Starting now, applications may be made for the first Axel Springer Plug and Play accelerator program at www.axelspringerplugandplay.com.

The program targets international founders with digital und innovative business concepts which have high market potential and are technologically pioneering. From May 2013, up to ten participants will receive intensive three-month coaching, office space in the heart of Berlin and seed financing of regularly 25.000 euros. Extraordinary innovative startups will additionally be given the opportunity to extend the program at the Plug and Play Tech Center in Silicon Valley.

Axel Springer and Plug and Play Tech Center, a leading startup investor and accelerator based in Silicon Valley, have teamed up for the program. The two companies each hold a 50 percent stake in Axel Springer Plug and Play. The founding managing directors are Ulrich Schmitz (Axel Springer AG) and Saeed Amidi (Plug and Play Tech Center).

"Participating startups benefit from the experience of the partners, high visibility and excellent contacts from our network. We pay particular attention to individual coaching. Axel Springer sees itself as a partner that increases value and that respects the creativity and independence of young entrepreneurs," explains Ulrich Schmitz, Chief Technology Officer at Axel Springer.

The coaching comprises intensive mentoring by experienced founders of companies, in-depth workshops, as well as the exchange of ideas with the partners' international network. For the entire package of financial investment, coaching, and office infrastructure, Axel Springer Plug and Play as a rule holds a five percent stake in the company. The program concludes with a "Demo Day", in which all of the teams present themselves to a selected audience of international investors for follow-up financing.

Saeed Amidi, CEO and founder of the Plug and Play Tech Center: "We are looking forward to getting in touch with the Berlin startup scene und its numerous creative founders. We guide and assist innovative startups on site with our accelerator and give them access to our international network."