As part of its continued focus on working with startup companies, SAP AG is holding its second SAP Startup Forum. A gathering of select startups, the forum is a full day of collaboration, learning and competition around mobile technologies leveraging the SAP HANA platform to tackle "big data" challenges. This event follows the SAPPHIRE NOW conference where several startups took center stage in Orlando.
More than 30 startups are registered to attend the SAP Startup Forum, and 15 will pitch business cases and software solutions ranging from enterprise mobile sales enablement to digital content creation and management. Hosted by the SAP HANA platform team, the event gives participants the opportunity to spend time on the SAP Labs campus in Palo Alto where they can hear directly from and meet key SAP leaders, such as the heads of the SAPDevelopmentCenter for mobile and SAP HANA. They can also explore customer and funding opportunities with venture capitalists in attendance.
"Given the success of the first SAP Startup Forum in March, we added a startup track at SAPPHIRE NOW in Orlando which was very well received," says Dr. Vishal Sikka, member of the SAP Executive Board, Technology & Innovation, who will keynote the event. "We're now offering entrepreneurs with mobile solutions the opportunity to leverage the SAP HANA platform as the technology foundation to tackle 'big data' issues.”
The forums are the qualifying events for startups to engage more deeply with SAP via the SAP Startup Focus Program, which offers development and go-to-market support. The next SAP Startup Forum will be held at SAP Labs in Waterloo, Canada, on July 11, 2012. It will highlight some of the best startups from Eastern Canada, including the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Waterloo regions. Plans are currently underway for upcoming forums in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Paris, Seattle and Tel Aviv, with many more to come. The events are invite-only and organized jointly by the SAP Technology & Innovation, SAP Global Marketing and SAP Labs organizations, along with SAP Ventures, the independent venture fund of SAP AG and a catalyst for growth-stage enterprise IT companies worldwide. To learn more about the SAP Startup Focus Program, or to register for a chance to attend future forums, click here.