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<\/p>\nPlug and Play Cyprus to support 60 start-ups and create 500 jobs<\/p>\n
Cyprus on Tuesday launched the Plug and Play Cyprus Innovation Centre, bringing the Silicon Valley-based innovation platform to the island as part of a broader strategy to reposition the country as a regional hub for technology, investment and entrepreneurship. <\/p>\n
The launch, held at the\u00a0presidential palace in Nicosia, marks Cyprus\u2019 entry into a global network spanning more than\u00a060 locations, linking start-ups, investors,\u00a0corporates\u00a0and innovation partners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new\u00a0centre\u00a0is expected to support businesses and research\u00a0organisations, while running\u00a0six incubation and acceleration rounds\u00a0aimed at backing around\u00a060 start-ups and innovative companies\u00a0in high-growth sectors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the medium term, the project is also expected to create around\u00a0500 jobs, while improving access for Cypriot firms to international markets, investment\u00a0capital\u00a0and specialist\u00a0know-how.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The development follows contacts made during President\u00a0Nikos Christodoulides\u2019\u00a0visit to the\u00a0US\u00a0in April 2025, including meetings in\u00a0New York and San Francisco, followed by technical work and political decisions that paved the way for the\u00a0centre\u2019s\u00a0launch.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Addressing the event,\u00a0Deputy Minister to the President Irene Piki\u00a0said the initiative formed part of a broader transformation under way in Cyprus, as the government\u00a0seeks\u00a0to build \u201ca modern, resilient and extroverted economic model\u201d with innovation,\u00a0knowledge\u00a0and international connectivity at its core.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said the launch was more than a symbolic milestone, describing it instead as a new platform linking international investors, Cypriot\u00a0entrepreneurs\u00a0and global technology networks, while reinforcing the government\u2019s push for a development model based on extroversion, high value-added\u00a0investment\u00a0and the\u00a0modernisation\u00a0of the productive base.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Piki described Plug and Play\u2019s arrival as \u201ca strong vote of confidence\u201d,\u00a0saying it\u00a0validated\u00a0the government\u2019s strategic direction and reflected what she called the President\u2019s targeted economic diplomacy to place Cyprus more firmly within international technology and venture capital networks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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She added that, at a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty in the wider region, the launch also underlined the importance of economic resilience, strategic\u00a0autonomy\u00a0and long-term stability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In that context, she said innovation, technology and productive investment had become central to sustainable growth,\u00a0competitiveness\u00a0and economic security, making initiatives such as the Plug and Play Innovation Centre strategically important.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Piki also said the\u00a0centre\u00a0was intended to fill a specific gap in Cyprus\u2019 ecosystem, acting as a bridge between local talent and international networks, while helping connect start-ups and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises with global investors and markets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the right connections are made early, innovation can be transformed into lasting economic value,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said the government\u2019s approach remained coordinated across the presidency and relevant ministries, with the\u00a0Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy\u00a0leading the transition to a more digital and innovative economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the same time, she said the\u00a0Research and Innovation Foundation\u00a0(RIF), under Chief Scientist\u00a0Demetris\u00a0Skourides, was working to align funding tools with measurable development goals and provide support for entrepreneurship at\u00a0different stages\u00a0of growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Piki also referred to a revised framework for the creation of spin-offs from public universities, saying this would strengthen the link between research and the market and help ensure that publicly funded knowledge is translated into innovation,\u00a0entrepreneurship\u00a0and businesses with growth prospects.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said the effort was also tied to Cyprus\u2019 wider strategy for attracting companies and talent, pointing to the\u00a0Cyprus Start-up Visa Scheme\u00a0and the\u00a0Minds in Cyprus\u00a0initiative, which aims to reconnect with Cypriot talent abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to Piki, the Plug and Play\u00a0centre\u00a0could provide the platform through which that human capital can settle,\u00a0collaborate\u00a0and grow in Cyprus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She also acknowledged the contribution of corporate partners\u00a0backing\u00a0the initiative, including\u00a0Asbis,\u00a0Tototheo, Mastercard and\u00a0EcommBX, saying their involvement showed they viewed innovation as a strategic necessity rather than simply a policy concept.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is clear,\u201d she said, \u201cto act as a catalyst, transforming research, innovation and technology into quality jobs and sustainable development.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the context of Cyprus\u2019 shift from a service-based economy towards a more knowledge-driven growth model, Deputy Minister of Research Nicodemos Damianou said the launch was \u201cnot only important\u201d, but also a sign of how far the local ecosystem has developed and where it could go next. <\/p>\n
