Philippos Savvides

I lead ScaleU, Arizona State University's edtech accelerator, where I help early-stage founders survive the hardest part of selling to higher ed: getting from a promising pilot to real procurement. Since 2023, I've grown our portfolio from 26 to 35 companies with 7 exits, helped our startups reach more than 100,000 ASU users at 80% student adoption, launched the ASU EdTech Innovation Fund, and supported a portfolio company in winning a federal IES research grant. I've also shared what I've learned on stage at SXSW EDU and ASU+GSV. Before ScaleU, I spent more than 12 years building ASU's online learning operation from the inside. I was one of the first five instructional designers at ASU Online when it had just 600 students, later built its learning technology function from scratch, and eventually ran production for a catalog of about 1,500 courses serving more than 50,000 online learners. Along the way I put together partnerships with Labster, Google, Lenovo, Sana Labs and Mt. Sinai, and I hold a PhD in Educational Technology. If you're building or investing in edtech, I can tell you how universities actually evaluate, pilot and buy, and why most startups stall before they ever get there.