B/2BNOW

B/2BNOW, which rebranded to Highview in September 2019, was a specialized B2B cloud solution provider founded by Mike Kersels in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2018. The company's journey began as Enterprise Services Management, later changing to B/2BNOW at the beginning of 2019 to reflect a new business model, and finally rebranding to Highview to embody a more forward-looking perspective. Founder Mike Kersels, an industry veteran, chose to base the company in Madison after working for SAP in Chicago; his experience within the SAP ecosystem was foundational to the company's strategy.

The firm focused on automating, integrating, and managing the exchange of critical business data, specifically for businesses transitioning to or using SAP's S/4HANA Cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. It targeted companies looking to modernize their supply chain communications, moving away from older, expensive Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Value-Added Network (VAN) services that charged based on data volume. B/2BNOW positioned itself as the first provider to implement an EDI solution for the S/4HANA public cloud, offering a significant advantage to early adopters of the new SAP platform. Its business model revolved around providing these specialized B2B integration services, recognized by SAP and system integrators as a subject matter expert.

The core service was a cloud platform that managed the electronic exchange of business documents between a client's S/4HANA system and its external partners. After Kersels purchased the source code for a cloud-based B2B platform, the company was able to accelerate its market entry and innovate, becoming the first to certify a B2B solution with SAP for its S/4HANA Multitenant Cloud. A key development plan included the integration of Blockchain for EDI to enhance security and transparency. In August 2019, the company closed its first seed funding round, led by CSA Partners and with a significant 40% contribution from Esker, a global leader in AI-driven process automation. This strategic partnership was intended to leverage Esker's user interface technology to provide clients with enhanced data visualization through real-time dashboards and trend reporting. Despite these developments, the company is now listed as deadpooled.

Keywords: B/2BNOW, Highview, Mike Kersels, SAP S/4HANA, EDI solutions, B2B integration, cloud solution, electronic data interchange, enterprise resource planning, supply chain automation, Esker, CSA Partners, S/4HANA public cloud, B2B data exchange, managed services, SAP integration, blockchain for EDI, process automation, Madison startup