Plug and Play

Plug and Play, founded in 2006 and based in Sunnyvale, California, operates as a business accelerator and venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage and seed investments in technology startups. The firm runs 12 industry-specific accelerator programs annually, connecting startups with corporate partners and investors to foster collaboration and growth. Plug and Play's investment strategy encompasses a wide range of sectors, including fintech, health and wellness, travel, cybersecurity, and sustainability, allowing it to support diverse startups from any country. The firm provides various resources, including funding, mentorship, office space, and networking opportunities, and has a global presence with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Plug and Play has a strong track record, having helped numerous startups secure over $9 billion in funding since its inception. Its programs aim to refine business models and facilitate introductions to potential investors, ultimately contributing to the growth of the startup ecosystem.

Saeed Amidi

Co-Founder & Co-Chief Executive Officer

Kiswana Browne

Associate

Gabriela Dow

Co-Founder and Partner

Matt Helmers

Director of Strategy and Innovation

Alex Roudi

Managing Partner, San Diego

Marc Steiner

General Counsel

Jupe Tan

Managing Partner, Asia Pacific & Senior Vice President, Global Operations

Phillip Vincent

Managing Partner, East Asia

Chen Zhao

Managing Partner, China

Past deals in Internet and social network

Socialeads

Series A in 2020
Socialeads, Inc. offers an artificial intelligence based software that enables financial services companies and their advisors to automatically know the size, depth, and value of their professional and personal social media networks. Its platform analyzes social media data using machine learning and data science to find the ideal potential clients in a salesperson’s social media networks. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Flock

Seed Round in 2018
Flock is a software as a service platform that enhances team communication and collaboration, primarily targeting businesses looking to onboard freelancers and new employees effectively. Founded in 2005 and based in Menlo Park, California, Flock offers a range of features including one-on-one chat, public and private channels, multi-party video and audio calling, and screen sharing. The platform integrates with over forty third-party applications such as Google Drive and Trello, and provides in-app tools like shared to-dos and polls. Flock supports multiple languages, including Russian, Portuguese, and Spanish, making it accessible to diverse teams. With a user base of over 25,000 companies, Flock has reported significant productivity improvements for its users, including reduced email traffic and fewer in-person meetings. The platform is available across various devices, including mobile and desktop, with a free version and premium upgrades.

Influential

Venture Round in 2017
The Influential Network, Inc. develops a mobile-first influencer platform. The company’s connects influencers with Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, and more. It offers solutions in the areas of fashion, fitness, humor, gamers, music, teens, moms, and niche markets. The Influential Network, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada with additional offices in Beverly Hills, California and New York, New York.

Plentie Inc.

Seed Round in 2017
Plentie Inc. is a Madrid-based company founded in 2015 that specializes in a mobile application designed to facilitate the formation and discovery of communities based on shared interests. The app allows users to search for, recommend, and explore topics, enabling them to connect with like-minded individuals and organizations. Users can create their own communities, invite friends through email and social media, and set proximity scales to tailor conversations to local or global audiences. Additionally, the application offers features for scrolling through discussions and searching for specific threads, enhancing user interaction within these interest-based networks.

Mes

Seed Round in 2016
Mes is a social network with focus on instant messaging, and making more valuable connections by social suggestions. Mes combines profiles, contact lists, messaging, sharing and social networking into one well designed flawless online social environment. You can share your memories in photos and videos. Save and group your contacts into lists. Find old and new friends. All in real-time.

Second Funnel

Convertible Note in 2013
Ecommerce has been optimized for shoppers - people arriving from search engines with the intent to buy; however, consumer behavior has changed. People now spend 25% of their time online on social networks. When arriving at ecommerce sites, they don't have the intent to buy. These social browsers make purchases half as often as traffic arriving from other sources. We turn social browsers into shoppers.

Mengero

Seed Round in 2013
Imagine a mashup of Wikipedia and LinkedIn – this is Mengero. We combine novel search and machine learning technologies with your network to enable granular expertise identification and topic-specific resource sharing.

Bitcovery

Convertible Note in 2013
Connect with your trusted friends and discover each other's likes in books, music, movies and TV shows. Instagram for digital entertainment, if you will.

Indie Broadcast Network

Seed Round in 2013
Indie Broadcast Network

Globial

Seed Round in 2013
Globial is a business networking platform that is committed to helping small businesses engage in global trade more easily and with greater trust. Our platform combines research tools, networking capabilities, and user created content. We aim to create opportunities for anyone interested in global trade. We want to empower users to easily find information and connect with businesses anywhere in the world. Our user generated Tradebook offers a community for users to directly ask and answer questions, a forum to post buying leads, and a trade dictionary to look up unfamiliar terms. Users can learn from each other, share information, and demonstrate their expertise. Combined with the networking capabilities of our platform, Globial offers a business to business marketplace built on trust, communication, and relationships. We hope to create a place for the world’s many and diverse small businesses to establish long lasting relationships with each other. Our community is constantly expanding with new users establishing connections everyday. We are passionate about our platform and our users; we are continually updating, upgrading, and improving our platform to better serve users. In addition, our platform is constantly being extended by our user development community.

Second Funnel

Seed Round in 2012
Ecommerce has been optimized for shoppers - people arriving from search engines with the intent to buy; however, consumer behavior has changed. People now spend 25% of their time online on social networks. When arriving at ecommerce sites, they don't have the intent to buy. These social browsers make purchases half as often as traffic arriving from other sources. We turn social browsers into shoppers.

OPENER Lab

Seed Round in 2012
OPENER is a social network service that organizes your data and everyday life into the realm of time. One can see what friends have done, are doing, and will do, as well as produce data on particular subjects all based on your own timeline, using Facebook API. Opener reevaluates the value of time, and allows for people to communicate through time threads, something that no other SNS has ever had before. Through this service, you can talk about private matters in your daily life, sharing only with the people you wish - creating and developing efficient communication for intimate relationships. I. Time + SNS OPENER is an easy, simple, and private social network service. You can share your daily life or events with 30 of your closest friends. You can expore you and your friends timeline based on the present. II. Past, present and future Enjoy a trip to the past, present and future just by flicking back and forth. You will soon be marvelled by what you experience, becoming engaged into the threads that you and your friends have created. III. Time Platform OPENER is a pioneer of a new field, intending to discover and build new business models based on time. Time, which is an essential part of human life, will become an inevitable platform for you. OPENER enjoys challenging themselves and creating something new every day.