Dr. Melissa Sassi is not only an advisor, but a founder of our program! As an IBMer in 2019, Dr. Sassi gathered the first cohort of 10 startups in what was then called the IBM Hyper Protect Accelerator, with a mission to empower and inspire early stage startups in fintech, healthtech, insurtech, regtech, edtech & musictech. Prior to her work in creating this program, Dr. Sassi worked as senior-level director and vice president of marketing, sourcing, and vendor management at several top firms. Her expertise in creating and fostering communities and audiences is evident, as her work has brought us from her first cohort of less than 10 startups to 5 years and over 200 startups transformed in our program. Dr. Sassi continues to thrive in the global startup ecosystem, developing over 250 tech executives in 80 countries and presenting at key events by the United Nations, the World Bank, and other global entities.
Join the IBM Z ScaleUp Program community page for updates! You can also see our latest news here.