WIND Ventures Partners with Plug and Play's Energy Innovation Platform

SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- WIND Ventures, since 2019 the corporate venture capital arm of Copec, a leading energy and mobility company throughout Latin America and the Southeast United States, has partnered with global innovation platform, Plug and Play, to help accelerate its goal of providing global startups access to the Latin America market.

"WIND Ventures is looking to back top innovators aiming to drive change in the energy, mobility and retail sectors and offers them 'unfair' access in Latin America when they are ready to expand to the region," said Brian Walsh, head of WIND Ventures. "By partnering with Plug and Play we have access to an ecosystem of passionate entrepreneurs interested in bringing innovative solutions to the growing, highly connected, and mobile population that makes up Latin America."

"We are looking forward to our collaboration with one of Latin America's most trusted brands committed to beginning impactful innovation to the region," says Wade Bitaraf, Founder of Plug and Play's Energy division. "This partnership is creating opportunities for global startups to partner and have access to industry expertise in the region. The WIND team has already demonstrated its ability to invest in and form strategic partnerships with the startups that are looking to enter the Latin American market."

"Innovation is in Copec's DNA," said Leonardo Ljubetic, Chief Corporate Development and Strategy Officer of Copec. "We are certain it is one of the keys to face planetary challenges, such as the health emergency that affects us today, and is already playing a fundamental role against global warming. The entire industry is thinking about new energy solutions and Copec wants to help navigate this change throughout Latin America and the rest of the world, accelerating energy transition. Our partnership with Plug and Play will reveal new opportunities that will help us bring the future energy, mobility and convenience closer to Latin America."

WIND Ventures joins other renowned energy companies in the partnership, including Dominon Energy, Exxon Mobil, and Tokyo Gas.

About WIND Ventures
Based in San Francisco since 2019, WIND Ventures is the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of Copec, one of the leading energy companies in Central and South America and one of the most valued brands throughout Latin America. WIND Ventures leverages Copec's capabilities to accelerate growth, primarily within Latin America, for startups and scaleups across the world within the new mobility, energy and retail sectors.  Visit windventures.vc or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter

About Plug and Play
Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since our inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 25 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 10,000 startups and 400 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup Protected ecosystem in many industries. We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 700 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $9 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club and PayPal. For more information, visit www.plugandplaytechcenter.com.

SOURCE WIND Ventures