Top 26 Founders.
Spotlighting the most promising founders building in New York and beyond.
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The founders.

Anthony DiValerio III
Open Admissions · Human Capital Development, Data & AI
“Everything I've built comes back to one belief: strategy and operational execution, when multiplied by innovation, can transform lives.”
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Martin Ekechukwu
FullScale Holdings · Media / Tech / Creator Economy
“Creators have been building the world's attention economy for years. They were never built into the revenue system they power.”
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Jaan Din Malik
Kreativio · AI / 3D Printing / Personalized Gifts
“Physical creation should be as immediate as thought. We're building the layer that makes it possible.”
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Sandra Cai
Plurall AI · AI Cybersecurity
“We are building the infrastructure of trust for the AI era, because without trust, intelligence itself becomes meaningless.”
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David Gory
Airbuild · Climate / Infrastructure
“Infrastructure either works for people or it fails them. I've lived both sides of that reality.”
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Yasaman Soroori
MIA · LegalTech
“I'm building the immigration system my family needed, one that replaces fear and confusion with clarity, speed, and dignity.”
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Helena Wang
Sense Space · Agentic Commerce / Marketplace / Creator Economy
“The next wave of innovation won't be defined by what we build, but by how people discover, trust, and monetize what's built.”
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Adam Harder
InPress · Media / AI
“In a world flooded with noise, the real opportunity is not more content, but better judgment.”
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Jared Lerner
Nappr · Travel / Hospitality
“Rest shouldn't be something you plan weeks in advance. It should be available the moment you need it.”
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Karolina Fedorowicz
RIFT Spatial Technologies · Spatial Computing / AI
“I stopped building what the world can see, and started building the infrastructure the world will run on.”
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Kavi Mathur
Joice · AI / Voice Technology
“The way we work with machines is about to be unrecognizable to someone from only two years ago. The next frontier is voice, and with it we're going to unlock incredible things.”
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Kingshuk Khan
Ikigai · HR Tech / Future of Work
“Resumes are fiction. Interviews are theater. We are building something closer to truth.”
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Lotan Magal
AskIt · AI / Decision Science
“I kept building when every signal said I should stop. That's where everything changed.”
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Maneesh Karnati
Relist · Retail, Fashion, E-Commerce, Consumer (Rewards System), Resale
“Timing is rarely ever perfect. You'll always find an excuse to say no. If something is calling your name, you gotta go for it and appreciate the unknown.”
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Matthew Elton
BioTwin Inc · Climate Tech / Construction
“The construction industry does not need reinvention. It needs deployable solutions that work within how the world already builds.”
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Nicolas Nemeth
Dumbo Health · Healthcare / Sleep Tech
“I spent years financing healthcare systems that never fixed the patient experience, until I decided to rebuild the part that fails people when they go to sleep.”
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Shashank Somal
Phinite AI · Enterprise AI
“Clarity is a leadership act. I strip problems to their first principles, then make sure no one gets left behind on the way to the answer.”
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Dr. Stevens Bonhomme, D.B.A
Feedcoyote · Future of Work / Creator Economy
“Talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not. Feedcoyote bridges the gap.”
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Yan Grinshtein
Cepien AI · B2B AI / Data / Automation
“Impossible is just a wall that turns into a hill from another perspective.”
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Yuka Kiso
Cuculi · Social Marketplace for Real-World Experiences
“Technology should not replace human connection. It should make real life easier to experience together.”
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Edwin Sanchez
VOTIX · Robotics, Drones, AI, Automation
“I envision and build the systems others overlook, because the real breakthroughs happen in the infrastructure that quietly keeps the world running.”
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Jillian Anderson
HERide · Transportation / Gig Economy
“Safety should not be a premium feature in transportation. It should be the default standard.”
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Katie Carpenter
Lunavii · IoT & SaaS
“I'm building a world where safety doesn't come from fear or control, but from a child's sense of imagination and trust.”
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Mike Adams
Introstars · SalesTech / MarTech
“I believe the world runs on warm introductions, so I'm building the platform to reward the people who make them happen.”
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Ebru Yildirim Gul
OLLANG · AI Infrastructure / MLOps
“The next generation of companies will not wait to go global after they grow. They will grow because they are global from day one.”
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Ritesh Tolia
Telepresenz · Industrial Digital Transformation / Safety & Training Technologies
“I believe innovation only matters when it makes a real difference, giving frontline workers the tools, knowledge, and confidence they need to do their best work every day.”
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The ones who build the future get here first.
2026 nominations are closed. Get notified the moment the 2027 edition opens.