Voice of FinTech®

Arianna Elena Maschietto, Corporate Partnerships & Program Manager at Plug and Play Tech Center in Milan, Italy and Gabrielle Inzirillo,
Director, Fintech (EMEA) at Plug And Play Ventures in Paris, France explain how Plug and Play, a VC and corporate innovation program that started with its CEO as an early backer of PayPal works!

Show Notes

Arianna Elena Maschietto, Corporate Partnerships & Program Manager at Plug and Play Tech Center in Milan, Italy and Gabrielle Inzirillo,
Director, Fintech (EMEA) at Plug And Play Ventures in Paris, France. Plug and Play Tech Center is an early-stage investor, accelerator and corporate innovation platform with global headquarters in Sunnyvale, California in Silicon Valley.

We talk about:
 
  • Gabrielle's and Arianna's journeys to their current roles
  • Plug and Play origins - landlords to PayPal:
Plug and Play chief executive Saeed Amidi got his start 15 years ago when he was trying to rent some real estate. Amidi and his brother, Seena, were considering startups to lease space in their Palo Alto, California, office and met a couple of young, promising entrepreneurs behind a then-unprofitable product. The entrepreneurs were Max Levchin and Peter Thiel and the startup was PayPal. After seeing the Amidis’ ambivalence, Thiel pushed an offer they couldn’t refuse. He said he would pay his rent — then, a paltry $10,000 per month in Silicon Valley — upfront, for two years. “We said, ‘sure,’” Saeed told Business Insider at Plug and Play’s first New York demo day. “And then, we took half the money and invested it in their seed round.” Putting more than $100,000 in PayPal’s very first funding round proved to be a wildly successful investment.

  • What kind of start-ups Plug and Play supports: alignment with corporate sponsors is crucial
  • Their programs feature: no fee, no equity
  • The character of the start-up scene in Europe vs. the rest of the world
  • FinTech is a key vertical for Plug and Play
  • What does successful participation in the program means
  • Success stories, e.g. Dreamquark or Honey (sold to PayPal)
  • How to get involved

What is Voice of FinTech®?

Aiming to inspire entrepreneurs around the world to launch their new ventures. Connect FinTech enthusiasts with start-ups, incubators, accelerators, investors and incumbents.