Saeed Amidi, President and CEO, Plug and Play Tech Center, one of the biggest technology centres in Silicon Valley, which has assisted hi-tech start-up companies raise in excess of $400 million in venture funding in the last three years visited NovaUCD today to deliver a keynote seminar. His seminar focused (click here for podcast of seminar) on global acceleration opportunities for high-tech start-up companies and provided an overview of the current funding situation in the Valley. In addition to delivering his key note seminar Saeed met with members of NovaUCD's community of entrepreneurs.

Saeed Amidi, President and CEO, Plug and Play Tech Center

Located in multiple campuses (Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and Redwood City) in the heart of Silicon Valley, the Plug and Play Tech Center is a community of over 200 technology start-up companies in the areas of Web 2.0, software (SaaS), systems, semiconductor and telecomm verticals. Since its inception in January 2006 the center has helped the startups raise in excess of $400 million in venture funding. The start-up companies have created a cumulative value of $2 billion.

Entrepreneur-centered with strong relationships with the most influential venture capital firms of Silicon Valley and Ivy League universities in the US, the Plug Play Tech Center has become the ultimate place to launch and grow promising new technologies.

Over the years, its management team has assembled a world-class network of serial entrepreneurs, strategic investors, and industry leaders who actively assist its portfolio as entrepreneur partners and advisors. The Plug and Play Tech Center partners with entrepreneurs and leverages the resources of its strong network to build successful companies. Together with entrepreneur partners, advisors, and strategic network, the Plug and Play Tech Center provides access to the resources and infrastructure essential to building rapidly growing and profitable enterprises.

Professor Mark Keane, UCD Vice-President for Innovation, Saeed Amidi, Dr Pat Frain, Director, NovaUCD

Saeed Amidi is himself a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience in founding, operating, and growing successful companies. He has been a technology investor since 1996 and he co-founded Amidzad Partners a seed and early-stage investment firm focused on investing in emerging growth companies, with Pejman Nozad and Rahim Amidi in 2000.

He has been closely involved with more than twenty new emerging growth companies, 2 of which became public companies (PayPal (acquired by eBay) and Preview Systems). His investments include DoveBid, Crosslayer Networks, Paypal, Affinity Engines, Gabbly and Sigma Quest.

In 1980 Saeed co-founded the Amidi Group, a conglomerate of privately-held business enterprises consisting of several domestic (US) and international entities with significant manufacturing, distribution, trading, retail, and real estate holdings. For the past 23 years, he has chaired and spearheaded the operations and management of a number of the Amidi Group entities, growing the aggregate value of its assets under management to over $250 million.

Saeed is also an active member of the technology community and a frequent contributor to numerous charitable foundations. He is also an active member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO), a world-class network of Fortune 500 CEOs, accomplished serial entrepreneurs, and veteran financial executives.

Podcast of seminar.

ENDS

19 January 2009