Being More Human Can Drive Corporate Accelerators Beyond COVID-19 (Lessons Learned in 2020)
The last time I was in person with SAP.iO startups was the first week of March 2020. Sitting in our Hudson Yards office with a view of the Manhattan skyline, the founders and their teams were buzzing with excitement for the kick-off of SAP.iO Foundry New York’s Spring 2020 program. That very week coincided with NY’s mandated COVID lockdown and we swiftly moved from in-person to remote programming. Of the many unprecedented moments in 2020, shutting down our co-working spaces and switching to virtual sessions were among the first, immediate decisions made at SAP.iO.
While 2020 was a challenging year for so many and much of the economy, some software-focused companies thrived but not without first adapting their products, strategy and operations. To keep afloat, companies created or shifted offerings to reflect the needs of COVID. We aggregated some of these offerings and other low or no cost resources on SAP.iO’s COVID Response site.
Successfully transitioning from in-person to virtual proved crucial and showed us that agility is key for startups. For example, OpenMessage launched a Positivity & Pivots weekly series that highlighted how industry executives, founders and experts were navigating the pandemic. This new take on storytelling opened doors to not just new audiences, but also customers and valuable connections. Other startups took advantage of remote conditions and recalibrated operations by moving from traditionally expensive tech hubs to hiring distributed staff, in some cases even globally.
Keeping it real, I personally moved temporarily from New York to California to be closer to my immediate family. Without their support, I wonder how I would have made it out of 2020. It has been that feeling of family and closeness that I have tried more than ever to replicate with each of our startups and empathize with just how much they are juggling from raising funds to closing partnerships to acting as family care takers during the crisis. Not to mention, as part of our No Boundaries commitment, many SAP.iO founders are women or POC, groups that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID. As a woman of color and first-generation immigrant, I am extremely passionate about No Boundaries and combined with nearly a decade of startup experiences, I’ve strived to tailor opportunities on a more human level rather than a one-size-fits-all approach for each company. And the agility of our startups during the pandemic to run with the punches was also mission critical. From developing relevant content and supportive business strategy to choosing the right mentors, a more personal approach has served us well so far.
As I look back on 2020, I would be remiss not to mention that our most successful startups handed customers solutions they couldn’t refuse or ignore with demonstrable tangible ROI. For example, Hero helped their brick & mortar customers maintain almost 100% of their pre-COVID sales (during stay-at-home lockdowns) by connecting online shoppers to store associates with the HERO platform. Similarly, SuperPhone’s CRM technology improved salespeople’s marketing and communication channels via SMS, enabling retailers to keep their sales staff not only working, but hitting record sales goals.
Understanding the need to keep up with the pace of production of essential goods and aid frontline workers, companies like Ivaldi provided digital tools for local, on-demand manufacturing of hard-to-acquire parts and Cogniac enabled superhuman AI-powered visual inspections to detect errors before it was too late or costly to fix. Some startups supported essential workers; Rheaply’s asset exchange network powered the city of Chicago’s redistribution of sparse PPE and Popwallet’s digital wallet app gifted $1M of Snickers to healthcare workers.
Other startups directly addressed the nature of new consumer buying habits such as enhancing contactless/curbside/pick-up (LISNR), digital in-store (Mercaux) and last mile delivery (Wise Systems). Suddenly, retailers needed to up their game to manage the influx of e-commerce activity they had not been prepared for with solutions like Radius8’s website welcomer add-on and VNTANA’s 3D capabilities to make shopping possible in augmented reality.
In short, I would like to thank every one in and out of SAP and our companies for locking arms to do good together. This past year would not have been possible without the spectacular founders and their teams, all the mentors and colleagues that have supported us along the way. If you would like to get involved with SAP.iO, please don’t hesitate to reach out. To join SAP.iO’s award-winning Foundries, including New York’s Professional/Business Services and San Francisco’s Future of Work H1 2021 accelerator programs, apply or refer start here by February 19th. Finally, don’t forget to RSVP to NY’s Demo Day on Thursday, January 21st!
For those not aware, SAP.iO is SAP’s corporate venture arm and equity-free global accelerators. Since 2017, we’ve helped over 200 startups accelerate their growth while enabling thousands of SAP customers to access startup solutions. Each SAP.iO Foundry program runs twice a year focused on themes that are top of mind for SAP’s enterprise customers. During our three-month program, we partner with exceptional early to growth stage software startups looking for unparalleled access to enterprise sales opportunities, curated mentorship and technical expertise. The program culminates in a Demo Day, where the founders present their companies to SAP executives, mentors, customers, investors and other stakeholders.
