SAP Labs Launches Startup Accelerator in Bengaluru

Enterprise application software behemoth SAP Labs India on Thursday launched accelerator program SAP Startup Studio, aimed at providing mentoring, infrastructure and technology support to early-stage startups.

"India is home to the fastest growing ecosystem of start-ups and one of the most fertile grounds for new businesses. The aim of SAP Startup Studio is to support Indian startups with a complete ecosystem," said SAP Labs India Managing Director Dilip Khandelwal in a statement.

Marking the German global Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) giant's establishment of a dedicated program to driver entrepreneurship in India, the SAP Startup Studio has selected its first set of seven early-stage startups.

Cloud computing based healthcare platform CloudKare, reverse logistics solutions startup Blubirch, digital chat-based artificial intelligence provider Niki.ai, e-commerce startups Sellerworkx and Moglix, energy management solutions start-up Ecolibrium Energy and enterprise productivity startup Stratawiz Technologies are the selected ventures.

The 75-seat incubator located in SAP Labs India Whitefield campus will focus on the domains of Internet of Things, Big Data and Cloud among others.

The one year incubation period may also extend beyond the specified time, along with access to SAP's ecosystem of customers and partners.

SAP has also expressed its interest in taking an equity position and referring a startup to SAP's merger and acquisition team for the next stage of growth if required.

"India is now known as one of the most beneficial markets for start-ups. SAP Startup Studio will serve as a catalyst to further accelerate the growth of start-ups," said SAP SE Executive Board Member Bernd Leukert in the statement.

Across the globe, SAP enables nearly 3,10,000 companies to operate efficiently with its applications and services by bringing together boardrooms, warehouses and several other departments.