SAP Startup Guide: Turn Ideas into Purposeful Reality

As founders and CEOs of technology companies, fast-growing startups, policymakers, and heads of state gather at Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, this week, many will be asking “where to next?” The SAP Next-Gen program and Startup Guide will be there with an answer: toward a world where startups fuel purposeful innovation aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Connecting Entrepreneurs to a Worldwide Innovation with Purpose Network

SAP Next-Gen and Startup Guide are bringing together the resources and insights of the popular Startup Guide guidebooks for the world’s leading startup cities with a global “innovation with purpose” network around SAP Next-Gen.

“Our global partnership with Startup Guide creates new opportunities around the world for companies in the SAP ecosystem to connect with purpose-driven startups,” said Ann Rosenberg, senior vice president and global head of SAP Next-Gen. “Corporates are increasingly seeking to seed in disruptive innovation with startups, particularly those that are linking their startup concept to a higher social purpose.”

“Startup Guide shares a joint vision with SAP Next-Gen to help founders set a course for both profit and a higher social purpose,” said Sissel Hansen, founder and CEO of Startup Guide. “By connecting startups to purpose driven accelerators, tech community leaders, universities, and institutions we can help them accelerate their impact and contribution to creating a more sustainable future.”

Based on traditional guidebooks that can be carried around everywhere, Startup Guide books help entrepreneurs navigate different startup hubs across the globe and are now in 18 cities across Europe, the Middle East, and the U.S., including London, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Stockholm, and New York.

By 2019 SAP Next-Gen and Startup Guide aim to connect founders in 40 leading entrepreneurial cities − from Los Angeles and Lisbon to Johannesburg, Singapore, and beyond − to the network of more than 3,600 educational institutions in 116 countries, over 130 SAP Next-Gen Lab locations at universities and at partner and SAP locations, and more than 100 SAP Next-Gen Chapters, as well as accelerators, tech community partners, venture firms, futurists, and purpose-driven institutions.

Showcasing the Startup Ecosystems of the World

Startup Guide books feature entrepreneurs, investors, colleges, accelerators, coworking spaces, and experts in leading startup cities around the world. Packed with city essentials, practical information, in-depth interviews, and insightful tips, the books empower and inspire founders to transform their business ideas into reality.

SAP Next-Gen and Startup Guide plan to produce a video for each of the upcoming cities where Startup Guide books will be published. The recent launch of Startup Guide Berlin featured the first video showcasing the startup ecosystem of Berlin. There are also plans to publish a new book, “Ideas for a Better Future: How Fostering Startups Will Accelerate Achieving the SDGs.”

Through SAP Next-Gen’s global collaboration with Startup Guide, startups, accelerators, tech community leaders, co-working spaces, purpose-driven partners, academia, institutions, governments, and citizens in the global entrepreneurship hubs can learn how SAP Next-Gen fosters innovation with purpose, aligned with the company’s commitment to the SDGs.

Startups can also learn about services such as matchmaker and advisors from SAP Next-Gen, which connect startups with corporates interested to seed in disruptive innovation with startups, and with mentors to accelerate successful early-stage innovation.