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Speaking at the Cyprus kick-off event,\u00a0Damianou\u00a0said Cyprus had in recent years recorded higher levels of\u00a0foreign direct investment, while also strengthening its role as a gateway to Europe, a testing ground for innovative solutions and a launchpad for internationally oriented start-ups.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said the available data supported that trajectory, pointing\u00a0in particular to\u00a0Cyprus\u2019 improved position in the\u00a0Global Innovation Index 2025, as well as its ranking of\u00a015th worldwide\u00a0and\u00a0first in southern Europe\u00a0for innovation business environment in\u00a0StartupBlink\u2019s\u00a0Innovators Business Environment Index 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Damianou\u00a0also said a recent study cited by\u00a0Chief Scientist Demetris\u00a0Skourides\u00a0showed a marked rise both in the number of start-ups\u00a0operating\u00a0in Cyprus and in the level of research activity being developed on the island.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also referred to the growing contribution of the technology sector, including\u00a0fintech, to the wider economy, noting that according to\u00a0Invest Cyprus, around\u00a0\u20ac2.6 billion\u00a0in new foreign direct investment had been directed exclusively to the technology sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the result of a conscious and targeted policy,\u201d he said, pointing among other things to the role of the\u00a0RIF.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough the RIF, we invest in the entire innovation life cycle,\u201d he added, while also referring to investment in\u00a0supercomputing infrastructure\u00a0and\u00a0artificial intelligence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stressing the importance of research,\u00a0innovation\u00a0and the capacity to compete internationally and scale businesses, both for Cyprus and for Europe more broadly,\u00a0Damianou\u00a0said this was \u201cexactly where Plug and Play comes to contribute\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He added that the group\u2019s presence in Cyprus was further proof of the local ecosystem\u2019s potential, expressing the ambition that \u201cthe next unicorn should be based in Cyprus and emerge through Plug and Play Cyprus.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking at the launch,\u00a0Seena Amidi, managing partner of Plug and Play Tech Center, said the group\u2019s move into Cyprus was aligned with its broader goal of building bridges across innovation ecosystems.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He traced the company\u2019s roots to his family\u2019s move from Iran to the US\u00a0in\u00a01979, saying his grandfather ran a small carpet shop where newly arrived members of the community were offered tea and support.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amidi said that spirit of connection later fed into the business built by his father,\u00a0Plug and Play founder and chief executive Saeed Amidi, including the Palo Alto site that became known as the company\u2019s \u201clucky building\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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He said the family initially made a small number of investments each year, with early decisions taken around a conference table in the carpet shop, before gradually scaling that model up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In\u00a02006, he said, Saeed Amidi bought more buildings and filled them with start-ups, effectively creating \u201cSilicon Valley in a box\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Plug and Play traces part of its story to that Palo Alto property, where entrepreneurs including\u00a0Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, PayPal\u2019s Peter Thiel, Logitech founder Pierluigi Zappacosta and Andy Rubin of Danger\u00a0were among those to pass through.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amidi said the challenges facing start-ups had shifted over time. \u201cNow the biggest problem with AI is what you can do with it,\u201d he said, adding that Plug and Play\u00a0helps\u00a0companies find their niche in the market.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also said the geography of innovation had changed, noting that while California once dominated start-up funding, its share had fallen, prompting the company to expand into markets such as\u00a0Singapore\u00a0and\u00a0Stuttgart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u00a0realised\u00a0that maybe California is not the\u00a0centre\u00a0of the universe after all,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amidi added that adaptation and collaboration were essential as Plug and Play expanded internationally, and said the company saw scope to grow further in Cyprus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of its aims on the island, he said, would be to help start-ups overcome barriers, particularly when it comes to securing the next round of funding and proving early that they can expand internationally.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since\u00a02006, Plug and Play says it has worked with more than\u00a0100,000 start-ups, made over\u00a02,000 investments, and supported more than\u00a030 unicorns, including\u00a0Dropbox, PayPal, Lending Club, N26 and Honey.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plug and Play Cyprus to support 60 start-ups and create 500 jobs Cyprus on Tuesday launched the Plug…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[84,4203,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-519709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurship","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}