Skytree attend Plug and Play Mobility – Tokyo

Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, California, Plug and Play is a dynamic accelerator and corporate innovation platform connecting start up and scale up enterprises to the most powerful multinational corporates in their sector.  In this article we cover why it is such a valuable platform for us, and the experience of our CEO, Max Beaumont, after he attended Plug and Play in Tokyo.

Unique Opportunities

Each year Plug and Play host industry specific accelerator programmes in major cities across the US, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. These provide unique opportunities for emerging growth companies to not only build on their business models, but also receive logistical mentoring support and advice, establish corporate relationships and pave the way for exciting networking and collaborative partnerships.

It’s a mutually beneficial process – start-ups acquire valuable insights and are able to simultaneously demonstrate their capabilities to a wealth of reputable industry specific, global corporations which would otherwise have been impossible.  In return, leading players have instant access to talented start-ups and companies with proven entrepreneurial growth.

Skytree was delighted to accept an invitation to attend a recent Plug and Play Mobility accelerator programme in Tokyo, Japan, partnered by globally renowned automotive leaders such as Nissan, Hyundai, Denso, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Suzuki and many others.

Valuable and positive experience

Our CEO, Max Beaumont, who attended this prestigious event on behalf of Skytree, found the entire experience to be extremely valuable and positive.  Here, he gives us a few takeaways of his overall experience together with his impressions and personal perspective of the Plug and Play initiative:

“Skytree have had previous involvement with the Plug and Play concept at both its Silicon Valley and Stuttgart events, with our CCO, Shubham Sandeep attending.  This was our first venture into Japan, and in particular, its capital city, Tokyo.  Central Tokyo, a hub of domestic and global financial, technology and automotive industries, is an exciting city with a fresh, clean culture and an embracing, welcoming atmosphere.

Participating in Plug and Play Mobility, Tokyo was a wonderful experience.  The ability to understand and learn about the working practices and emerging technologies of Asia Pacific corporates was not only fascinating, but unique from the perspective that gaining such high calibre expertise and knowledge would have been impossible without the Plug and Play platform and its event staff. 

We greatly appreciated the fact that meetings were facilitated with a bilingual, English to Japanese approach, breaking down the language barriers and also educating us on certain Japanese cultures and etiquette which perhaps would have hindered our own attempts to network successfully. 

There was an excellent programme in Tokyo with tailored one-on-one sessions with corporates and pitches to participants and press including a demo day in front of +300 automotive people in Tokyo, followed by networking at our stand as you can see in the image.

Throughout the event we had exposure to like minded players in the automotive industry.  It’s a rapidly evolving market. Sustainable, eco- friendly technologies in the field of climate change and energy efficiency will be in increasing demand as governments seek to address ongoing global warming issues and the manufacturing sector corporates are obligated to respond.  It is vital that we keep abreast of changes and emerging technologies to remain at the forefront of the industry for our future growth and development, and Plug and Play gives us the perfect opportunity to be able to do that.

Collaborating with and demonstrating our services to such an influential gathering of the world’s best has been phenomenal.  We’ve been introduced to new companies, we’ve made leads and we’ve learnt about many new and exciting initiatives which are on the horizon.

The Plug and Play Team have been instrumental in the Tokyo event being an overwhelming success. They’re a practical, no-nonsense type of company who make things happen.  As sponsors of the programme they’ve demonstrated an energetic and dedicated desire to power and promote innovation, invest in the world’s brightest talent streams and encourage collaboration, partnerships and acquisitions. They’re forward thinking and they’re passionate about their world – a fast moving world, where start-ups, investors and global corporations unite to make cross border connections so much simpler.  

Skytree are proud to be part of the global Plug and Play community.  We’ve been impressed by the professionalism shown at their events, the high quality of presentations and the calibre of the participating companies.  The Plug and Play understand how we all fit together and how we’re able to benefit from each other’s knowledge, expertise and experiences. 

We’re looking forward to further ongoing collaboration with the Plug and Play Team and their network of global attendees at future events as well as expanding upon the introductions given, establishing new working relationships and opportunities to be part of exciting projects and initiatives.”