need to gain a huge chunk of their target markets in the shortest time possible. This is only possible if you consider regulatory and tax requirements from day one, and if you are able to apply them in every new market without the need of running a sophisticated project.

Here, 51风流can help, both in providing software and in providing the expertise of dedicated teams which speak the startup鈥檚 language, understand their priorities, and have a lot of experience operating in dynamic environments. The 51风流team brings expertise in building scalable businesses onto the table — a domain early-stage startups often struggle with as they focus on building their product or service.

Optimizing Processes Over Time

As part of the engagement process, the requirements are discussed in workshops. Implementation partners are part of the journey from the very beginning. The team stays aboard when the pace increases, the company grows and matures, and new business models or revenue streams arise. That implies starting to think in end-to-end business processes early on, implementing them in a lean approach, and then focusing on optimizing them over time.

Sketching a draft of the future state system architecture at the earliest stage possible and envisioning what is needed in three to four years are important.

鈥淚f there is something that kills growth, it鈥檚 a scattered system landscape and manual process steps. Startups can circumvent piling up these technical debts if they are addressed early,鈥� says Tino Albrecht, business architect at SAP.

Operating Like a Startup

For Albrecht and his colleagues, the 51风流Hypergrowth Catalyst program is a 鈥渃ultural thing鈥� to support the startup ecosystem. That is why the team itself operates like a startup inside SAP.

鈥淲e have people in the team that understood that the startup market has its own rules, priorities, and requirements,鈥� Albrecht says.

Speed is an example: 51风流does not charge the program members for the team support. Subscriptions for usage of the cloud services need to be paid and the implementation partners receive their fees. Everything else is a front-loaded key account management — a leap of faith.

This story originally appeared on the 51风流Germany News Center.

鈥淥ur AR platform gives consumers and companies personalized virtual shopping and training experiences, expanding the horizon of what AR can do for any brand or company,鈥� said Kanav Singla, founder and CEO of Adloid. 鈥淲e鈥檙e making the benefits of this technology more accessible and contextual to create an immersive experience for customers or employees on an e-commerce Website or within applications, directly from someone鈥檚 mobile device.鈥�

Convenient 鈥楾ry Before You Buy鈥� Shopping

Unlike earlier AR tech that relied on clunky headsets with varied compatibility, Adloid鈥檚 AR platform runs on any smartphone, allowing customers to experience products at scale, in context. Once the online shopper logs in through their phone, the device鈥檚 camera scans their real-world surroundings and virtually mirrors the retailer鈥檚 or manufacturer鈥檚 product.

鈥淧eople can see how a new sofa or chair would fit into their home or apartment with a click of their smartphone,鈥� said Singla. 鈥淐onsumers can virtually try on jewelry, makeup, and other products. Remote workers can see if that laptop, screen, and desk configuration will fit in their home office. It鈥檚 as if the actual products are in front of you.鈥�

He added that manufacturers were interested in using the AR platform within training modules for industrial machinery service technicians, providing them with hands-on learning in a virtual setting.

Immersive Product Discovery Experience

On the consumer side, AR technology is tailor-made for online shoppers who can鈥檛 get enough information about products they might purchase.

鈥淔or someone trying to decide between different car models, AR lets them virtually go inside the trunk to see how much space is in there,鈥� said Singla. 鈥淭hey can open and close the sunroof or try out the controls on the entertainment console, experiencing various car options before going to the showroom.鈥�

Automotive manufacturers are among the startup鈥檚 biggest customers, along with e-commerce platforms of all sizes, retailers with or without brick-and-mortar stores, and manufacturers located in the U.S., Germany, and India.

Augmented Reality Increases Sales

Some customers using Adloid have increased sales conversions from online channels up to 200%. One online retailer tripled the number of online customers who purchased consumer items after using the tool. AR also boosts customer engagement time viewing product images and videos from an average of 30 seconds to a whopping eight minutes.

鈥淚nstead of being limited by a finite number of pre-posted images or videos, AR allows people to interact longer with products in a more personalized way, creating a powerful sales channel that鈥檚 always on at the customer鈥檚 convenience,鈥� said Singla. 鈥淧eople can better understand how a product would fit into their lives, in many cases motivating them to make a purchase decision during that single online session.鈥�

Connected Data for Intelligent Enterprise

Adloid securely anonymizes all customer data and doesn鈥檛 store any personal images or other information once someone ends their AR session. However, organizations can extract valuable insights from the tool鈥檚 analytics.

鈥淎 car might come in six colors, but which ones are customers viewing the most? Companies can see what options people are most interested in, then connect back to inventory management to make sure they can meet market demands,鈥� said Singla.

