BY TOM JACKSON
Silicon Valley-headquartered VC company Plug and Play will open its first African office in Johannesburg later this year, and is calling for launch partners to help it support innovative African startups.
Formed in 2006, Plug and Play runs accelerator programmes and corporate innovation services, and has an in-house venture capital business that makes active investments.
The Plug and Play ecosystem is made up of more than 20,000 startups and 400 corporate partners and VC firms across 35 global locations, and it is now linking this to Africa with the launch of its Johannesburg office.
The company hosted a corporate programme with Nedbank back in 2018, and is now looking for launch partners in South Africa to help it support entrepreneurs with capital and business development support.
“Plug and Play chose South Africa because it has the most developed corporate sector on the African continent to effectively link with startups,” said Grace Legodi, who will head up Plug and Play’s South Africa office.
“Our key value proposition in the venture capital segment has been as a global investor for startups that have global ambitions. With an investment portfolio of over 900 active investments, we have the appetite to take a risk on entrepreneurs that are committed to taking a risk on themselves.”
