Plug and Play, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm will open an African office which will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company was established in 2006 to manage acceleration incubators and venture capital investments and now manages 50 industry themed accelerator programmes, innovation hubs for 400 large corporations and provides venture capital to over 250 startups a year.
Plug and Play is currently in the process of finding some launch partners in South Africa to support entrepreneurs with capital as well as business development. The company will provide Africa with a taste of its “Silicon Valley investor nature” where investment is in startups of any size and stage. The startup ecosystem in Africa is generally self-sufficient as African capital is typically more interested in low risk high-yield bonds and listed corporate conglomerates.