About Us
We are dedicated to driving innovation within large organizations, helping them stay ahead of the curve and thrive in today's rapidly evolving business landscape. By selecting strategically-aligned startups that meet their unique tech challenges, our partners benefit from firsthand insights into technological trends and networking opportunities with industry leaders.
Our Ecosystem
Vertical Industries
Vertical Industries
Global Offices
Global Offices
Innovation Partners
Innovation Partners
Startups in our Ecosystem
Startups in our Ecosystem
Our Network
In our community of innovators, you’ll have the opportunity to engage and connect with like-minded individuals.
Our Global Reach
We drive innovation worldwide through our network of over 100,000 startups spanning over 60+ countries.
Our Success Stories
We collaborate with forward-thinking businesses and the startups influencing the future landscape.
We Cultivate the Right Environment for Innovation
We are passionate about empowering tomorrow's technology, connecting change-makers, and leading organizations to create positive change. Our ecosystem unlocks new opportunities, drives growth, and fosters a culture of innovation.
Our Vision
To build the world’s leading innovation platform and make innovation open to anyone, anywhere.
Join our team ->Commitment to Social Impact
Learn about the Plug and Play Foundation ->
DRIVE
We have established a dedicated arm for assisting underresourced founders & communities. DRIVE's success will be achieved through a community-centric approach needed to build a thriving ecosystem for all founders.
DRIVERS
Through the DRIVERS initiative, employees volunteer their time to support local community projects & run internal drives for essential resources like food, clothing, & hygiene products.
PNP Community Foundation
At Plug and Play Foundation our mission is to build the next generation of impactful entrepreneurs, committed to empowering and inspiring entrepreneurs from communities that face significant opportunity gaps.
Saeed Amidi
Founder & CEO, Plug and Play
FAQs about Plug and Play
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Saeed Amidi?
Saeed Amidi is a seasoned investor and executive with over 30 years of experience growing businesses in numerous industries, including real estate, bottled water, packaging, and technology investing. Following the early success of his businesses, The Amidi Group purchased a building in Palo Alto and rented excess office space to startups.
Once home to several of the first and most notable startups, the property, deemed the “Lucky Building,” has seen a surplus of successful startups and entrepreneurs come through its doors, including Larry Page and Sergey Brin from Google, Pierluigi Zappacosta from Logitech, Peter Thiel from PayPal, and Andy Rubin from Danger. Over the years, Saeed realized the unique position this building put his family and businesses in as investors.
As the CEO and Founder of Plug and Play, Saeed applies his passion for the tech industry daily by working with forward-thinking partners and the best global startups to facilitate positive change worldwide. Since Plug and Play’s launch in 2006, the company has worked with over 100,000 startups, made over 2,000 investments, and boasts over 30 unicorns, including Dropbox, PayPal, Lending Club, N26, and Honey.
After moving to Silicon Valley in the late 1970s, Saeed witnessed firsthand the emergence of the region’s innovation ecosystem, an experience that continues to inform Plug and Play’s mission of connecting startups, corporations, investors, governments, and universities globally. He is widely recognized for his contributions to the technology industry and for his philanthropic efforts, which support early entrepreneurship through the Plug and Play Foundation.
Is Plug and Play an accelerator?
Plug and Play is so much more than an accelerator: we are the ultimate innovation platform. Our primary goal is to drive innovation worldwide and, to do that, we connect the largest organizations with global stage-agnostic startups that meet their needs.
We do organize pilot-oriented acceleration programs to give more visibility to the startups, but they’re just one out of the many services that we offer.
How does Plug and Play help startups with business development?
Startups in our ecosystem get connected with world-leading companies. Our partners share with us their problem areas of focus, needs, and tech interests, and we match them with the most suited startups to potentially solve those challenges through mutual collaboration.
These matches are stage-agnostic and focused on business development. We foster pilot or proof-of-concept (POC) opportunities, investments, and acquisitions. We also leverage our ecosystem learnings to help startups understand market dynamics and business model best practices. Joining our ecosystem is a unique opportunity for startups looking to grow their business.
How does the corporate/startup matching process work?
In order to be matched with corporations, startups have to register on Playbook, an invite-only platform developed by Plug and Play. After the initial meeting with a startup, Plug and Play Ventures will send them an invite to register on Playbook if it's a fit with our service offering.
Once a startup has registered, anyone from Plug and Play can reach out and give them the opportunity to connect with our corporate partners. The startup is then free to decide if they want to take the opportunity or not based on the relevancy.
What services does Plug and Play provide for corporations?
We help our partners in every stage of their innovation journey, from education to execution. We offer a tailored service, adapted to the needs of each of our corporate partners.
First-hand access to the startup ecosystem helps our partners solve business challenges efficiently. We also host workshops, conduct partner-to-partner introductions, deliver startup lists, and so much more. Partners are also able to further access the Plug and Play ecosystem by attending our hundreds of innovation-focused events.
Get in touch today and find out how we can help.
How does Plug and Play work with government entities?
We help government organizations design and execute innovation strategies that drive economic development, attract global talent, and support entrepreneurship. Through tailored public-private innovation programs, we help identify startups, foster cross-sector partnerships, and build thriving innovation ecosystems.
How do universities partner with Plug and Play?
We help academic institutions bring their research and entrepreneurial ecosystems closer to market. We connect your faculty, researchers, and students with industry leaders for commercialization opportunities.
Discover our global locations
We have a community of experts all over the world. We work as a bridge between Silicon Valley and the rest of the world, making innovation open to anyone, anywhere.