Plug and Play Cyprus names its first 10 startups — and Limassol cracks the global top 200

If you have ever walked out of a Cyprus hackathon with a prototype and no idea what to do next, this one is worth reading.

Plug and Play Cyprus has announced its first ever cohort — Batch 1 — four months after opening its Innovation Centre in Nicosia. The ten teams are Sprouty, ModelRoom, Cleedee, BLEND.app, Digital Fox, EleniAI, EMBIO Diagnostics, Fewton, Neura Energy and QubeHub.

What the programme actually is

• Six incubation and acceleration programmes over three years, each running three months, hosted in Limassol.
• Target: support around 60 startups and help create 500+ jobs through participating companies.
• Funded by the Republic of Cyprus, the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy and the Research and Innovation Foundation.
• Corporate partners: Asbis, ECOMMBX, Tototheo Global and Mastercard.

The number worth remembering

Cyprus climbed to 34th place globally in the StartupBlink Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2026 — up six places year on year, with ecosystem growth of 62.7% and a total value of $4.2 billion. It is the highest annual rise among EU countries for the third year running, and Limassol is now the first Cypriot city in the global top 200 startup cities.

Plug and Play runs across more than 60 locations worldwide. A first Expo is planned as the programme progresses.

The takeaway for the hackathon crowd: the gap between "weekend prototype" and "funded company" on this island is getting shorter.

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