DRIVE

Plug and Play has established a dedicated diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative called DRIVE (Diversity, Respect, Inclusion, Visibility, and Equity), designed to develop, assist, and provide better access to funding for diverse founders, and educate our broader ecosystem on the importance of DE&I and how it fuels innovation.
The success of this initiative will be achieved through a community-centric approach bringing together all stakeholders needed to build a thriving ecosystem for diverse founders and communities nationwide. This framework allows innovation to work as a great equalizer.

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The importance of DE&I

Diversity
Neda Amidi, President
"As President of Plug and Play, I work closely with people from all over the world.
We believe that diversity drives innovation and collaboration is the key to a thriving entrepreneurial environment. DRIVE brings together people who share our mission to create a more equitable world, educate, and bring awareness to our ecosystem."
Equity
Dominique Reese, Head of DE&I
"DE&I is what drives success. Collaboration is what drives change.
Plug and Play wants to be the bridge for conversations around DE&I, support diverse founders, and uplift underserved communities. We cannot do it alone, therefore, we want to bring together the private, public, and academic sectors to DRIVE positive change for the common good."
Inclusion
Saeed Amidi, CEO
"I consider myself a lucky immigrant and owe my success to what America has offered me.
At Plug and Play, we have the chance to provide these opportunities to the rest of the world. I want to ensure that Silicon Valley is an inclusive space for every human being regardless of differences."

Only 2% of all venture capital is deployed to diverse founders – we're on a mission to change that via this community-centered approach.

DRIVE Goals

• Accelerate

• Educate

• Build Community

• Funding

• DE&I Tech Solutions

DRIVE supports founders coming from the following backgrounds:

Hispanic/Latinx
Indigenous
Immigrant
African
Black/African American
Asian
Middle Eastern
LGBTQIA+
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander
Persons with Disabilities
Veteran
Woman

Are you a diverse founder in tech? Do you want to be considered for DRIVE?

Please apply here

Addressing funding dedicated to diverse founders

"A small slice - 2.6% of venture dollars went to minorities and 2.2% went to women - that’s $4.2bn out of a $87.3bn pie. According to Project Diane, as of January 2021, only 93 Black and 58 Latinx women have ever raised over $1M." - Forbes

Whether its difficulty securing funding, accessing mentors, finding customers or a lack of social capital, diverse founders often face more obstacles and higher barriers to entry on their path to success.

Through our experience running accelerator programs worldwide and speaking to thousands of entrepreneurs every year, Plug and Play has a front-row seat to witness the challenges faced by founders and we're on a mission to change that via this community-centered approach.