German software corporation SAP SE announced on Thursday it plans to acquire US fintech firm Taulia to expand its global digital presence.
More breaking news! SAP is acquiring @Taulia. Together we’ll help customers optimize working capital management and gain more financial flexibility and stability. Learn more here: https://t.co/yRlsG8Fm1S pic.twitter.com/bmt1EoTpmN
— SAP Ariba (@SAPAriba) January 27, 2022
Although SEP has not disclosed the cost of the Taulia acquisition, reports claim it is valued at less than $1 billion. Recently, the massive firm raised more than $200 million USD in a funding round led by Trinity Ventures, Questmark Partner, and Lakestar.
By expanding into the Metaverse, SAP hopes to introduce measures to support digital B2B services such as supply chain financing and working capital management.
Christian Klein, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, said,
“We have big partners reaching out to us asking for partnerships in the Metaverse because of a lot of interesting B2B scenarios – think about learning, commerce and a few other business scenarios”
Klein continued, stating that future announcements would explain what “SAP will do around metaverse.”
Taulia provides global firms with an avenue to securely receive early payments on goods and services. Currently, the San Francisco, California-based company has many multinational customers, including Vodafone, Nissan and Airbus.
Metaverse, Digital Supply and Demand
Last year, Meta — then Facebook — shook the tech world after rebranding itself at its 2021 Connect event, marking the firm’s switch to a social Metaverse company.
Today, Meta has completed its monumental rebranding, namely after it rebranded its Oculus Quest lineup of VR headsets to reflect its Metaverse goals. Additionally, popular social media platforms Instagram, Whatsapp, and Facebook are now all presented as “from Meta.”
Meta’s rebranding drew significant attention to the Metaverse, leading to various tech companies joining in to get a slice of the digital pie as the demand for Metaverse-based solutions increased.
Global media reports label the Metaverse as Web 3.0, or the next stage of the internet, with companies like Deloitte currently developing frameworks for the new iteration as well as spatial web.
Additionally, the Metaverse provides a vision into the future of eCommerce and work.
Virtual meeting space firms such as Spatial, ENGAGE, Glue, and MeetinVR are providing enterprise-grade collaborative spaces and by using immersive applications, businesses can customise their digital meeting rooms to best suit their respective firm’s goals.
Brands such as Nike have also employed emerging Metaverse platforms to raise brand awareness in both the real and digital world. In collaboration with popular online gaming platform Roblox, the partners launched NIKELAND to promote the brand as well as fitness activities for children.
Additionally, platforms like The Sandbox have pledged investments to support Metaverse eCommerce opportunities, and a number of governments such as Barbados, South Korea, Croatia, the United Arab Emirates, and China are developing their own Metaverse platforms for virtual access to health services and embassies.
