SnapSupport: 4 Months from Meeting Stora Enso to Scaling with Them

California-founded mobile support solution provider SnapSupport met the Stora Enso Remote Technical Service team last April in Stockholm. The two companies hammered out a Venture Client Partnership and have worked on a co-created support solution since then. SnapSupport Co-Founder and CEO Madhu Augustine sat down with us to talk about their progress so far.

Back in the day, technical service experts had to travel. Operators of large machines, such as Stora Enso’s paper printers, require off-site staff to come to take a look at stalled equipment in the event of unexpected problems. In the digital age, technology has enabled remote assistance solutions to develop in leaps. Such solutions guarantee the quality of service for remote assistance, making it perfect for fixing unique industrial machines from a distance.

Such a solution is what SnapSupport, a Californian mobile support solution provider, has co-created together with their new client Stora Enso, a global renewable materials company. The two companies met during the Combient Foundry Venture Client Cycle in Spring 2019, struck a deal to do business together on a remote technical assistance solution.

Finding a Challenge-Tech Solution fit at the Value Proposition Days

“The key thing was Combient Foundry spending the time to select the right startups for the opportunity,” says Madhu Augustine, Co-Founder and CEO of SnapSupport. “Otherwise, you could be spending time trying to figure out whether there is a fit.”

Madhu explains that the Venture Client Approach narrowed down Stora Enso’s open call. The issue presented to SnapSupport was simple and clear. Simultaneously, the Foundry team had identified the type of startups that fit the challenge best, SnapSupport being one of the shortlisted companies. It was this that eliminated a lot of the background work SnapSupport would have normally had to do.

“Instead of trying to sell to the customer, now we are collaborating with them on how exactly to address this challenge,” Madhu continues. “I think that was the best part of this.”

The Value Proposition Days held in April 2018 were in Madhu’s opinion the most useful part of the journey. He found Stora Enso’s team was well focused at the discussions, and thanks to the close interaction during the two days, the teams were sure that they were a match in terms of personal chemistries too.

Co-Creating a Pilot for a Solid Long-Term Partnership Basis

Stora Enso was looking for a tech solution to better support printing companies, who are their own customers. Their daily printing capacity is measured in tons of paper and faults in big machines are difficult to explain to off-site support via phone or email.

“Stora Enso needed something very visual. A collaboration solution to convey what the problem is, and to quickly find a solution” Madhu explains. “That is what SnapSupport provides. We completed a 4-month pilot and tested with their customers to ensure the solution meets their needs and solves the challenges being faced.”

“The pilot phase allowed us in-depth testing of existing features, and develop and optimize additional functions based on user feedback,” says Martin Gercke, VP Technical Service at Stora Enso. His team worked with SnapSupport’s on completing the first phase of their Venture Client Partnership.

“I see the continuous development in partnership with SnapSupport as vital,” he continues. “As habits and needs change over time, we want to be there to give our customers the easiest access to our vast resources of technical know-how.”

The solution has been deployed in the Stora Enso paper division, but the plan is not to stop there: The SnapSupport and Stora Enso teams are currently discussing how to turn the solution into a full platform that can benefit all remote technical assistance Stora Enso offers.

“We want to ensure we build a product with them that includes co-created features if needed,” Madhu summarizes their plans for the future.

Founders: are you interested in working with Stora Enso as a long term business partner? Check out the active cases in our on-going Venture Client Cycle here!

Originally published at https://combientfoundry.com on February 25, 2020.