Our Plug and Play – Global Overseas Acceleration and Learning (GOAL) journey in Sunnyvale, Silicon Valley, California began in September 2023. It all started when we received the exciting news from Monika Sieg of Plug and Play Hamburg that we were shortlisted to pitch at the Future Hamburg Award 2023, which we eventually won, ranking 1st. The city of Hamburg graciously provided financial aid for our travel expenses, managed by Hamburg Marketing GmbH and Carmen Leichsenring. 

From May 11th to June 13th, 2024, COLIPI had a presence in the California Bay Area, represented by Philipp Arbter (CTO) and Maximilian Webers (CEO). Our objectives were twofold: to improve our entrepreneurial skills through the Plug and Play GOAL classes and mentors, and to build relationships with potential investors for our Series A funding round in the Bay Area. The acceleration program will culminate in the 3-day Plug and Play Silicon Valley Summit 2024, where GOAL startups, including COLIPI, will have the opportunity to pitch for 3 minutes to corporate partners and investors. 

The weeks spent in the Bay Area were filled with valuable experiences, learnings, and new friendships with founders from Hong Kong and Canada. We extend our heartfelt thanks to the GOAL facilitation team, led by Elina Aleinikova and Akvile Gustaite. Special thanks go to Lital Cohen, Donna Griffit, and the founders of niosense, Patrick Lauziere and David Préville, for their invaluable assistance in transforming our pitch deck. The lessons on Product Innovation by Juan Carlos Velten Go-to-Market (GTM) by Roy Eitan, Objectives and Key Results (OKR) by Joaquín Paz and Value-Based Pricing Strategy by Mark Stivingwill have a lasting positive impact on our operations. 

We are grateful for the opportunity to network with the Plug and Play team, including IIvan Zgomba, Gloria Chyr, Stefan Wan, Kevin Withstandley, Wade Bitaraf, and Charlotte Boyer Chammard. We are confident that COLIPI’s presence and message will resonate in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Meeting Gemma Guilera,who is developing an exciting Sustainability Accelerator within the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, and touring the campus with her was a delightful experience! 

Valuable insights to the Silicon Valley pitch culture could be gained by attending the Go Global World (GGW) Sharks Closed Startup Pitch & Networking event organized by Danil Kislinskiy and Ana Pavlova with startups being challenged by a smart jury of venture capital investors, namely Benny Liao from Acorn Pacific Ventures, Bill Reichert from Pegasus Tech Ventures, Daniil Stolyarov from Almaz Capital Partners, Tim Xiong from Plug and Play Ventures, Anand Engineer from Scrum Ventures, and Fei Ma from Beta University who generously hosted the event.  

The fun BBQs hosted by hard working Hongkong startup delegation with GoGoChart from Daniel Lo, Leadus Tech with Aotian “Adrian” Song, Novelte Robotics with Thomas Chan, Ökosix with Eddie Yu, and RaSpect with Tony Ip will not be forgotten. 

While the future is unpredictable, one thing is certain: COLIPI will be back in California!