Indeed, one of Adloid鈥檚 biggest strengths is working with the 51风流Startup Studio for India, startup accelerator program. Singla said that his team gained validation for product iterations, along with access to 51风流solutions, including , and the company鈥檚 enterprise customers.

鈥淲orking with a global leader like 51风流gives our product immediate credibility because we learned what customers were looking for,鈥� he said. 鈥淎dloid is integrated with , , and , helping companies connect data to become intelligent enterprises.

AR Bridges Gap Between E-Commerce and CX

Singla鈥檚 entrepreneurial spirit was initially sparked by his family, all of whom own businesses. He founded his first startup at age 21 during his undergraduate studies in engineering, then saw a major selling gap as e-commerce took off.

鈥淐ompanies went online with their catalogs, but customers couldn鈥檛 more fully experience these products,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 launched Adloid to turn e-commerce into 3D commerce where customers can try out products virtually on their mobile device. We expect AR will provide immersive experiences in more consumer and B2B online sites including fashion, travel and tourism, and large industrial machinery.鈥�

Follow me @smgaler.

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 SAP.iO

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

鈥淚t鈥檚 been an incredible opportunity working with SAP. We鈥檝e learned so much from SAP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�

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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 51风流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 51风流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 SAP.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 SAP.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 SAP.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 SAP.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 SAP.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, SAP.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 SAP.iO Foundries and Intrapreneurship at SAP.
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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 SAP.iO Foundry

As an alumnus of , Dr. Patel appreciated the access to 51风流experts in , industries, and other cloud-based solutions, including introductions to customers.

鈥淲e valued SAP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 51风流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.

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鈥淲e are providing a holistic solution for clinical trials management, what we call ERP for clinical research,鈥� said Uma Janapareddy, founder and managing director at SyMetric. 鈥淗aving easily accessible data on one unified platform helps researchers develop more effective drugs with stronger study results so they can bring pioneering medicines faster to people.鈥�

People-Driven Clinical Trials

Physicians, researchers, project managers, investigators, and biostatisticians are using SyMetric Trial Analytics to conduct studies at global pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations in a variety of therapeutic areas such as neurology, respiratory illness, oncology, and dermatology.

Running on , the solution captures and analyzes historical and updated clinical trial data in one system. This includes patient information indicating initial eligibility to participate in a clinical trial and progress monitoring through rigorous statistical analyses at trial completion for regulatory submission. The tool captures and analyzes electronic data from anywhere, such as a patient鈥檚 activities tracked on a mobile device or artificial intelligence (AI)-based imaging that shows medical progress.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e starting a lung cancer study, you can easily find out disease prevalence rates and research histories by geography, experience of the investigators, availability of skilled coordinators or pharmacists, and other factors. Our solution brings this data together for informed planning that leads to more efficient execution,鈥� said Janapareddy. 鈥淥nce the trial is underway, our easy-to-use solutions help researchers accurately track patient recruitment, study progress, make necessary amendments to the clinical study on the fly, and conduct any other activities.鈥�

Time-Saving Clinical Data Analytics

According to Janapareddy, the solution gives clinicians cost-savings foresight and flexibility. Built-in algorithms automatically monitor data, for example, rejecting potential patients who don鈥檛 fit certain parameters based on gender, age, or certain health and lifestyle conditions. Real-time data saves time in data clean up at the project completion stage.

Customers have reduced clinical trial setup and completion timelines by 20%. Some have saved up to 30% wastage of drug supplies during the trial manufacturing phase. One customer saved thousands of dollars using the solution to calculate the number of patient volunteers, as well as the number of drugs and testing kits required to meet randomization objectives with greater precision.

鈥淲ith real-time data and built-in algorithms, companies can quickly adapt protocols in response to continuous patient recruitment,鈥� she said. 鈥淩esearchers can conduct interim analyses at any time before study completion, adjusting drug dosages, delivery mechanisms, and packaging quantities. The system automatically incorporates protocol adjustments and amendments, sans any downtime and without jeopardizing overall study timelines.鈥�

Working with 51风流Labs India

While most of 厂测惭别迟谤颈肠鈥檚 customers are based in the United States and India, Janapareddy has set her sights on Europe, inspired by the strength of SAP鈥檚 innovation ecosystem. An alumni of 51风流Startup Studio at , Janapareddy appreciated the design thinking workshops her team used to develop use cases from their collective experiences. She also valued the co-innovation relationships her startup has forged with other members of the program. These include biopharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and cosmeceutical and nutraceutical manufacturers.

