Cushman & Wakefield launches accelerator with Plug & Play

The global property services firm has partnered with accelerator and fund Plug & Play to work with startups in construction and real estate innovation.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Plug & Play runs industry-specific accelerator programs, as well as hosting an in-house venture capital fund. Since its inception in 2006, Plug & Play has worked with more than 10,000 startups and 280 official corporate partners. The company’s VC portfolio includes big tech names such as Dropbox, Lending Club, and PayPal.

Plug & Play’s real estate and construction programme launched earlier this year as a spin-off from one of their programmes focused on the Internet of Things. It will run as a 3-month project, twice a year. Other corporate partners include Prologis, Fannie Mae, and Hong Kong Land.

As a founding partner, Cushman & Wakefield will work with Plug & Play startups to advise on creating products for real estate owners and occupiers throughout the property lifecycle.

John Forrester, president of Cushman & Wakefield, explained the company’s proptech mission: “We view technology as an opportunity to leverage our global platform to drive client value. A diversity of partnerships has allowed Cushman & Wakefield to access tremendous opportunities to find creative, technologically-driven solutions that apply to our clients and their needs.”

Adam Stanley, chief information and digital officer of Cushman & Wakefield, added: “By placing bets with early-stage proptech companies, later-stage technology investments and thought leaders in both CRE and technology, Cushman & Wakefield is well-positioned to capitalize on proptech developments and anticipate trends as they start. Our global partnership with Plug & Play’s real estate and construction program is an exciting extension of our commitment to leading innovation in real estate.”

Saeed Amidi, CEO of Plug & Play, added: “By combining the power of Plug & Play’s international footprint through innovation platforms in China, Japan, US, France, Germany and the Middle East with Cushman & Wakefield’s reach as a global leader in the real estate industry, we are creating the biggest and best innovation platform in the world.

“Piloting new technologies in different continents and rolling out the best solutions will create great value for the entrepreneurs and startups, for Cushman & Wakefield, for Plug & Play, and most importantly, for real estate owners and corporations.”

Interested proptech startups can find more information on the accelerator on Plug & Play’s website.