American IT accelerator Plug&Play to open office in Yerevan and help develop Armenia's startup ecosystem
YEREVAN, July 3. /ARКА/. American venture capital company, major IT accelerator Plug&Play is going to open a permanent office in Armenia. This was announced by Armenian High-Tech Industry Minister Mkhitar Hayrapetyan at a government meeting on Thursday.
According to him, within the framework of long-term cooperation with Plug&Play, the draft of which was approved by the government on July 3, a special agreement aimed at developing the startup ecosystem in Armenia until 2028 is being prepared.
As reported on the Plug and Play LinkedIn page, the cost of this three-year program is $4 million.
“Plug&Play is already very familiar with the Armenian market and startup ecosystem. In 2024, Plug&Play won the grant competition announced by the Ministry to attract one of the five major global companies implementing international acceleration programs to Armenia,” Hayrapetyan noted.
According to him, in 2024-2025, the company implemented a 26-week acceleration program, the beneficiaries of which were 20 Armenian startups that had passed the incubation and acceleration stages.
“The acceleration program was aimed at conducting mentoring and consulting work with idea groups, ensuring the chain from idea to business, the corresponding network, and also attracting investments within the framework of the program for these startups,” Hayrapetyan said.
As a result, as the minister noted, both preliminary agreements were reached and investments were made for startups.
"All Armenian startups within the program had the opportunity to work with relevant corporations in Silicon Valley, establish contacts and conclude deals, which makes this program quite effective. These startups were staffed with new employees and investments in startups can be key in the context of economic development," Hayrapetyan emphasized.
About Plug and Play
Plug and Play is an international authoritative innovation platform and startup accelerator, headquartered in Silicon Valley. It connects startups, corporations and investors to encourage technological progress and business development.
Plug and Play works with such companies as VIZA, ROCHE, JAGUAR LAND ROVER, WALMART, Mercedes-Benz, VOLVO, PORSHE, MISSAN.
Plug and Play's portfolio includes work with more than 30 unicorn companies. Among them are PayPal, Dropbox, Honey, SoundHound, Rappi, CourseHero, Pinterest, Pony.ai and others.