鈥淲e have a shared passion with 51风流for the power of life sciences and integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) data on a single platform 鈥� where every company becomes an ,鈥� said Janapareddy. 鈥�51风流is a global leader in life sciences including pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and ERP, and its leaders generously share their expertise with us. We also appreciate the significant exposure to 51风流customers from this partnership.鈥�

SyMetric Trial Analytics and the SyMetric Clinical Trial Platform are available on .

Connected Clinical Trial Supply Chain

Before she founded SyMetric, Janapareddy held leadership positions at an international non-profit organization that provided funding, education, and other opportunities for underprivileged women. She developed the concept for SyMetric with input from her family and friends at 51风流and in the life sciences industry.

鈥淚 wanted to do something big in life, contributing to the community in a way that would have lasting impact,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here was no integrated system for clinical trials anywhere in the life science industry, so I founded SyMetric to help manage the entire supply chain for people-centric research.鈥�

From Data-Centric to Patient-Centric Trials

Janapareddy envisioned a fully interconnected data platform for everyone involved in life sciences clinical research and manufacturing.

鈥淭he industry is looking ahead to patient-centricity, where people can control their data using the latest technologies to share information and act on it on secure, compliant cloud-based platforms,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t began with informed consent and now connected data brings researchers and patients even closer together.鈥�

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According to European regulation, if a train arrives at its destination with a delay of 60 minutes or more, passengers are entitled to compensation. In this case, business travelers would either file a claim themselves or forward details via e-mail or phone to their corporate travel management to receive compensation.

Eligible Payouts 鈥淪it Idle on the Tracks鈥�

Many companies don鈥檛 file a claim at all because the correspondence with the train provider would cause higher internal costs than the compensation returns, especially because communication after submitting a claim is only possible by paper mail. This also applies to an online claim form that a major German rail provider has been offering since June 2021. Many companies shy away from this cumbersome, manual process that oftentimes involves multiple employees. As a result, most reimbursement claims are not even submitted.

Looking at statistics from startup , there are almost no claims coming in anymore 60 days after a train delay happens. As a result, more than 89% of eligible payouts 鈥� up to 11% of annual rail expenditures 鈥� 鈥渟it idle on the tracks鈥� until they expire after 365 days due to European regulations.

File for Claims Faster Than Booking a Ticket

Stefan Nitz, founder and CEO of refundrebel, traveled across Germany by train for 10 years during his time as an IT consultant. During this time, he waited for delayed trains many times and refused to accept that such a simple task as compensation payments had to be so cumbersome for individuals and companies. His goal was to create a compensation solution that would make it easier and faster to file a claim. The idea of refundrebel was born.

Startups like refundrebel are important partners for 51风流as they expand its portfolio and provide customers with additional innovation to increase the value of their investments in 51风流solutions. Four years after its inception, refundrebel is now integrated with and offers customers an automated solution that can cover filing a claim, corresponding with the rail provider, and reimbursing payment in the event of train delays and cancellations.

How It Works

Once customers activate refundrebel on the site, Concur Travel sends train booking details to the application while meeting GDPR guidelines. The startup鈥檚 unique delay database identifies eligible compensation due to cancelations or delays free of charge, without requiring written confirmation of the delay from a train conductor. Flex tickets from Deutsche Bahn, which are valid for the entire day of travel without being issued for a specific train, or cross-border train rides can also be submitted. If eligible, refundrebel will claim compensation up to 365 days retroactively, and each claim will be paid one month after acceptance by the railroad company.

Flexible payout models are available, such as to cost centers, to travelers, or split. In addition, monthly payouts include a report showing a breakdown of each claim for corporate accounting purposes. According to refundrebel, a growing number of companies are using their paid-out compensations to offset carbon dioxide emissions or donate to charity.

Be One Step Ahead

With the automated integration between Concur Travel and refundrebel, compensation claims can no longer get lost and companies can avoid cumbersome, manual processes. As a specialized add-on service for Concur Travel customers, refundrebel works in addition to a customer鈥檚 travel management company, online booking engine, or travel agency without extra costs.

Learn more about refundrebel on the site.

Silke Jakobi is a sustainability innovation expert at SAP.

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IoT-based sensors capture the temperature and other critical parameters of products in real time, using machine learning and AI algorithms to automatically send alerts about risk anomalies so people can take corrective action and head off damages.

