Working with SAP

Here at Centrifuge, we have a long history with SAP. Some of us worked as engineers in Walldorf (SAP’s German headquarter) back in the ’90s. With our previous startups we often partnered with SAP. On the other side we also had a healthy competition with Ariba who joined the SAP portfolio after their acquisition a few years back.

With this history, spanning multiple decades, I am extremely excited that we now started another level of engagement with SAP: we joined SAP.IO’s foundry in San Francisco. Our Bay Area-based team, headed by Philip, is part of the newest cohort in San Francisco’s South Park district.

So why did we join and what are the benefits we see from deepening this partnership?

Being part of the foundry provides a powerful way to battle test our early versions of Centrifuge as well as our long-term vision. We get to collaborate with mentors, internal and external to SAP.

At Centrifuge we are expanding the existing boundaries of business networks, data sharing, business identity, and true decentralization of the data of the financial supply chain. Being able to spar and strategize with the influencers coming from the largest companies of this world is very valuable.

As part of those discussions, having access to the vast network of SAP, SAP Ariba, their partners, as well as clients that are open to supporting and implementing our ideas, is certainly something we are really looking forward to.

Lastly, the team that makes SAP.iO happen is great. The work environment is amazing and the other foundry members are all focused on solving real problems for their customers — which is refreshing and motivating at the same time. What else could we wish for?