Tech:NYC at #NYTechWeek 2024

This month, NY Tech Week brought a mammoth ~700 events — it was, in typical New York fashion, big. Not only did we shatter our own Tech Week record, NY also hosted the largest Tech Week *anywhere* thus far (again). And Tech:NYC — along with our friends at a16z and member companies and partners and collaborators — was in the thick of it.

A small selection of highlights:

We kicked off #NYTechWeek at the Bloomberg TV studios, where our President & CEO Julie Samuels joined Caroline Hyde at Bloomberg Technology to talk NYC momentum and how industry players and public leaders alike are doubling down on tech’s future with programs like Startup:NYC and Empire AI.

Watch the video here.

Julie also joined the InformationWeek podcast to talk about NY’s strengths and opportunities as a tech hub – and what brings the brightest here!

Listen in here.

Later that day, we teamed up with Union Square Ventures to host a delightful rooftop soiree attended by NYC founders, investors, and Mayor Eric Adams.

We announced Decoded Futures, a partnership between the Tech:NYC Foundation and Jake Porway (co-founder of DataKind). Seeded by funding from Robin Hood Foundation and its Learning + Technology Fund, as well as Google, the first-of-its-kind initiative brings together nonprofits and tech companies to harness AI to tackle New York City’s most pressing social service challenges, starting with education and workforce development.

*Robin Hood CEO Richard Buery, Jr. announces the Decoded Futures partnership on the Axios AI+NY Summit mainstage*

We partnered with Axios for their AI+NY Summit sponsored by IBM and Meta. The summit brought together the shapers of the future of AI across NY’s leading industries, and this was a lineup of heavyweights. Tennis legend Maria Sharapova talked about the impact of AI on sport, Osmo’s Alex Wiltscho discussed the ready availability of tech talent in NYC, Lux Capital’s Grace Isford noted the difference between investors in SF and NY.

Then there was our ecosystem programming. New York’s tech sector is more diverse than other leading tech hubs, but the makeup of tech talent is still far from the city’s demographics. With Primary VC, we brought together the Knowledge House, Visible Hands, and Center for an Urban Future (CUF) to share strategies for getting tech jobs in the hands of more New Yorkers.

*From left: Jonathan Bowles (Center for an Urban Future), Jerelyn Rodriguez (the Knowledge House), Lisa Lewin (Primary VC), Justin Kang (Visible Hands), Julie Samuels (CEO, Tech:NYC)*

Also to focus on impact, we collaborated with Robin Hood and Samvid Ventures to workshop projects that bring together NY’s private and nonproft sectors to pilot new applications that serve the public good.

We joined forces with Bloomberg for a reception for innovators, investors, and government leaders key to bolstering defensetech and national security missions.

Julie moderated a conversation with US General James Rainey, and Insight Partners’ Richard Wells.

With Edelman, we hosted a breakfast discussion on the future of tech storytelling in NYC. Journalists Ann Gehan at the Information, Fortune’s Leo Schwartz, and Tina Casey from CleanTechnica & TriplePundit spoke to our CEO Julie about trends and opportunities for non-traditional tech companies to drive their narratives.

*From left: Julie Samuels with Tina Casey (CleanTechnica & Triple Pundit), Ann Gehan (The Information), and Leo Schwartz (Fortune)*

There was also an (off the record!) media happy hour with IBM, a fireside chat with law firm MoFo and Creative Commons, and a full roster of member events to attend.

As a home base through it all, we held a special edition of Founder House in partnership with WeWork, where founders from around the country gathered for casual connections, access to exclusive programming, and curated meetings.

Founder House ep.4 programming included:

A product development workshop, during which Ruby Choonoo of Plural Policy, Margaret Davidson of Company Ventures and Melanie Samba of SPROXXY spoke with Innovatemap’s Ashley King about defining product-market fit, effective roadmapping methods, bringing in outside advisors, and more.
A legal workshop with Startup:NYC founding partner Gunderson Dettmer, where founders heard from legal experts who shared insights into key legal considerations for early-stage startups and provided actionable guidance to help navigate the complexities of startup law.

*From left: Melanie Samba (Sproxxy), Margaret Davidson (Company Ventures), Ruby Choonoo (Plural Policy), and Ashley King (Innovatemap)*

What’s next?

If you work for an NYC-based company and want to get involved with Tech:NYC, you can apply for membership here.
Startups looking to join our Startup:NYC initiative can apply here.
If you would like to know more about or support any of our initiatives, you can email us at info@technyc.org to connect.

Tech:NYC at #NYTechWeek 2024

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