鈥淥ur vision is to make supply chains more holistically intelligent for greater reliability and resiliency,鈥� said Adarsh Kumar, co-founder and CEO of Tagbox. 鈥淥rganizations have full visibility into shipment risks like shocks, temperature changes, tampering, or pilferage at any point along the supply chain. Our technology shares that data to the cloud, sends shipment risk alerts to relevant stakeholders, and logs data into the ERP system. People can immediately see when something鈥檚 gone wrong and take fast action.鈥�

Most Tagbox customers are located in India, but the startup is gaining traction with organizations in other parts of Asia-Pacific, including Singapore.

Automated Triggers for Quality Control

Traditional supply chain quality management was typically one dimensional and tracked shipment risk post-delivery. In contrast, Tagbox鈥檚 technology monitors products at every step of the journey with small battery-powered sensors attached to product packaging by individual SKU, box, or pallet. Hosted on , the tool uses 51风流Internet of Things (51风流IoT) and is integrated with . Data sharing includes product or order information with designated employees in order management, transportation and logistics, quality parameters, warehouse and inventory metrics, and first to last mile delivery.

For example, after downloading a mobile app, a delivery person driving a refrigerated truck transporting medication would be alerted to temperature changes in the vehicle and receive recommended actions to prevent spoilage.

鈥淧eople can immediately intervene when they鈥檙e notified of a temperature change or other risk, while managers can spot systemic issues and address those,鈥� said Kumar. 鈥淩eports reveal patterns, such as where temperature excursions happen regularly. The company may decide to improve product packaging or select different transportation routes.鈥�

One pharmaceutical customer saved thousands of dollars by reducing post-delivery assessment times by up to 72 hours. Having collected real-time data throughout the shipping process, the company eliminated time-consuming reports after delivery.

Business Growth from 51风流Partnership

Kumar credited his company鈥檚 recent growth partly to his team鈥檚 experience at 51风流Startup Studio, an accelerator program at for early- and growth-stage tech startups.

鈥淥ur IoT sensors collect and send data to supply chain, 51风流IoT, and other 51风流ERP systems that provide the business context for product shipments and locations, making this an ideal partnership,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e accelerated our time-to-market because 51风流experts have provided us with industry-specific opportunity guidance and introductions to a wide range of 51风流customers.鈥�

Data Fuels Insights to Action

While pharmaceutical companies are obvious candidates for fully traceable quality control of vaccine and other medicine cold chains, numerous industries can also benefit from real-time insights. These include food and beverage companies and consumer electronics. One e-commerce grocery company using Tagbox improved its cold chain temperature compliance while reducing missing inventory rates by 20%.

鈥淭hey have end-to-end traceability of real-time temperatures for products like meats and dairy products from warehouse to consumer,鈥� said Kumar. 鈥淭hey can track what percentage of orders were delivered at the right temperatures, cascading to employee performance metrics and training, as well as infrastructure and other supply chain decisions.鈥�

Appliance, home electronic, and glass manufacturers have also found benefits from Tagbox when it comes to product damage prevention during transport.

鈥淎ny combination of factors can damage fragile goods on the road, whether it鈥檚 bad driving and accidents or because products weren鈥檛 packaged or loaded properly,鈥� said Kumar. 鈥淲ith our sensors, companies can see precisely what kind of shock happened and when it occurred. Our algorithms translate the data into meaningful metrics such as if the product was in freefall, turned upside down, tilted, or unsecured. In the moment, they can repack the item, adjust the temperature, and keep going without damage.鈥�

Turning Data into Business Value

Kumar, Saumitra Singh, and Sameer Singh co-founded Tagbox, drawing from 25 years of collective experience in IoT, data analytics, AI, and integrated circuit and chip design.

鈥淲e realized that despite all the talk about IoT as a data generator, there wasn鈥檛 enough focus on using that data for concrete business decisions,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e wanted to tackle supply chain inefficiencies and product quality control for high-value, fragile goods traveling across cold chains. There are so many diversification opportunities in B2B operations using IoT and machine learning.鈥�

Kumar said future international expansion plans for Tagbox included the United States, providing dynamic intelligence for supply chains worldwide, long after the pandemic recedes.

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鈥淲e designed Future Grid to fill the visibility gap, bringing together real-time data and insights from smart meters so electric utilities can better manage the accelerated transition to renewable energy,鈥� said Chris Law, co-founder and CEO at Future Grid. 鈥淭his will help utilities continue to provide safe, reliable electricity services in regulatory compliance as renewable energy emerges.鈥�

Law, who has extensive experience in the energy industry, co-founded Future Grid to meet the unique demands of utilities that weren鈥檛 fully utilizing all the data from their smart meters.

