Local software start-ups are being encouraged to register for Australia’s first-ever SAP Startup Forum, linked to venture capital arm SAP Ventures, which recently announced US$155 million in new funding.
SAP is a German company that makes enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations. It is the world’s third largest independent software manufacturer.
SAP Australia has confirmed the company’s global SAP Startup Forum is launching in Australia. The forum will be held in Sydney on Friday, September 21.
Organised by local SAP teams, Startup Forums provide a platform for SAP to meet and engage with entrepreneurs from major innovation hubs around the world.
The forums offer start-ups an opportunity to create easy-to-access solutions using SAP HANA to help solve real-world problems.
SAP HANA, which handles massive volumes of data entirely in its in-memory database, enables applications and analytics to execute their data-intense operations right where data resides.
This helps customers achieve performance improvements of up to 100,000 times compared to traditional databases while running non-disruptively alongside the existing technology landscape.
It’s important to note the SAP Startup Forum works closely with SAP Ventures, the venture capital arm of SAP, which is looking to make its first investments in the Australian market.
The news comes after SAP Ventures announced $155 million in funding to identify and cultivate groundbreaking start-ups who can help solve business problems using SAP HANA.
Dereck Daymond, general manager of SAP’s database and technology group, says he’s looking forward to seeing what comes out of Australian start-ups.
“Australians are great innovators, and launching this initiative enables start-ups to gain access to one of SAP’s most innovative solutions,” Daymond says.
“We are really thrilled that we are able to bring this program to Sydney, and very much look forward to engaging with our local entrepreneurs.”
The Sydney Startup Forum is a stepping stone for entrepreneurs to become part of the wider SAP Startup Forum, which aims to help companies with high growth potential scale their business.
The forum will give start-ups an opportunity to pitch their ideas to executives from SAP and SAP Ventures.
From each Startup Forum, up to 10 start-ups will be invited to join a development accelerator. The objective of the accelerator is to build a proof-of-concept and, eventually, a product with explicit business value.
The event is by invitation-only. Entrepreneurs can register via an online form.
During the registration process, entrepreneurs must provide details about their business, product stage and current “big data” challenges.
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