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PPS Joins Plug and Play - Bridging Silicon Valley and South Africa

The Professional Provident Society (PPS), a South African-based financial services company, announced today its partnership with Plug and Play, the world's largest global innovation platform headquartered in Silicon Valley. This partnership increases Plug and Play's exposure in South Africa, a region with a wealth of untapped opportunities.

"At PPS, we know there is so much more we can do for our members to remain relevant in a digitally-driven world," said Billy Lynch, Executive – Strategic Development for PPS. "Embedding ourselves into the Insurtech vertical within Plug and Play will help us explore new opportunities to enhance member experience, drive experimentation and speed up the delivery of cutting-edge solutions for our members."

This partnership will position PPS at the forefront of insurance industry innovation where focus will be directed in the areas of Insurance, Health, IoT (Internet of Things), Media & Mobile, and Fintech & Security, with leaders from different streams participating. The program is slated to begin in January 2019.

"Plug and Play has seen an influx of promising startups coming out of the South African region. These companies bring a unique perspective to the global insurance market that we don't see here in Silicon Valley," says Ali Safavi, Global Head of Plug and Play Insurtech. "We're excited to grow this partnership with PPS to collaborate on new innovation efforts from South Africa."

Plug and Play Insurtech is an innovation platform bringing together corporations, startups, and investors to work on improving the insurance industry. Since inception in May 2016, they have provided a vast innovation platform for over 75 corporate partners and have made over 40 investments in Insurtech startups. Plug and Play Insurtech has recently expanded internationally to Beijing, Munich, New York, Singapore, and Tokyo.

About PPS

PPS boasts in excess of 200,000 members who enjoy access to a comprehensive suite of financial and healthcare products that are specifically tailored to meet the needs of graduate professionals.

PPS is the largest South African company of its kind that still embraces an ethos of mutuality, which means that it exists solely for the benefit of its members. Thus, PPS members with qualifying products share in the profits of PPS Insurance via annual allocations to the unique PPS Profit-Share Account and those who have qualifying PPS Provider products can also share in the profits of PPS Investments.

PPS membership provides access to the following tried, tested and trusted products and services: PPS Insurance, PPS Short-Term Insurance, PPS Financial Planning, PPS Investments and Profmed Medical Scheme. Visit www.pps.co.za for more information.

PPS is an authorised financial services provider.

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 inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 20 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 10,000 startups and 220 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. Companies in our community have raised over $7 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, LendingClub, and PayPal. www.plugandplaytechcenter.com.

SOURCE Plug and Play