鈥淲e wanted to help utilities quickly manage data for their industry-specific outcomes,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淣ow as utilities have been increasingly challenged by the transition to renewable energy, our service is becoming even more important.鈥�

Data Insights Improve Operations

Future Grid collects and analyzes real-time data from smart meters, whether its usage data from the consumer鈥檚 electric car, home solar panels, or other sources. Customers are primarily in Australia, but Law has set his sights on global expansion in sync with renewable energy market growth prospects.

鈥淪mart meters from renewables are a rich source of information. Use correctly, utilities can improve services with measurable results for consumers and the organization itself,鈥� said Law. 鈥淲e鈥檙e providing a feedback loop from the grid edge into the utility鈥檚 core operational systems, helping the company make better decisions to improve core operations in the grid.鈥�

Safety Benefits for Customers and Consumers

Future Grid addresses one of the major challenges utilities face as renewable energies are deployed at scale: voltage management. While invisible to the consumer, utilities strive behind the scenes to deliver electricity at expected and regulated voltages. The dirty secret about renewables is that the energy they generate can wreak havoc on the grid unless it鈥檚 accurately captured and analyzed.

鈥淭he benefits of renewable energy are starting to be well understood in Australia,鈥� Law said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e helping utilities use the data they鈥檙e collecting to manage that transition. They can better understand what鈥檚 going on with their network assets so they can maintain voltage levels, and potentially save lives.鈥�

According to Law, Future Grid鈥檚 utility customers rely on the solution to predict voltage problems, guarding against potential injury or harm. In one case, the software flagged a voltage issue and the utility dispatched field crews who arrived at the home just as the consumer was on the phone reporting the problem to the company.

SAP.iO Paves the Way for Valuable Partnership

Far more than the typical analytics tool with colorful graphs and charts, Future Grid鈥檚 insights are even more powerful when integrated with and 51风流Predictive Asset Insights. Law was excited about working with 51风流after the Future Grid co-founders participated in the utilities accelerator program. Initial collaboration efforts include integrating Future Grid鈥檚 asset health monitoring solution into SAP.

鈥�51风流and Future Grid are a natural fit. 51风流is one of the foundational vendors in the utilities industry, and we share many customers,鈥� said Law. 鈥淚f our analytics reveal a problem with a network asset, this can raise a ticket to generate a work order in the 51风流system for faster response and resolution. We鈥檙e very grateful for SAP鈥檚 expertise in helping us workshop use cases to best solve our mutual customers鈥� biggest problems.鈥�

Future Grid is .

Learning from Australia鈥檚 Energy Lessons

Law predicted ongoing momentum for renewable energy worldwide, creating infinite opportunities for Future Grid. That鈥檚 because utilities need to be ready to collect and manage a tsunami of data from smart meters and other renewable technologies as uptake grows.

鈥淚n Australia, we鈥檙e already rolling out renewable energy technologies at scale, where utilities have realized the considerable impact on the existing grid,鈥� he said. 鈥淯nlike consumer apps, you have to be in the energy industry for the long haul. With perseverance, along with great mentors and partners like SAP, we鈥檙e now well positioned in the right place at the right time.鈥�

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Using the startup鈥檚 carbon-based offsetting tool, companies can donate one cent for every air mile flown by employees to environmental non-profit organizations.

鈥淚ndividuals and companies are much more mindful that travel and commuting are a big part of their carbon footprint and need to be incorporated into their sustainability planning and actions,鈥� said Anna Ford, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Jet-Set Offset. 鈥淩emote working has brought people together in more authentic ways, increasing demands to align personal values such as sustainability with working norms, including travel.鈥�

Realistic Strategy for Sustainable Travel

Functioning like a fundraising tool for non-profit and charitable organizations that focus on sustainability, Jet-Set Offset鈥檚 mileage-based donations are tax-deductible and backed by a realistic business-oriented strategy. During its first year in business, thousands of Jet-Set Offset consumers made donations to a range of non-profits. These organizations offer products, education, and advocacy in areas such as clean transportation, renewable energy, land and wildlife conservation, reforestation, and green buildings. The startup鈥檚 next target market is enterprises.

鈥淲e want to make it easy for companies to integrate carbon-based offset donations into their travel plans based on the organizations鈥� unique sustainability goals, timelines, and budget realities,鈥� Ford said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e piloting our tool now with companies that are interested in sustainable travel as the industry recovers from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.鈥�

From Public Health to Sustainability

After spending almost a decade in public health advocacy, where she racked up an average of 100,000 flier miles each year, Ford transitioned into a new career that began with studying public administration and social entrepreneurship at the Harvard Kennedy School. She was most inspired by several landmark studies proving the impact of reducing air travel to combat climate change.

