Finally! In October 2015, BreezoMeter officially opened its US office in San Francisco. As a co-founder, I was the company’s first US employee and was in charge of building and operating the sales and marketing team and activating their efforts in this part of the world.

As a graduate of two prestigious startup accelerator programs in Israel (BizTec, SifTech), I was a bit skeptical when I first met the Plug and Play team and heard about their accelerator.

Why do we need to go over another accelerator program? We already have a product that sells and we’re growing fast.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Every startup has its own journey; with the different key performance indicators it needs to skyrocket. At BreezoMeter, besides growing sales on a monthly basis, we recognized the importance of building meaningful partnerships, not only for the success of our business, but also in helping us improve the lives of billions of people faster.

Why the rush? Because one successful partnership with a major brand can bring our air quality data to millions of products. Overnight.

So, although skeptical, I decided to participate at Plug and Play Selection Day: at the worst, it would be a good opportunity to network in the Silicon Valley environment, something that was new to me. After spending some time at Plug and Play’s incredible facility in Sunnyvale, it didn’t take long for me to understand that we needed to do everything possible to be accepted into their program.

You see, what’s unique at Plug and Play is that it’s not one of those accelerator programs that teaches you how to build a company (which is important for the beginning). Instead, at Plug and Play, you learn how to build partnerships with the world’s largest brands.

Plug and Play defines itself as a global innovation platform. They connect startups to more than 180 corporations that are part of their Corporate Partners’ Program. What does this mean? It means that each corporation has representatives that are spending time with the startups on a weekly basis, with the goal of finding a mutual product or interest.

For us, it was not only huge exposure to the world’s largest brands, but also an opportunity to learn how big corporations think and make product decisions. And what’s really great about Plug and Play is that their support doesn’t ends when the program ends, so you can still meet companies even when the program has ended.

During a three-month program, we managed to build real relationships with various companies and later launched mutual products together. With HELLA, the lighting and electronics expert company, we signed a strategic partnership and developed the first cloud-based air quality management system for vehicles, which we recently launched at IAA.

With Mann+Hummel, we’re working on various air quality-related products. In the next few months, we will launch partnerships with several other corporate partners, all of whom we met through Plug and Play.

So if you’re a startup who’s looking to expand to markets worldwide, expand your product offerings, or work with the world’s largest brands, Plug and Play is probably the best way to do it. And if I may end with a tip: spend as much time as possible at Plug and Play and invest your time with the corporations. The benefits will keep on coming!

If you work for a corporation that is interested in meeting cutting edge startups tailored to your specific business goals, get in touch here.

If you are a startup with an amazing idea and great technology looking for a partner to grow, get investment, and find new clients, get in touch here.