TOKYO, July 3, 2019 - All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan's largest and 5-Star airline for seven consecutive years will be joining Plug and Play, a global innovation platform that brings together leaders from the best startups and the world's largest corporations. Connecting entrepreneurs with and innovators with those that have the resources to make their vision a reality, Plug and Play is a unique opportunity for all involved. Over the course of the three-year partnership, ANA will benefit from the on-the-ground insight offered by cutting edge startups in the Travel & Hospitality field while providing global perspective for the next generation of business leaders.

"Innovation has always been part of our DNA, and this partnership with Plug and Play will allow us to build stronger connections with the next generation of innovators," said Akihiko Miura, Executive Vice President of ANA. "We look forward to embracing the opportunities offered by Plug and Play, the things that we learn at these forums will inform our decisions going forward on everything from sustainability to technological integration. As partners in Plug and Play's Travel & Hospitality vertical, we will look for ways to apply the latest technologies and work with partners to define the future of travel and hospitality."

"We are excited to welcome ANA to the Plug and Play family, we feel that their participation in future Plug and Play conferences will offer benefits to all involved," said Amir Amidi, Manager Partner of Plug and Play's Travel & Hospitality program. "Plug and Play seeks to unite creative thinkers and entrepreneurs from every country, background and sector of the market. ANA's unique perspective will be invaluable to all Plug and Play participants, from those seeking VC funding for their startups to the most established global brands."

Travel is an $8 billion dollar a year industry, accounting for roughly 10 percent of the global economy. Within this space, there is ample room for disruption, and Plug and Play seeks to streamline the breakthroughs that will define the future of travel. Plug and Play already counts several prominent airlines as corporate partners and will work to expand its reach to include leaders from the travel and hospitality field.

Beginning this month, ANA will open operations for its "Dealflow" program designed to pair startups with technologies and services that can help the airline remain at the cutting edge of problem solving and innovation. The ongoing partnership with Plug and Play will provide ANA maximize open innovation by connecting it with startups and entrepreneurs that are working at the cutting edge.

Working with the world's largest innovation platform, allows ANA to identify potential partners and collaborate with the most innovative startups efficiently and effectively. Furthermore, ANA's relationship with Plug and Play helps ANA enhance everything from service to human resource efficiency. The smart technology revolution has radically transformed the way that the majority of people travel, and ANA will be placed in a prime position to capitalize on future trends as a Plug and Play corporate partner.

Contact: ANA Corporate Communications, TEL +81-3-6735-1111, publicrelations@ana.co.jp

About ANA
Following the "Inspiration of Japan" high quality of service, ANA has been awarded the respected 5-Star rating every year since 2013 from SKYTRAX. ANA is the only Japanese airline to win this prestigious designation seven years in a row. Additionally, ANA has been recognized by Air Transport World as "Airline of the Year" three times in the past 10 years - 2007, 2013 and 2018, becoming one of the few airlines winning this prestigious award for multiple times.
ANA was founded in 1952 with two helicopters and has become the largest airline in Japan, as well as one of the most significant airlines in Asia, operating 81 international routes and 120 domestic routes. ANA offers a unique dual hub model which enables passengers to travel to Tokyo and connect through the two airports in the metropolitan Tokyo, NARITA and HANEDA, to various destinations throughout Japan, and also offers same day connections between various North American, Asian and Chinese cities.
ANA has been a member of Star Alliance since 1999 and has joint venture partnerships with United Airlines, Lufthansa German Airlines, Swiss International Airlines and Austrian Airlines.
Besides the full service and award winner carrier ANA, the ANA Group has two LCCs as consolidated subsidiaries, Vanilla Air Inc. and Peach Aviation Limited. The ANA Group carried 53.8 million passengers in FY2017, has approximately 39,000 employees and a fleet of 260 aircraft. ANA is a proud launch customer and the biggest operator of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
For more information, please refer to the following link.
https://www.ana.co.jp/group/en/

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 our 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 280 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup Protected ecosystem in many industries. We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 700 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $7 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club and PayPal. For more information, visit www.plugandplaytechcenter.com.