鈥淎t that moment, my decade of frequent flyer guilt really hit me like a ton of bricks,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 decided to focus exclusively on the environmental impact of air travel and carbon off-setting. There many non-profits doing environmental work, so I built Jet-Set Offset as a donation-based off-setting tool that helps travelers as well as those organizations that are tackling climate change.鈥�

SAP.iO Foundry Unlocks New Business Opportunities

Jet-Set Offset was among the eight early-stage startups that participated in the recent SAP.iO Foundry San Francisco accelerator program. Ford was grateful for the opportunity to network and learn from other startups as well as 51风流experts about building enterprise solutions that solve customer pain points. Having initially focused on consumers, one important takeaway for her team was the need for employee engagement in sustainability initiatives at the corporate level.

鈥淓ven for companies with sustainability commitments and plans, we learned a lot about the need for employee education,鈥� she said. 鈥淎s a result, we added communication abilities to our solution, allowing organizations to have an ongoing dialogue with their employees.鈥�

In addition to making carbon offset donations, companies can use the tool to send reminder messages to employees that sustainability matters, and to be mindful of non-essential travel. Companies can also offer environmentally friendly travel alternatives.

Making sustainability even easier, Jet-Set Offset is integrated with solutions and available on . Customers can see the environmental impact of their travel from one dashboard that captures miles flown and resultant carbon emissions. The tool also prompts travel managers with convenient train transportation options based on nearby city destinations to help reduce the company鈥檚 carbon footprint.

鈥淥nce companies understand their historical carbon footprint, they can start to plan for sustainable travel, ensuring that emissions don鈥檛 reach previous levels even as employee travel comes back,鈥� said Ford. 鈥淲e see this helping travel managers, sustainability officers, and human resources departments meet corporate sustainability goals.鈥�

Plan for a More Sustainable Future

More than anything, Ford does not want the latest focus on sustainability to be a short-lived blip 鈥� especially in the rush to economic recovery. She described a much larger vision in which organizations fully understand their overall corporate travel carbon emission footprint and act to reduce it.

鈥淲e鈥檙e working with companies and travelers to put sustainable travel plans in place with a platform that inspires action,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e want to help companies benchmark and track their carbon emissions from air travel, communicate their sustainability goals with employees, and involve them in making the best choices for greater environmental impact over time.鈥�

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Two entrepreneurs recently participated in the latest healthcare-focused accelerator program at SAP.iO Foundry New York and shared their respective missions to help patients and providers in a vastly changed healthcare landscape.

Real-Time Intelligence Improves Time Management

Applying computer science and systems thinking to improve people鈥檚 lives has been a central tenet of Kishau Rogers鈥� career as an engineer and computer scientist. The COVID-19 pandemic has only amped up the mission behind her newest venture called . More than 35 hospitals throughout the U.S. rely on the startup鈥檚 鈥渢ime intelligence鈥� cloud-based platform, which uses machine learning to track how physicians, researchers, and other healthcare employees spend their time.

鈥淚nstead of just counting hours worked, we wanted to shift the concept of timesheets to a human-centered approach, elevating opportunities to improve people鈥檚 lives at work,鈥� Rogers said. 鈥淢any of the time management issues we were already looking at, such as data silos and complexity, have only been amplified by the pandemic.鈥�

Time Study has helped hospitals better understand fast-changing workforce movements, whether employees were hunting for scarce personal protective equipment (PPE), jumping into different care-giving roles onsite, or providing new patient services like telehealth. Some hospitals have improved data collection and reporting times by 80 percent and increased regulatory compliance by more than 120 percent.

鈥淗aving this platform during the crisis allowed hospitals to see the immediate impact on physician satisfaction levels and performance, as well as employee activities and workflow,鈥� Rogers explained. 鈥淢any hospitals are using this data to make resource adjustments as they uncover work performance patterns. With real-time insights, they can better align resources while meeting quality patient care and evolving compliance mandates around patient care standards and reimbursement.鈥�

Rogers was particularly excited about Time Study鈥檚 recently launched mobile app. In addition to selecting from time entry categories, healthcare workers can use voice notes to capture tasks in the moment, upload text messages, or time themselves as they perform activities. As the algorithm learns someone鈥檚 work patterns, people can spend less time on reporting.

