Established collaborative relationship with prominent Silicon Valley accelerator as first itinerary event at CES

As its first activity at CES, Daegu Metropolitan City (DMC) signed an MOU with Plug and Play Tech Center (PNP), the world’s largest venture investment firm/accelerator, on January 5 (Thu) (10 am, local time) at Flamingo Las Vegas on cultivating global venture companies.

MOU signing ceremony

PNP is the largest accelerator in Silicon Valley that has discovered and invested in over 1,600 companies, including 35 unicorns* (e.g. PayPal, Dropbox, LendingClub). It is also a platform that recently began operating over 60 open innovation programs all over the world with global corporations such as Mercedes-Benz and Facebook.

*Unicorn: privately-held startup company with a value of at least USD 1 billion (approx. KRW 1 trillion)

Through the MOU, DMC and PNP will be collaborating on the following objectives: operating joint programs that assist Daegu-based startups in entering foreign markets, operating open innovation programs and sharing information about trends in the ABB industry for the cultivation of Korea and the US’ ICT industries, hosting workshops on technology conversion for companies that want to innovate themselves, and laying the foundations for future collaborations through constructing a Daegu branch of the PNP.

Programs will involve PNP supervision from the selection stage to ensure the accurate assessment of companies’ global potential. Selected companies will receive mentoring from experts in PNP’s strictly-screened global mentor network and be able to participate in various workshops.

In the final stage, companies will participate in a Demo Day (which will be attended by global investors) and receive assistance with business collaborations and establishing overseas investment strategies. Those that received high scores throughout the program will have the added privileges of attending PNP-hosted events that provide consistent exposure to the global market and being registered in Playbook, PNP’s open innovation software.

There will also be joint workshops that allow Daegu-based SMEs to join PNP’s network of global partners. 

To be able to carry out all of these activities effectively, PNP will be making plans in the near future on constructing a branch office in Daegu. For its part, DMC will be providing administrative support and whatever physical space/facilities are necessary.

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, who attended the signing ceremony, said, “We are delighted to work with PNP, a renowned accelerator. We will be maximizing on this partnership to help venture firms in Daegu to become unicorns and make sure that Daegu gains an advanced, cutting-edge industrial environment.”