Messaging has become a popular way to get business done, especially in the industries of media, advertising and e-commerce. To facilitate innovation in these realms, Plug and Play LA hosted its first accelerator program, which just wrapped up in early December. The hybrid program was developed with Meta Platforms Inc., Plug and Play LA's main corporate partner.
Plug and Play is a global innovation platform that started as an accelerator and continues to expedite startup growth through its programs, investments through Plug and Play Ventures, and connections to its worldwide network. It matches startups and enterprise corporations through 20 industry-specific programs, including mobility, energy, and brand and retail.
Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Plug and Play partnered with Meta in June to create the L.A. accelerator. Plug and Play declined to disclose how much Meta contributes as a partner.
Foundation
Plug and Play launched its Los Angeles office last year under the leadership of Arezu Aghasey and Mehrad Moeini.
Aghasey is the senior partner success manager for Plug and Play overall. She splits her time between Silicon Valley and L.A., focusing on corporate innovation and ventures. Moeini is head of business development for Plug and Play LA.
Although Plug and Play's office is in downtown Los Angeles, the in-person components of the accelerator were run from its corporate partners' locations, like Meta’s office in Playa Vista and the Santa Monica location of another partner, Red Bull.
Plug and Play LA worked with Meta and Red Bull Media House to select 14 startups from around the globe to be part of this accelerator. The first cohort focused on messaging in the industries of media, advertising and e-commerce.
Plug and Play's relationship with Red Bull started a couple of years ago at the accelerator's Silicon Valley headquarters, focusing on enterprise technologies. As the relationship grew, it led to a partnership with Red Bull Media House in Los Angeles, focusing on the future of media and entertainment technologies.
Of the 14 startups that participated in the accelerator, only one, The Site, has headquarters in the L.A. area. The Venice Beach company provides video shopping experiences between style seekers and brand experts.
Other participating companies included Atom, Avify, Hilos, Krinu, Lastlink, Leadsales, Levellr, Mercately, OlaClick, Ownit, Parloa, Quickwork and SleekFlow.
L.A.’s tech ecosystem
The Los Angeles tech scene has been growing "significantly," Allison Romero, Plug and Play's director of marketing, told LA Inno, citing the increasing L.A. presence of Silicon Valley venture capital firms including a16z and Lightspeed, as well as LA Tech Week, which spotlights the L.A. startup community with in-person events.
Plug and Play's accelerator is competing with other accelerators in the Los Angeles area, including Techstars Los Angeles and Expert Dojo.
While its inaugural accelerator program focused on the "Future of Messaging," Plug and Play LA plans to accelerate a separate cohort of 15 startups, along with its corporate partners, next year. That accelerator is expected to focus on media and entertainment, Romero said.
As most accelerators invest in the companies they select and get an equity stake in return, Plug and Play is currently reviewing the cohort that just graduated and evaluating which startups it will consider for potential investments, Romero said.
Meta as the anchor partner
Meta is interested in tech that will affect the future of business messaging, with a priority on its own apps, like Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp Business.
The companies that just went through the Plug and Play accelerator were shortlisted from a list of a hundred and vetted by Meta executives, focusing on product-market fit and other aligning factors to be considered for Meta's Business Partner Program.
This program is global and has its own process for selecting companies. Plug and Play LA is helping identify startups that would be eligible to apply, based on their products. One startup that just graduated from the Los Angeles accelerator was accepted into Meta's business program: SleekFlow, with headquarters in Hong Kong.
The accelerator "has provided us an opportunity to nurture the next generation of startups to push business messaging forward," said Shankar Venkataraman, who works with product development and Google Tag Manager for Meta's messenger platform, to LA Inno.
"We have been working closely with these startups, mentoring them as well as gathering feedback on how we can better support the messaging startup ecosystem," he added. "We hope with accelerator programs like these we can building a thriving startup ecosystem around business messaging."
Culmination
In early December, the inaugural cohort pitched to Plug and Play’s corporate partners including Meta, Red Bull Media House, Nike and Grupo Globo. The event was held at Meta’s Los Angeles-area headquarters in Playa Vista.
"It was a World Cup of innovation for us," Aghasey told LA Inno. "We brought startups form all over the world, including Germany, Mexico and Brazil. It's great to see L.A. tech is here to stay."
The next Plug and Play LA accelerator is planned to start in March. The focus will be on media, advertising and business messaging.
Startups can apply to join the next cohort here.
