wassi

Ventures

We are venture builders known for growing people and programs within countries, communities, and companies. We have created and scaled global programs impacting thousands of companies in more than 100 countries resulting in hundreds of millions in capital raised and billions in investor value. We’ve collaborated and spoken on stages such as the United Nations, World Bank, World Economic Forum, and private and public sector magnates like IBM, Microsoft, and Citi. We are super connectors with a vast network of partners and a thriving community.

Dr. Melissa Sassi

Seth Welty

Microsoft Airband Initiative

Brought green energy, internet connectivity, and digital skills to the underserved across a total of 75 projects in 25 countries.

National Day of Digital Creativity - Canva

Created a National Day of Digital Creativity with Canva, Cape Verde Ministry of Education and Digital Economy, and 106K students/educators.

Global Microsoft Hackathon

Revolutionized device giving after pitching to Satya Nadella, CEO, and winning Inspired Me at a Microsoft global hackathon from 4,000 teams.

Reinventing Tourism in ECOWAS

Fought COVID’s impact on African nations through a blue economy hackathon in ECOWAS with digital skilling and entrepreneurial spirt.

Data Science Hack - IBM, NASA & DePaul

Recruited the Chief Data Scientist at NASA and DePaul University Data Science school with tech provided by IBM to hack space data for good.

Broadband Policy Mapping - ITU & Orrick

Collected broadband policies globally and delivered a dashboard to the UN with analytical slicers and charts for improved policymaking.

UN’s AI for Good - Healthtech Startups

Partnered with AI for Good from the ITU (IT branch of the UN) to run a global healthtech startup competition and media play with IBM.

DataTech for Good - Village Capital

Created an cross industry and tech agnostic coalition to support data privacy rights of individuals as an element of social good.

Digitial Inclusion - Afghanistan

Provided recommendations to Afghanistan’s ICT Ministry before the recent Taliban takeover following Tech Women Asia board membership.

Global Social Impact Ideathon

Recruited changemakers from across the globe to solve inclusion problems worldwide with novel projects and a chance to earn exciting prizes.

IBM Hyper Protect Accelerator

Scouted and trained 200 fintech, healthtech, insurtech, and crypto CEOs in 80 countries with a cumulative valuation of $2.7B.

Fintech Fast Pass - IBM

Founded a bank innovation roundtable series with 40 fintech, AI, and security scaleups, 200 leading banks, IBM, and Machinelab Ventures.

UN General Assembly Science Summit

Developed and delivered healthtech, digital skills, gender inclusion, and startup thought leadership at UN General Assembly Science Summit #76-77.

1st Entrepreneur in Residence - Cape Verde

Created an Entrepreneur in Residence to support funding awarded by the World Bank in Cape Verde to boost its digital economy.

Social Entrepreneurship Training - Harvard

Designed a talk series with the Environmental Club from Harvard with stories of impact from social entrepreneurs solving pressing issues.

Mompreneur Skilling - Total Mom Canada

Created a strategy and position for building capacity of busy mompreneurs in Canada looking to build and scale their businesses.

Entrepreneurship Enablement in Pakistan

Conducted entrepreneurship training in Silicon Valley, and Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan to boost economic opportunity and confidence.

Protecting Children From Harm - UN

Served in a task force by UN Special Envoy of Children in the UN Secretary General’s Office to protect children though online participation.

UNESCO Media & Information Literacy

Delivered training to shortlisted participants in a UNESCO hackathon on media and information literacy.

The Human Code - Tech & the Arts

Partnered with Indian celebrity, Terence Lewis, and AI leader, Manoj Aggarwall, to ignite human creativity with tech and 2K changemakers.

National Day of Code - code.org & IBM

Created a National Day of Code and UN kit with the Government of Cape Verde, code.org, IBM, local artists, 100K students, and 6K educators.

Digital Skills Standard - IEEE, OECD, WEF

Founded the IEEE group that created the world’s first digital skills standard by DQ Institute and endorsed by IEEE, WEF, and OECD.

Social Impact Tent Pole Event Series

Designed and produced six events alongside SXSW, LA Tech Week, Cannes Lions, AfroTech, and Art Basel with curated VIP experiences.

Global Hackathon - UNESCO, IBM & SAP

Joined forces with UNESCO to fight school closures with 150+ participating teams of students, educators, practitioners, and leaders.

Musictech: Timbaland’s & Beatclub

Partnered with Time 100 Most Influential People in the World - Timbaland - to democratize access to the music industry via his Beatclub venture.

US Embassy Coding Camps - Tunisia

Scaled a coding and entrepreneurship camp series to deter young people from violent extremism via MentorNations - a youthled NGO in Tunisia.

Startup Founder Podcast Series

Brought CTOs and CEOs together for a fireside chat on data privacy, venture building, scaling, and the secret sauce of succeeding as startups.

Broadband Innovation at the White House

Led White House, US Department of Agriculture, and FCC meetings and thought leadership sessions in Washington D.C.

Society of Physician Entrepreneurs Talks

Designed, led, and evangelized healthtech talks with SoPE’s audience of 1K members and audience of 30K physician entrepreneurs.

Recruitment Event Series - Talent

Conducted city after city after city roadshows in 30 states to recruit high potential talent for major financial services institutions in the US.

wassi

Ventures

wassi

Ventures