Early stage strategic incubator, SAP.iO has joined forces with digital business transformation company Publicis Sapient to help shape the upcoming  SAP.iO Foundry Tel Aviv - startup accelerator program - batch of startups. The program  will focus on advanced marketing and commerce solutions that offer new ways for brands to improve consumer engagement. "For startup companies that develop relevant solutions, this is a unique opportunity to grow and go global " says Lior Weizman, who leads SAP.iO Foundry in Israel.

"A significant springboard for startups”

The SAP.iO Foundries are SAP’s global network of equity-free startup accelerators that help promising startups integrate with SAP solutions and accelerate their entry into a curated, inclusive ecosystem whose offerings can be easily accessed and deployed by SAP customers. Current locations of SAP.iO Foundries are in major startup hubs, including Paris, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Munich, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Tokyo and Bangalore.

Publicis Sapient, which is part of the advertising giant Publicis, and an SAP client, will help SAP identify suitable startups from the global landscape to participate in the SAP.iO Foundry Tel Aviv - a 12 week program focused on elevating the very best startups with the very best solutions to the next level.

"In addition to partner with SAP and Publicis, which is a strategic achievement by itself, the start-ups that will participate the program and the joint solutions developed in it will be introduced by SAP and Publicis to their joint clients, which include some of the largest brands in the world. The initial exposure will be to the major consumer product companies, where we identify a strong need to strengthen the relationship with the end consumers," Weizman added.

The program is intended for enterprise software startups after their Seed or A round, that offer one or more of the following solutions: Personalized marketing, product discovery, social engagement, improved segmentation, consumer experience, 1st party consumer insights, new business models for direct-to-consumer marketing, and innovative integration use cases with Emarsys, SAP’s latest acquisition and a leading omnichannel customer engagement platform.

Through the SAP-Publicis partnership, participating startups gain not one, but two multinational partners to help solve key challenges that consumer brands face in the eCommerce and marketing spheres today. Publicis Sapient will take an active part in the program screening phase and will act as a potential beta-site for pilots, and a potential go-to-market channel for the startups. Participants will be eligible to utilize both SAP and Publicis’s global market reach to form new business partnerships and further expand.

“When we started exploring a collaboration with SAP, we understood that our combined expertise in technology and business, as well as our network of clients across major industries, could be a significant springboard for startups,” says Oded Lavie, VP of Innovation and Value Creation at Publicis Israel. “We are excited to help our mutual clients, which include some of the biggest companies in the world, implement innovative solutions that address concrete business challenges and deliver immediate value.”

The virtual program will start in April 2021. Applications close February 26th. For more information and for the application, click here.