In the vibrant startup ecosystem, spotting future gems and forging relationships early can be extremely challenging. Apart from evaluating the product, it’s necessary to assess the team and examine the technology.

The startup scene is ever-changing – companies merge, new ones enter the market, and others mature into corporations or fade away. With founders overwhelmed and service vendors intensely competing for their attention, reaching them proved to be a significant challenge.

That’s why Oracle decided to partner with FormulatedBy.

The Client

Oracle is one of the world’s leading enterprise-level software providers. Founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, CA, it offers cloud computing services, along with multiple enterprise tools like CRM and ERP systems available in a Software as a Service model.

The company launched the NetSuite for Startups acceleration program, tailoring its iconic ERP system to fit startup needs—accounting for the volatility of their operations, the need for cost-efficiency, and a host of other startup-specific challenges.

The Challenge

NetSuite for Startups targets a narrow group of early-stage companies that have reached some level of maturity. Each startup must be stable enough to benefit from NetSuite solutions—having a certain user or client base, operating in a market sizable enough to support growth, and showing potential to become a future NetSuite client.

The Solution

To filter out startups meeting Oracle’s criteria, FormulatedBy leveraged the community behind Data Science Salon. By adding a Startup Showcase to the Data Science Salon Austin event, it became possible to gather applications, evaluate them, and use the buzz around the event to orchestrate connections between Oracle and emerging companies.

As a result, FormulatedBy built a comprehensive, end-to-end pipeline to enroll new startups in the NetSuite for Startups offering.

“FormulatedBy proved to be a strategic and reliable partner that provided an unparalleled support in building the Netsuite offering for startups. We appreciate their professional, easy-going and always-helpful approach. Their impressive ability to reach even the most narrow and hard-to-connect groups is impressive, and massively boosted the Netsuite for Startups project” George Ploss, Head of NetSuite Accelerator.

Summary

FormulatedBy successfully reached a focused group of startups that met the criteria for NetSuite for Startups. The strategy proved so effective that Oracle decided to extend it to all other Data Science Salon events, not just the Austin edition.