Plug and Play the largest global innovation platform in the field of Artificial Intelligence, and international accelerator and investment platform INTEMA (Intelligent Machines) launched by AI subsidiary of MTS, largest telecom operator in Eastern Europe, have commenced a partnership that will see INTEMA and Plug and Play’s global ecosystem development, leveraging the platform to support its comprehensive digital transformation strategy in the field of Artificial Intelligence.

The collaboration with Plug and Play will allow INTEMA by MTS AI to expand the number of global AI startups to be included in the accelerator program which provides access to international expertise in Artificial Intelligence and possible investment opportunities.

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Plug and Play, headquartered in Silicon Valley, is renowned for connecting startups, corporations, and investors throughout the world to help them to collaborate and scale together. Plug and Play’s global ecosystem across the United States, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Milan, Paris, Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo encompasses over 40,000 startups and 500 official corporate partners. In 2020 alone, 2,065 projects were accelerated in Plug and Play.

INTEMA by MTS AI accelerator aims to select best global startups and coach the teams in key areas including technology, product, marketing and sales expertise. As part of the partnership, Plug and Play experts will become mentors in INTEMA acceleration program and share their experience with the participants in the training program to enhance their knowledge, skills and capabilities in order to help them scale their businesses and foster the creation of cutting-edge AI solutions. INTEMA by MTS AI accelerator also welcomes AI experts from leading technology companies such as Samsung, Shazam, Apple, Intel, Nvidia and others to work with its accelerator startups and provide mentorship.

Each accelerator program participant will receive this expert guidance alongside up to $100,000.00 in early-stage funding from INTEMA. They may also be included in INTEMA fund pipeline which recently made its first investment of $10 million in San Diego-based startup Kneron that makes AI chips (among its investors are Foxconn, Qualcomm, Sequoia and Horizon ventures).

“In the realm of artificial intelligence, we are building a full-cycle system for dealing with ideas, projects, and products. The collaboration with Plug and Play will strengthen our efforts in this process: we seek for potential teams all around the world, support AI solution developers, and take their products to the next level. Going forward, we plan to continue investing in promising AI-focused teams and technologies as part of our venture fund, corporate accelerator, and venture studio,” – said Alexander Khanin, Head of the MTS AI Center.

“We see soaring demand from investors for products and startups in AI. Experts claim AI to be a major game changer in the upcoming years. We select the best AI teams from all over the world to boost them with our expertise and resources. Our mentors and experts work with leading global tech companies, our team has a solid background investing in tech companies. We give our portfolio companies computing powers of our top tier superpod for free. The mission of our accelerator backed by AI focused VC fund is to give companies and startups an elevator ride so they could disrupt industries with their tech. We are sure that Plug & Play is a great partner for that,” – said Alexey Posternak, Chief Financial and Investment Officer at MTS AI Center.

“Serving one of the leading AI global platforms is a great honor for Plug and Play. We are excited to explore the Russian telecommunications market as well with an in-depth approach to be able to drive innovation forward. At Plug and Play we are convinced that established corporations that connect and cooperate with best-in-class startups prosper under the possibilities these collaborations offer to them. The partnership with INTEMA by MTS AI promises to be of great value for both sides when it comes to creating growth opportunities, exploring new markets and accelerating innovation measures,” – said Saeed Amidi, CEO Plug and Play

“We’re thrilled to work with INTEMA by MTS AI platform and expand the possibilities for our startups to do business and expand in new countries. INTEMA by MTS AI will be a key factor to our sourcing efforts and we are aligned internally to engage with startups from a business development and investment capacity. This will better serve MTS AI clients and help them achieve growth,” said Alfredo Gomez, Partnerships Manager at Plug and Play.

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