Business incubator Plug and Play Tech Center is now looking to extend its reach beyond the Silicon Valley and into the Midwest. Their goals include setting up shop in 50,000 to 100,000 square feet of office space near downtown Chicago; cultivating 50 area startups; creating 1,400 tech jobs; and raising as much as $100 million in venture capital funding within the next two years.
“We need to make it safe in Chicago for entrepreneurs to say, ‘Hey, I’ve got this great idea written on this napkin. Who can I see and what can I do with this idea to make it a reality?” said Chris Sorensen, who's originally from Lake Forest, Illinois, and is the one driving Plug and Play Chicago.
A community of over 280 technology startups, Plug and Play has helped 500 new businesses---focused on technologies such as Web 2.0, software (SaaS), systems, semiconductor and telecomm verticals---raise more than $400 million since its inception in 2006. Since then, the startups it's sponsored have created a cumulative value of $2 billion, according to PlugandPlayTechCenter.com.
With its new expansion plan, Plug and Play Tech Center aims to boost its startup cultivation in Chicago to 50 businesses and $100 million in funding every year, partnering with local leaders to find entrepreneurs. What's more, its reach will extend even beyond Illinois and include the surrounding states of Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, MIssouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Dane Strangler, research manager for the Kansas City-based Kauffman Foundation promoting entrepreneurship, sees this project as a step in the right direction: “This country has so many startups, he said. [O]n average, 500,000 new firms are created each year. And small companies are necessary to provide services to large companies so that the big companies can create jobs.”
More information about the Plug and Play can be found at its website.
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