SAP.iO Foundry Tokyo Launches Industry 4.0 Startup Acceleration Program

Posted by SAP

SAP SE announced that SAP.iO Foundry Tokyo kicked off its Spring Acceleration Program focused on Industry 4.0. Six international business-to-business startups will help SAP customers extend the value of their investments in SAP S/4HANA and SAP Digital Supply Chain solutions.

This SAP.iO Foundries cohort will enable startups to develop technologies to help businesses go beyond digital manufacturing and seamlessly connect all aspects of an entire company — from design to operations to sales and service.

“In Japan, SAP is helping organizations transform and grow in this digital era of increasingly connected ecosystem, new technologies and shifts in customer mind-sets” said Hirofumi Suzuki, managing director, SAP Japan. “This program will help our customers greatly expand the value of Industry 4.0.”

SAP.iO Foundry Tokyo is designed to accelerate innovation and drive new business models for SAP. This zero-equity-ask program provides startups with curated support from within and outside of SAP, exposure to SAP technologies, and opportunities to meet and collaborate with SAP customers. The accelerator program will conclude at SAP.iO Demo Day in the beginning of June.

The following startups are part of the SAP.iO Foundry Tokyo Spring 2020 program:

• 3i Inc. enables people to produce maps and street views of indoor spaces using image processing technology with a unique artificial intelligence (AI) foundation.
• GROUND Inc. combines robots, AI logistics software and other cutting-edge technology to manage logistics and e-commerce through its LogiTech solution.
• Hacobu Co. Ltd., through its “MOVO” logistics data platform, integrates Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud technologies and the development and marketing of various logistics applications and hardware.
• HyBird automates visual inspection of industrial facilities with its data-source-agnostic software “Clarity,” using computer vision and AI to produce interactive digital twin models for better asset maintenance.
• LiLz Inc. provides services to help solve on-site labor shortage issues by reducing the burden of patrol-based visual inspections through integrating technologies of machine learning and the IoT.
• XTIA Ltd. provides noncontact rapid 3D shape measurements using the optical frequency comb emitter, enabling precise automated visual inspection of automotive engines in smart factories.

―CT Bureau