The Web3 Future of Work cohort of SAP.iO Foundry New York was earlier announced in October 2022.
On Valentine’s Day, SAP.iO Foundry New York hosted the Demo Day via a live stream of its Web3 Future of Work cohort. The Demo Day is the graduation of the five selected startups that have participated in the 16-week Fall 2022 program, wherein the participants had a rare chance to have access to SAP technology and application programming interfaces (APIs), learn from SAP experts through curated mentorship, and collaborate with SAP customers.
Opening the Demo Day is the Head of SAP.iO New York, Sallie Jian, who shared some details about the latest cohort. She said:
“We looked at hundreds of startups and picked just these five. These five startups are building incredible solutions that are partnered up with SAP and SuccessFactors as well as our customers. We’re really excited for you to meet these companies that are building solutions in the metaverse around digital assets, digital payments, and digital identity.”
During the welcome remarks, SAP SuccessFactors Global Head of Go-to-Market, Nicolle Sternberger, was enthused about having a platform to discuss the intersection between the Future of Work and Web3. She expressed:
“We get to think about a world where skills, education, and experiences are all unchained. An opportunity to talk about connecting the right workers to the right opportunities, paying them the way they want to be paid, all while having people create a self-sovereign record of your experience, achievements, and identity.”
Enterprise Web3 Future of Work Cohort
The Demo Day announced that the Web3 Future of Work Cohort consisting of startups that have expertise in emerging technologies such as blockchain, token economy (NFTs), digital assets (crypto, wallets, identity), artificial intelligence (AI), and metaverse (augmented and virtual reality) will get technical integrations to SAP and SuccessFactors HR platform. Not necessarily new startups, the companies are already catering to large enterprise customers and SAP users.
Here are the Web 3.0 companies that presented their pitch during the SAP.iO Foundry New York Demo Day:
- Beem offers solutions such as Beem for Business that allow users to communicate utilizing pre-recorded holograms for professional content distribution at scale. The new medium for storytelling harnessed the power of augmented reality (AR) as an immersive way to reach consumers and customers.
Janosch Amstutz, Founder and CEO of London-headquartered Beem, said that the AR platform replicates “a physical meet-and-greet” by allowing smartphones to capture what becomes a holographic image of the user. On the AR-type platform’s capability to deliver an intuitive, engaging, and elevated experience, he added:
“It makes zero sense to place a square video of a human into your physical environment.”
- BitPay is known to be one of the pioneers of blockchain payment technology. The 12-year-old tech firm based in Atlanta builds powerful, enterprise-grade tools for crypto acceptance and spending.
Co-founder and executive chair of BitPay, Tony Gallippi, said that emerging markets such as Argentina, Venezuela, and Lebanon as well as countries where local currency is unstable and affected by high inflation are anticipated to prefer cryptocurrency soon. With an existing integration with SuccessFactors, the BitPay platform allows employers to use local currency and convert it to cryptocurrency to be delivered to their employees. Gallippi said employees have the option to choose from a variety of cryptocurrencies.
- Gmetri offers GMetriXR, a no-code toolkit to create, manage and track your Metaverse. The tech form offers solutions for employee onboarding, training, e-commerce, and team meetings.
- Talespin offers a spatial computing learning platform that leverages extended reality (XR) to help the workforce learn faster, validate their skills, and advance their careers. Talespin is headquartered in Culver City, California.
- Veremark enables companies to perform fast, easy, and secure background checks with reusable data through blockchain-based verified credentials. The London-based tech company has a market presence in APAC, EMEA, and the US.
Daniel Callaghan, CEO of Veremark, said during his pitch that the platform’s approach offers shorter and cost-effective turnaround times on background checks by turning already-verified employment and background data into a blockchain-based digital credential that can be reused.
SAP.iO is on its fifth year of enabling startups around the globe accelerate and scale product development using SAP technologies and services. As for the New York Foundry, Jian announced that SAP.iO New York’s next program will focus on the supply chain.
