by Frederic Hanika, Head of M&A and Corporate Ventures at Software AG
Just like a honeybee colony depends upon cooperation and diversity of population to survive, so do start-up organizations when they venture forth into the cutthroat marketplace.
This is why Software AG is investing in The Hive III, a venture fund and co-creation studio which builds and invests into startups focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The impact of Artificial Intelligence cannot be overstated. Businesses have a clear choice: Invest in AI and disrupt the competition or be disrupted by faster-moving enterprises that will offer services at significantly lower cost and higher quality, or services that were previously unimaginable.
The Hive focuses on early-stage companies which create value and drive disruption using AI in the enterprise and key industry segments. To date, The Hive III has co-created two startups, Decision Engines and Live Objects.
Those two companies excite me. As head of M&A and Corporate Ventures at Software AG, I help the company to find and understand trends, scouting for trends before they happen. I also identify acquisition and partnership targets. AI is of critical importance to Software AG, and this is why we invested in The Hive. AI has a massive impact on Software AG’s products and it will be the main driver for the next level of automation. Think of process mining, robotic process automation, integration and, of course and above all, the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0.
Our investment in The Hive makes sense because it invests in areas that are hyper relevant to us: AI, IoT and Blockchain — all for the enterprise. Our involvement gives us the opportunity to see technology trends, business models, use cases and real-life adoption (and issues) years before the average person even reads about them. It is our view into the future.
The Hive is creating AI-centric enterprise startups that target specific business functions like business process automation, process transformation, data center management, and cybersecurity. These companies use AI to transform human-centric business processes into dynamic human and machine collaborations.
The Hive’s model has already proven successful. Since late 2012, it has co-created and invested in 24 companies, with six of those companies having been acquired, and generated significant returns to its investors.
We are delighted to be a part of this important “hive” of cooperation and diversity and, through our involvement with The Hive, we will ensure that our customers will be among the disrupters in the AI world.
Frederic Hanika sat down with The Hive and shared why Software AG invested in The Hive to extend their innovation.
