Industry

SAP.iO Foundry New York Launches Accelerator Program for Women, Diverse Entrepreneurs

SAP announced the launch of the SAP.iO Foundry New York Fall 2020 virtual accelerator program with six early-stage enterprise startups led by women and/or diverse entrepreneurs.

“Digitalization is advancing enterprise business progress more than at any other time in history,” said Vanessa Liu, head of SAP North America Foundries. “Understanding that startup innovation can drive value for our customers and partners in these industries in a post COVID-19 global society, we welcome these entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds to the SAP.iO family.”

SAP customers need to adapt quickly to market dynamics, and this requires an unparalleled commitment to digitalization. To this end, SAP.iO remains committed to its SAP.iO No Boundaries initiative, announced in early 2019, and to the belief that a healthy ecosystem includes entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds.

“We welcome this innovative group to the New York Fall 2020 cohort,” said Peter Maier, SAP president of Industries and Customer Advisory. “We are particularly looking forward to working with these companies on our industry cloud solutions for retail, manufacturing and automotive that will enable our customers to rapidly respond to new business requirements and drive cost-effective transformation and sustainable growth.”

The 12-week program will be held virtually. The new cohort includes startups using technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, 3D printing, robotic fabrication and ultrasonic to drive new business insights and capabilities. The cohort will have access to curated mentorship from SAP executives, exposure to SAP technology and application programming interfaces (APIs), and opportunities to collaborate with SAP customers. The program will culminate with the Demo Day in December 2020.