Data Erases Fear of the Unknown

Another startup is relying on global data to help address the breathtaking speed of the pandemic鈥檚 highly changeable path and the uniqueness of every patient. Originally conceived to automate personalized healthcare for large patient populations, uses its cloud-based machine learning system to provide what could amount to lifesaving insights. The startup uses natural language understanding (NLU) technology to make sense of any form of patient digital health information from anywhere, such as electronic medical records (EMR), insurance claims, scientific publications, and medical devices. This global, cross-disciplinary approach to study and analyze data seems tailor-made for researchers and other healthcare professionals who are exploring therapies and interventions.

鈥淲e can understand data in many different languages worldwide and wanted to help people in healthcare collaborate across geographies and disciplines to securely and ethically collect, share, and act on this global information,鈥� said Mayur Saxena, chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Droice Labs. 鈥淗ealthcare leaders can use this data, and the insights derived from it, to understand the progression of the disease, replacing fear of the unknown with data-driven decisions to fight this pandemic.鈥�

Data can help healthcare professionals answer important questions like who should be tested, which people are high-risk, and what drug treatments and other interventions are most effective. It can also help identify contributing factors to how the disease manifests in certain populations. For example, providers from five continents worldwide 鈥� including hospitals and researchers 鈥� are using the platform to identify trends such as sickness in younger patients.

鈥淐OVID-19 might be causing strokes in much younger patients who are increasingly getting the disease, which is highly unusual,鈥� Saxena said. 鈥淧roviders are adding their own data and hypotheses to determine risk factors, treatment, and prevention, as well as drawing conclusions from all the data in our system.鈥�

Far-Reaching Impact on Healthcare Overall

Interdisciplinary collaboration is a culture shift for the healthcare industry, offering tremendous potential for more innovation through shared data and medical practices.

鈥淥ur machine learning system takes all the data about an individual into account and breaks it down so that a doctor, pharmaceutical scientist, or healthcare insurer can understand patients better and faster,鈥� Saxena said. 鈥淚nstead of repetitive, disparate, one-on-one diagnoses and follow-up care, we鈥檙e automating personalized care for a much larger patient population.鈥�

While startups like these are applying technology to collect, share, and analyze real-time data during the pandemic, the truth is that healthcare touches every human being sooner or later. With these tools, providers can be better prepared to meet future healthcare challenges.

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As anyone desperately searching for toilet paper discovered earlier this year, the last mile is the crucial link in every supply chain.

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

Huge Time Savings Improve Customer Experience听

Planners using VersaFleet鈥檚 software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based cloud platform can dynamically schedule, dispatch, and track deliveries. In the meantime, drivers send updates on completed deliveries in real time using a mobile app. The algorithm also factors in data from orders connected through an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system like .

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

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

鈥淭heir implementation of VersaFleet couldn鈥檛 have come at a better time,鈥� Rahim said. 鈥淒espite working remotely from their respective homes, the planners were able to work collaboratively in real time. They were able to restock high-demand items like toilet paper and sanitizing wipes up to five times a day 鈥� something they had never been able to do before.鈥�

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

鈥淐ompanies can reduce stock-outs, which is so important in meeting people鈥檚 heightened demands, especially with fast-moving consumer goods,鈥� Rahim said. 鈥淪everal of our other customers have improved customer service levels by 50 percent.鈥�

Strong Roots in Logistics and Transportation

In hindsight, VersaFleet is a pitch-perfect reflection of Rahim鈥檚 career journey. As a teenager, he worked in his family鈥檚 logistics business and became a self-taught Web developer. Initially encouraged by his parents to pursue medicine, he studied bio-medical science at university and spent seven years in that field before launching a bio-medical company of his own. After seeing the logistics challenges his family faced, Rahim transformed his startup into a last-mile transportation management system. Above all, he is a fearless self-starter.

鈥淢y parents, friends, and their neighbors were having problems with logistics and asked me for help,鈥� Rahim explained. 鈥淲hen I fixed it, the word spread quickly, and VersaFleet was born.鈥�

Hands-On Tutelage from SAP.iO Foundries Pays Off

VersaFleet participated in the recent Industry 4.0 accelerator program at SAP.iO Foundry Singapore. Rahim found the mentoring experience he had with 51风流experts in solution development, co-innovation, and go-to-market and sales strategies incredibly eye-opening.

鈥淪eeing SAP鈥檚 customer account strategies, hearing directly from people experienced in enterprise software co-innovation, customer procurement, and buying behaviors validated our approach and gave us new ideas,鈥� he said.

Rahim added that VersaFleet is integrated with 51风流S/4HANA.

Supply Chain鈥檚 Future Lies in AI and People

Rahim was most excited about the future of AI plus human ingenuity in building more resilient supply chains. Instead of looking at logistics automation algorithms with suspicion or fear, he urged people company-wide, including logistics planners and even drivers, to make the most of technology innovations.

