Selection of 60 Diverse Startups to Participate in Third Cohort of the Founder Fellowship

The Program is Designed to Improve Access to Capital and Networks for Underrepresented Founders Across All Tech-Enabled Sectors

Since Launching in 2022, the Program Has Served More Than 160 Founders Across 108 Startups Helping Them Raise Over $12 Million in Venture Capital and Grant Funding

New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) today unveiled the selection of 60 diverse tech founder teams from across New York City to participate in the third installation of NYCEDC’s signature Founder Fellowship program. The program is designed to address inequities in the tech ecosystem and empower New Yorkers to seize entrepreneurship opportunities in the industry. Of the 60 teams selected for the 2024 Fellowship cohort, approximately two-thirds have at least one female founder, 77 percent have a Black, Latinx, and/or Asian founder, and 15 percent have at least one LGBT+ founder.

The Fellowship continues after the successes of the pilot cohort with Newlab in 2022 and then significantly scaling to support more New York City based entrepreneurs in the second cohort that launched in February 2023. During the 2023 program, Founder Fellow companies hired nearly 80 new employees, and their combined valuation increased by at least $112 million. The program builds on Mayor Adams’ “Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent: A Blueprint for New York City’s Economic Recovery,” which prioritizes helping diverse entrepreneurs gain greater access to capital.

New York City is ranked as the number two global tech and venture capital ecosystem and is home to over 25,000 tech-enabled startups. The tech ecosystem employs more than 360,000 people, having grown by over 30 percent in the last decade. However, nationally, startups led solely by women founders received about two percent of venture funding in 2023, while startups led by Black and Latinx founders generally receive less than three percent of total funding raised. NYCEDC designed the Founder Fellowship to ensure entrepreneurs traditionally underrepresented among venture-backed startups can successfully build and grow their enterprises in NYC.

Each year, the Founder Fellowship supports a diverse community of tech startup founders with much-needed access to resources and networks to help them grow their companies in New York City. All fellow teams receive unique value and offerings including individualized work plans, cohort convenings and programming, business administration support, and access to networks of capital providers, industry mentors, and advisors.

To view the full list of the 2024 Founder Fellows, click here.

NYCEDC received more than 420 applications for the third installation of the Founder Fellowship. Among applicant companies, 28 percent are in the green economy sector, 28 percent are lifestyle and/or wellness companies, 22 percent are in the education and workforce development sectors, and 20 percent are in the healthcare field. The remaining applicants’ range in sectors from biotechnology and life sciences to financial services, administration and corporate services, to creative and media, among other industries.

NYCEDC is continuing to partner with the following program operators to serve the 60 diverse tech founder teams in this year’s Fellowship. Each operator provides unique value and offerings to the founders participating in their respective cohort:

• Chloe Capital, a venture capital firm investing with a gender and diversity lens in climate, education, and health innovations.
• Company Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital firm that offers a zero-equity pre-accelerator for underrepresented founders.
• Newlab, a community of experts and innovators applying transformative technology to solve the world’s biggest challenges.
• Visible Hands, a venture capital firm that holistically supports early-stage, underrepresented founders in building high-growth startups.

The Founder Fellowship is part of NYCEDC’s Venture Access NYC initiative to bring together investors, tech entrepreneurs, and industry leaders to build a more inclusive tech startup ecosystem in New York City. Last October, NYCEDC announced the launch of the Venture Access Alliance, a coalition of more than 90 New York City startup investors working together to increase diversity in the city’s tech and venture ecosystem.

About NYCEDC
New York City Economic Development Corporation is a mission-driven, nonprofit organization that works for a vibrant, inclusive, and globally competitive economy for all New Yorkers. We take a comprehensive approach, through four main strategies: strengthen confidence in NYC as a great place to do business; grow innovative sectors with a focus on equity; build neighborhoods as places to live, learn, work, and play; and deliver sustainable infrastructure for communities and the city’s future economy. To learn more about what we do, visit us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.