Silicon Valley firm Plug and Play launches innovation hub in Cyprus

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.

The launch, held at the presidential palace in Nicosia, marks Cyprus’ entry into a global network spanning more than 60 locations, linking start-ups, investors, corporates and innovation partners. 

The new centre is expected to support businesses and research organisations, while running six incubation and acceleration rounds aimed at backing around 60 start-ups and innovative companies in high-growth sectors.  

In the medium term, the project is also expected to create around 500 jobs, while improving access for Cypriot firms to international markets, investment capital and specialist know-how. 

The development follows contacts made during President Nikos Christodoulides’ visit to the US in April 2025, including meetings in New York and San Francisco, followed by technical work and political decisions that paved the way for the centre’s launch.  

Addressing the event, Deputy Minister to the President Irene Piki said the initiative formed part of a broader transformation under way in Cyprus, as the government seeks to build “a modern, resilient and extroverted economic model” with innovation, knowledge and international connectivity at its core. 

She said the launch was more than a symbolic milestone, describing it instead as a new platform linking international investors, Cypriot entrepreneurs and global technology networks, while reinforcing the government’s push for a development model based on extroversion, high value-added investment and the modernisation of the productive base. 

Piki described Plug and Play’s arrival as “a strong vote of confidence”, saying it validated the government’s strategic direction and reflected what she called the President’s targeted economic diplomacy to place Cyprus more firmly within international technology and venture capital networks. 

She added that, at a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty in the wider region, the launch also underlined the importance of economic resilience, strategic autonomy and long-term stability. 

In that context, she said innovation, technology and productive investment had become central to sustainable growth, competitiveness and economic security, making initiatives such as the Plug and Play Innovation Centre strategically important. 

Piki also said the centre was intended to fill a specific gap in Cyprus’ 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. 

“When the right connections are made early, innovation can be transformed into lasting economic value,” she said. 

She said the government’s approach remained coordinated across the presidency and relevant ministries, with the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy leading the transition to a more digital and innovative economy. 

At the same time, she said the Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF), under Chief Scientist Demetris Skourides, was working to align funding tools with measurable development goals and provide support for entrepreneurship at different stages of growth. 

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, entrepreneurship and businesses with growth prospects. 

She said the effort was also tied to Cyprus’ wider strategy for attracting companies and talent, pointing to the Cyprus Start-up Visa Scheme and the Minds in Cyprus initiative, which aims to reconnect with Cypriot talent abroad. 

According to Piki, the Plug and Play centre could provide the platform through which that human capital can settle, collaborate and grow in Cyprus. 

She also acknowledged the contribution of corporate partners backing the initiative, including Asbis, Tototheo, Mastercard and EcommBX, saying their involvement showed they viewed innovation as a strategic necessity rather than simply a policy concept. 

“Our goal is clear,” she said, “to act as a catalyst, transforming research, innovation and technology into quality jobs and sustainable development.” 

In the context of Cyprus’ shift from a service-based economy towards a more knowledge-driven growth model, Deputy Minister of Research Nicodemos Damianou said the launch was “not only important”, but also a sign of how far the local ecosystem has developed and where it could go next.

Speaking at the Cyprus kick-off event, Damianou said Cyprus had in recent years recorded higher levels of foreign 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. 

He said the available data supported that trajectory, pointing in particular to Cyprus’ improved position in the Global Innovation Index 2025, as well as its ranking of 15th worldwide and first in southern Europe for innovation business environment in StartupBlink’s Innovators Business Environment Index 2026. 

Damianou also said a recent study cited by Chief Scientist Demetris Skourides showed a marked rise both in the number of start-ups operating in Cyprus and in the level of research activity being developed on the island. 

He also referred to the growing contribution of the technology sector, including fintech, to the wider economy, noting that according to Invest Cyprus, around €2.6 billion in new foreign direct investment had been directed exclusively to the technology sector. 

“This is the result of a conscious and targeted policy,” he said, pointing among other things to the role of the RIF. 

“Through the RIF, we invest in the entire innovation life cycle,” he added, while also referring to investment in supercomputing infrastructure and artificial intelligence. 

Stressing the importance of research, innovation and the capacity to compete internationally and scale businesses, both for Cyprus and for Europe more broadly, Damianou said this was “exactly where Plug and Play comes to contribute”. 

He added that the group’s presence in Cyprus was further proof of the local ecosystem’s potential, expressing the ambition that “the next unicorn should be based in Cyprus and emerge through Plug and Play Cyprus.” 

Speaking at the launch, Seena Amidi, managing partner of Plug and Play Tech Center, said the group’s move into Cyprus was aligned with its broader goal of building bridges across innovation ecosystems. 

He traced the company’s roots to his family’s move from Iran to the US in 1979, saying his grandfather ran a small carpet shop where newly arrived members of the community were offered tea and support. 

Amidi said that spirit of connection later fed into the business built by his father, Plug and Play founder and chief executive Saeed Amidi, including the Palo Alto site that became known as the company’s “lucky building”. 

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. 

In 2006, he said, Saeed Amidi bought more buildings and filled them with start-ups, effectively creating “Silicon Valley in a box”. 

Plug and Play traces part of its story to that Palo Alto property, where entrepreneurs including Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, PayPal’s Peter Thiel, Logitech founder Pierluigi Zappacosta and Andy Rubin of Danger were among those to pass through. 

Amidi said the challenges facing start-ups had shifted over time. “Now the biggest problem with AI is what you can do with it,” he said, adding that Plug and Play helps companies find their niche in the market. 

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 Singapore and Stuttgart. 

“We realised that maybe California is not the centre of the universe after all,” he said. 

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. 

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. 

Since 2006, Plug and Play says it has worked with more than 100,000 start-ups, made over 2,000 investments, and supported more than 30 unicorns, including Dropbox, PayPal, Lending Club, N26 and Honey.