鈥淪upply chain management will be a major proving ground for AI,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f supply chain professionals can combine human empathy, judgment, and intuition with AI鈥檚 ability to quickly solve problems by analyzing millions of data points at once, the opportunities for improved operations and customer experience are unlimited.鈥�

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The New York-based startup provides coaching to employees in numerous industries, including professional and financial services, hospitality, retail, and high technology.

鈥淓veryone should have a trusted, skilled coach to help them navigate important make-or-break moments at work,鈥� said Toby Hervey, co-founder and CEO at Bravely. 鈥淪upporting an employee at moments that matter fundamentally transforms their long-time success and viability, as well as company culture.鈥�

Business Benefits of Coaching for All

Bravely Co-Founder and President Sarah Sheehan said the coaching platform reflected people-first workplace trends.

鈥淔orward-thinking leaders know employees need hard skills and relationship-building expertise to achieve goals together,鈥� she said. 鈥淯sing technology, companies can cost-effectively give more employees access to coaching. This reduces employee stress and prevents burnout for improved mental health, leading to higher productivity.鈥�

Not surprisingly, Bravely helps companies address business commitments to inclusion and diversity. This is something that the co-founders live every day: Hervey is a gay man and Sheehan is a new mother.

鈥淲e see strong usage of our coaching among groups such as women, LGBTQ workers, and people of color who are underrepresented the higher up you go in many organizations,鈥� Hervey said. 鈥淲e want to be a force for behavioral change across the board and equitably support people at every level.鈥�

Just-In-Time Coaching

Bravely鈥檚 network of rigorously vetted, certified coaches stands ready to serve employees across 30 countries, 24/7. Using the app, employees can schedule confidential sessions within personalized timeframes. Someone might need some quick coaching to clarify talking points for a difficult conversation with a manager later that day. Users may want to prepare for upcoming performance reviews, strengthen relationships with peers or direct reports, or develop long-term plans for promotions or success in new roles.

Data Tracks Eye-Opening Insights

Based on post-session reports, 91 percent of employees intend to take a next step. Clients also report lower human resources (HR) caseloads, freeing those teams up for strategic responsibilities. Companies have used anonymized data from Bravely to surface information over time that leaders might not have heard about otherwise.

鈥淒ata from coaching sessions at one company revealed employee perceptions that people couldn鈥檛 move up because the organization tended to hire externally for management positions,鈥� Hervey explained. 鈥淗R changed those perceptions with an educational program on upward career paths.鈥�

Deeply Personal Journeys Behind Bravely

Sheehan and Hervey are both New York transplants from Florida, where they were born and raised in cities close by but unbeknown to one another. After first meeting as colleagues at a New York-based startup, the two created Bravely from a shared vision.

As the daughter of an employment lawyer who primarily represented women and people of color, Sheehan鈥檚 dinner-table conversations while growing up were often about workplace issues. Pursuing her career in HR and sales, she considered herself fortunate to have had support from the accomplished people who surrounded her. She wanted to help others tap that same power.

鈥淟ike many young women, I struggled to find my voice and challenge myself to climb the ladder,鈥� Sheehan said. 鈥淚 wanted to extend career support, offering something historically available only to people at the highest levels of an organization.鈥�

Hervey channeled his lifelong startup mentality into Bravely, a trait he honed as the son of entrepreneurial parents. He began working at his family鈥檚 pet care company at the age of 11, eventually moving into customer service. Later, in New York, after various positions at technology companies, including a telemedicine startup that matched healthcare providers with patients who needed urgent care, Hervey had an epiphany about bringing a similar concept to employees.

鈥淏ravely connects all the different threads in my life, including building something from scratch, using technology to scale resources, and helping people navigate interpersonal dynamics to reach larger goals,鈥� Hervey said.

51风流is the Perfect Partner

Bravely recently participated in the latest healthcare-focused accelerator program at SAP.iO Foundry New York. It was one of seven up-and-coming startups working with hospital system providers, employee health and wellness solutions, medical devices, and health IT.

鈥淲e learned a lot about our go-to-market strategy, including how to meet the multi-faceted needs of enterprises in many industries that are managing diverse, global employee populations in different environments,鈥� Sheehan said.

Available to download from , Bravely is integrated with The app features triggers for HR-related events like performance reviews or starting a new position.

鈥淥ur partnership model with 51风流has opened the door for new ways to engage and support employees,鈥� said Hervey. 鈥�51风流is recognized as a top place to work and for its commitment to diversity and inclusion, and products like ours support that mission.鈥�

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