Washington, DC (April 7, 2021) — IBM, in collaboration with Village Capital and Female Founders Alliance, announced today that applications are open for IBM’s Hyper Protect Accelerator 2021, an investment-readiness program for startups that are working to keep highly sensitive customer data secure.
“98% of breached data is personally identifiable information,” said Melissa Sassi, Global Head of IBM’s Hyper Protect Accelerator. “It is more important than ever for businesses to keep their data secure, especially when they are collecting, storing, or transmitting sensitive information like medical and financial records. We’re excited to again work with partners like Village Capital because they bring over a decade of experience working with entrepreneurs solving problems in sectors that impact people's ability to live healthy and productive lives, improve the chance for small businesses to succeed, and create a more sustainable environment. ”
“Village Capital leverages entrepreneurship to drive impact at scale,” said Allie Burns, CEO of Village Capital. “We’re excited to work with IBM to support a diverse range of startups that are making data more safe and secure- enabling people all over the world to access healthcare, get a loan to start a business or build their financial health.”
Participating startups in Cohort 4 will benefit from more than 40 hours of virtual training from September to December 2021 with a focus on improving investment readiness and growing their businesses. Each company will work closely with industry experts, investors, and ecosystem partners to develop the networks they need to scale their impact. Additionally, each startup has the chance to earn up to $10,000 monthly in IBM Cloud technology credits that can be used within that month to access IBM Cloud Hyper Protect Services, as well as other IBM Cloud offerings such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and others. By the end of the program, the companies will have had the opportunity to each receive up to $120,000 in credits over a one year period. Companies selected to participate in the Friends of Hyper Protect track will receive the same benefits as Cohort 4. However, mentorship will be provided on a quarterly basis instead of a monthly basis.
All startups that apply to the program will be invited to join Abaca, Village Capital’s global online network that helps entrepreneurs become self-aware and articulate how ready they are for investment and matches them with the right investors and resources.
Applications close on May 15th, 2021 at 11:59 PM EST.
Full details to apply and eligibility criteria can be found here.
About IBM
For more information about IBM, visit ibm.com/news.
About Village Capital
Village Capital helps entrepreneurs bring big ideas from vision to scale. Our mission is to reinvent the system to back the entrepreneurs of the future. Our vision is a future where business creates equity and long-term prosperity. Since 2009, we have supported more than 1,000 early-stage entrepreneurs through our investment readiness programs. Our affiliated fund, VilCap Investments, has invested in more than 100 program graduates.
About Female Founders Alliance
Founded by CEO Leslie Feinzaig, the Female Founders Alliance is a network of 20,000 founders, investors, partners and supporters that collaborate to help women and non-binary startup leaders succeed. FFA offers programming, community, incubation, deal flow and investment opportunities, with a mission to increase the number of successful founders 20 times over in 10 years or less.