Plug and Play Honors Ten Corporations with The Corporate Innovation Award 2017

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Jul 06, 2017, 11:27 ET

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Plug and Play presented the Corporate Innovation Award 2017 to ten of their most engaged partners. These partners excelled in their commitment to work with startups and took a leading role in the Plug and Play ecosystem. The announcement was made during their Summer Summit this past June in front of a room full of other corporations, startups, and investors. This is the first year Plug and Play has recognized its partners with the award.

Plug and Play recognizes ten corporations for their stellar work and engagement with startups. The Corporate Innovation Award 2017 was given to these corporations in June at Plug and Play's Summer Summit.

These top performers were presented by Saeed Amidi, Founder and CEO of Plug and Play, who mentioned on stage, "We want to appreciate the corporations that have put in the best effort, meaning they are present and engage with startups. They might even invest in the startups, but most importantly, they are in the community to give back. If a startup is going in the wrong direction, they mentor them, consult them, and this is why they earned the award."

The award was given to a corporate partner from each accelerator on the basis of their exponential engagement and contribution to the program:

Insurtech
Munich Re

"We are honored to be recognized as a leader in Insurtech," said Bob Mozeika, Innovation Executive, Reinsurance Division, Munich Re, US. "The ability to connect our company and our clients with new products and services developed by Plug and Play's cadre of Insurtech startups is a perfect opportunity for knowledge and growth in this rapidly changing environment. At the same time, this cooperation deepens Munich Re's position as the go-to resource for our clients as we jointly seek to understand, navigate and profit from changes driven by innovation and digitization."

Health & Wellness
Johnson & Johnson Health and Wellness Solutions

Fintech
Synchrony Financial

Food & Beverage
Chick-fil-A

Mobility
Daimler AG

"It's a great honor for us to be recognized by the Plug and Play Innovation Awards as one of the innovation leaders in working with startups. Especially only one year after setting up STARTUP AUTOBAHN, this award means very much going forward in implementing continued startup collaboration in our company. We managed to bring together the spirit of Silicon Valley with the German engineering craftsmanship and we brought out the best of both worlds, together," says Dr. Philipp Gneiting, Manager of Research Cooperations at Daimler AG.

New Materials & Packaging
The Clorox Company

Brand & Retail
Panasonic

Travel & Hospitality
JetBlue Technology Ventures

IoT
Mann+Hummel
Philips Lighting

"I started Philips Lighting's engagement with Plug and Play 18 months ago with the mission to define our innovation strategy in Silicon Valley. Since then, we've made a lot of progress in the way we engage and follow up with startups, have adapted our internal processes to the startup reality and developed dozens of pilots and integrations," says Hicham Sabir, Open Innovation Leader for North America at Philips Lighting. "This award is a recognition by Plug and Play of the efforts we've put in coaching startups about Lighting, share insights about the industry and help them build solutions we would eventually be able to leverage. It's a confirmation that we're on the right track!"

"We hope that other corporations can learn from these leaders on how to work with our startups. At the end of the day, the reason we're doing this is to create value for everyone involved," says Candace Widdoes, COO of Plug and Play.

Corporations interested in redefining their innovation strategy are encouraged to join the ecosystem: http://plugandplaytechcenter.com/corporate-application/

About Plug and Play
Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. We connect startups to corporations and invest in over 150 companies every year. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in 22 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 6,000 startups and 180 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 365 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $6 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club, PayPal, SoundHound, and Zoosk. For more information, visit www.plugandplaytechcenter.com

Media Contact
Allison Romero
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[email protected]

SOURCE Plug and Play