Germany-based enterprise software provider SAP launched a $35m corporate venture capital fund called SAP.IO Fund yesterday that will invest in early-stage companies to expand the SAP ecosystem.
SAP had previously directed its corporate venturing activities through SAP Ventures, the investment subsidiary it launched in 1996.
The unit’s portfolio companies included LinkedIn and MuleSoft by the time it was spun out as an independent VC firm at the start of 2011. It rebranded to Sapphire Ventures in 2014 but retains SAP as its sole sponsor, and closed $1bn in financing for two funds in September 2016.
SAP.IO Fund will invest strategically, backing startups that are using SAP data, technologies and application programming interfaces.
The unit has been formed as part of the SAP.IO open innovation initiative and was launched alongside an incubator called SAP.IO Foundry, which will operate in San Francisco and in a Berlin centre that will be managed by accelerator partner Techstars.
Ram Jambunathan is heading SAP.IO Fund’s six-strong team as managing director. The first company to receive investment from the fund is Parable Sciences, the US-based creator of a big data analytics platform called Paradata.
Deepak Krishnamurthy, SAP’s chief strategy officer, said: “In addition to empowering our employee innovators, SAP.IO will use its fund and foundries to invest in entrepreneurs that develop industry-changing software.”