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(CoMotion Photo)
Plug and Play, a Silicon Valley-based group that operates innovation programs in more than 60 locations worldwide, is coming to Seattle.
The organization will run two new annual accelerator programs in the Seattle region. One will be located at the University of Washington in Seattle, in partnership with CoMotion. Plug and Play will have 10-to-15 startups based at the UW’s Startup Hall each year.
The other will be north of Seattle in Everett, Wash., at a building housed by SNBL, a Japanese contract research organization for drug development and medical technology.
Plug and Play is a co-general partner (GP) for a new fund created by SNBL and SBI Holdings, a Japanese financial services company. The fund will invest in early stage tech startups in North America that will use the physical space in Everett.
Japanese contract research firm SNBL will house a new Plug & Play program at its SNBL Global Gateway location in Everett, Wash. (SNBL Photo)
Plug and Play also plans to host events and meetups at the two new locations, along with shared programming with CoMotion Labs.
The organization said it was attracted to the Seattle region for its artificial intelligence prowess, with tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft, along with plenty of AI-focused startups.
“We are thrilled to bring Plug and Play’s innovation platform to Seattle in partnership with SBI Holdings, SNBL, and the University of Washington,” said Saeed Amidi, founder and CEO at Plug and Play. “The Pacific Northwest is home to a dynamic and rapidly growing tech ecosystem, and we are excited to contribute to this community by supporting the next generation of innovative companies.”
In addition to startup accelerators, Plug and Play runs corporate innovation programs and has an in-house venture capital fund that has backed companies such as Dropbox, Gurdant Health, Honey, Lending Club, and PayPal.
François Baneyx, director of CoMotion and vice provost for innovation at the University of Washington, called Plug & Play “arguably the world’s best matchmaker of brilliant startups and forward-looking corporations.”
