New York Tech Week has quickly become one of the most dynamic convenings in the U.S. startup ecosystem. With over 1,000 events and 40,000+ founders, investors, operators, and corporate leaders flooding the city, this year’s edition felt like the epicenter of energy, especially around AI. As someone who’s attended for several years, I can confidently say 2025 was the most high-velocity and high-impact one yet.
New York is no longer just emerging—it’s established. Earlier this year, New York ranked as the second-largest venture capital market in the U.S. According to Startup Blink, New York’s annual growth rate is 25.5%, outpacing San Francisco’s 19.9%. While the Bay Area still accounted for nearly 70% of all VC investment, New York’s momentum is undeniable, especially in frontier tech like AI. The dominance of AI across panels, meetups, and demo days made that impossible to miss. As the organizer of all tech weeks Katia Ameer, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, aptly put it, “It was by far the largest Tech Week yet” and the energy on the ground reflected that. For anyone watching the shift in startup geography, New York has firmly cemented itself as a top-tier innovation hub.
Start with Sector Intentionality
New York Tech Week 2025 featured over 1,000 events spread across New York City and Brooklyn, with more than 60,000 RSVPs. The sheer number of panels, meetups, and networking sessions creates a major challenge: event overload. Attendees often feel pressure to attend as many events as possible, but I recommend focusing on just 2–3 high-value events per day that align with your goals to avoid burnout and maximize impact. To find all the events, see the official website owned by Andreessen, a leading venture capital firm. It’s best to register 3-4 weeks in advance because the spots fill up quickly. If you’re the type of person who likes to stay in the know, I have really enjoyed following Andrew Yeung, a tech community builder based in New York as he posts in real time where to go and why.
The best way to approach Tech Week is to enter with one or two focus areas in mind. For me, those were healthcare and retail tech. This dual focus gave structure to my schedule while allowing for unexpected cross-sector connections. One standout on the retail side was Raspberry AI’s event, an a16z-backed startup bringing together top retail tech operators to explore AI-native tools for commerce. On the healthcare front, 2048 Ventures, an investment firm investing in the likes of Recora Health and Aerodome, with a portfolio exceeding $95M in assets under management, hosted a compelling panel on AI’s impact across diagnostics, care delivery, and data infrastructure. Their event drew a strong crowd of healthtech founders and early-stage investors.
At the same time, there are pillar events that transcend verticals and serve as anchors throughout the week. Bloomberg Beta’s event, led by Karin Klein, Founding Partner of the firm and a longtime pillar of the New York tech ecosystem, remains a consistently high-signal gathering for operators and investors alike. Similarly, Anthropic’s Founder Salon with Kate Jensen, Head of Revenue, and Michael Gerstenhaber, VP of Product, offered a rare behind-the-scenes look at how AI companies are scaling responsibly. These cornerstone events serve as multiplying points for your network because they consistently attract top-tier founders, funders, and functional leads across product, GTM, and AI. For investors, attending an event like Anthropic’s Salon is a chance to meet AI founders actively seeking ways to optimize their infrastructure—many of whom are Anthropic’s customers today, but could be your portfolio companies tomorrow. To attend high demand events it’s always best to reach out to the organizer. This year, Andreessen appointed one of their portfolio companies Partiful to be the main platform for invites and you can contact the hosts directly from the platform.
Get Clear on Which Network Nodes You’re Seeking
Next, think beyond the sector—who do you actually want to meet? Corporates? VCs? Startup founders? Startup operators looking for their next startup? The more specific you are about your “target audience,” the more strategically you can plan around where those people will actually be.
To connect with startups: New York Tech Week is a goldmine. The density of emerging founder and operator talent is unmatched. Skip the generic happy hours. Look for events hosted by portfolio companies of VCs whose thesis aligns with your domain. Reach out to founders in advance if you’re hoping to explore partnerships.
To connect with investors: Don’t expect to get noticed by simply attending. The most impactful startups I saw this year were hosting their own events, building tailored and creative experiences like pilates with the New York skyline, and drawing the right people to them. Several were actively closing checks by the end of their gatherings. Even a 10-person brunch with the right mix of customers, partners, and early supporters can create momentum. Be clear on your “who” and build around where those people already are.
To connect with corporations: Corporate representatives often attend Tech Week with clear agendas such as scouting partnerships, gathering market intelligence, or sourcing investment and acquisition targets. Your best bet is to identify events hosted by innovation arms, accelerators, or co-hosted panels with enterprise partners. Reach out ahead of time with a clear value proposition and focus on strategic alignment, not just vision. Corporates are evaluating scalability and enterprise readiness from the start.
Leave Room for Serendipity
While planning matters, the real magic often happens in the margins. One of the most unexpected highlights of my week was a dinner with the founding team of Aaru, alongside General Catalyst, who invested in startups like Stripe, Canva, and Airbnb, and AWS’s AI/ML team, during a restaurant opening. It wasn’t pre-planned. A close friend met Aaru’s founders at the Andreessen’s Opening Night After Party and introduced us the next day. Aaru is an AI-native company pioneering synthetic data through web-deployed agents that simulate human behavior, arguably one of the most fascinating startups I’ve come across in this space. That conversation alone opened doors that a scheduled meeting might not have. Some of the most valuable connections aren’t found on the RSVP list, they’re made by being in the right room at the right time. The most valuable Tech Week moments often happen off the main agenda. Prioritize high-density social events early in the week. Keep small-group plans flexible and always have an extra spot on your reservations. And if you meet someone interesting, don’t hesitate to extend an invite.
New York Tech Week isn’t your typical conference, it’s a decentralized, community-led sprint across the city. There are no badges, no lanyards, no expo halls. Just rooftops, coffee shops, brownstones, and private rooms buzzing with founders, operators, and investors. It’s a week where every block feels like a panel, every dinner doubles as a deal room, and serendipity becomes strategy. If you’re building, investing in, or partnering with startups, there’s no better time to plug in and fast-track meaningful relationships.
At Silicon Foundry, we attend Tech Weeks across the country, from LA to SF to NY, and I can confidently say New York leads when it comes to ecosystem energy, talent density, and cross-industry collisions. It’s not just about what you do during the week, it’s about the momentum you build and sustain in the months after.
Written by Shirine Marzouki
