Gaule: Give a brief description of the purpose of your venture, when it was formed and how the process occurs in your organisation.

Sievert: SAP long ago recognised the need to understand new market opportunities as well as disruptive trends in the market. SAP  Ventures was founded by Hasso Plattner in 1997 to gain insights into market trends and is one of the longest standing coporate venturing programmes in the industry. To provide stability and to be self-sustained as well as to help align interests with portfolio companies, SAP Ventures was set up as a financial investor from the beginning.

Being financially driven, we look for the most innovative and fastest-growing companies in the market. The universe of companies we look at is strategic to SAP while the companies we invest in are primarily great investments. So companies we invest in may or may not be strategic to SAP while others we choose not to invest in, although strategic to SAP, may not be considered a great investment opportunity. The model SAP is following is similar to other funds, such as those run by Google, Disney’s Steamboat and Blackberry.

In 2011, SAP Ventures Fund I was established as a limited partnership with $353m in committed capital. Our remit to invest in the best companies to drive value remains today, as does the benefit we provide to SAP. The fund is governed by the general partner and an advisory committee that oversees the activities, with SAP’s chief financial and chief technology officers on the committee.

Gaule: Give us a brief overview of the people in the team and the partners you work with.

Sievert: SAP Ventures works as a financial investor, so the profile of the partners is very similar to a typical independent venture capital firm (VC). The six partners are based in Walldorf and Palo Alto. We come from several national backgrounds, speak 11 languages across the team, have a mix of entrepreneurial and operational experience as well as decades of VC investment experience.

Gaule: What is the most interesting current area of focus for your corporate venturing group?

Sievert: Like any parent who would find it hard to pick a favourite child, we could not possibly pick our favourite company. Some particular business innovations, are really interesting, such as On Deck Capital providing loans to small and medium-sized enterprises solely over the internet, Control4, which provides smart metering and home automation with a fantastic twist for utilities, and Aepona, which provides a new way to build Telco applications using cloud technology.

Gaule: What is your view on the current market conditions for starting a new venture?

Sievert: It is a truly fantastic time to build a company. The general acceptance of internet-based businesses allows very capital-efficient businesses to be built while also allowing for new, disruptive business models. We find incredible growth in our portfolio, some of the best in recent years. At the same time, the current funding environment is challenging, so while it is hard to get funded, you are likely to see fewer competitors and copycats.

Gaule: What do you do to relax when you are not supporting the building of ventures?

Sievert: I spend as much time as I can find with my family and, as time permits, we go skiing, windsurfing, sailing and travelling.