Plug and Play Europe announced its first-ever cohort of startups selected for the new accelerator programme, which includes ten startups in total.
Batch 1 includes the ten teams from Sprouty, ModelRoom, Cleedee, BLEND.app, Digital Fox, EleniAI, EMBIO Diagnostics, Fewton, Neura Energy and QubeHub.
The target is the launch of six incubation and acceleration programmes over the coming three years, with each one running for three months. Plug and Play's target is to support 60 startups and help create more than 500 jobs through the participating companies.
The Silicon Valley-based innovation platform said that the timing for the launch "couldn't be better," as Cyprus has climbed to the 34th place globally in the StartupBlink Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2026, a six-place jump from last year, with the ecosystem posting 62.7% annual growth and a total value of $4.2 billion.
As the island has recorded the highest annual climb among EU countries for the third year running, Limassol became the first Cypriot city to enter the global top 200 startup cities.
In the announcement, Plug and Play thanked the Republic of Cyprus, the Deputy Ministry of Research and Innovation, as well as the Research and Innovation Foundation.
The organisation added that within the coming months, it will be working closely with each of the ten teams to "help them grow and scale."
At the same time, the Research Deputy Minister, Nicodemos Damianou called the announcement of the new cohort a "great start."
The initiative follows the official launch of the Plug and Play Cyprus Innovation Centre at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia in April, bringing the Silicon Valley-based platform to Cyprus as part of efforts to strengthen the island's position as a regional hub for technology, investment and entrepreneurship.
Plug and Play operates across more than 60 locations worldwide, connecting startups with investors, corporations, universities and public-sector organisations.
