Stay up to date on upcoming events, deadlines, news, and more by signing up for our newsletters!
This guest blog is contributed by Tech@NYU, the University's largest tech organization — a space for artists, makers, and hackers to build stuff together, learn new skills, and explore opportunities in tech. Follow Tech@NYU on Instagram for info on their upcoming events!
In a continued effort to foster innovation and entrepreneurship, Sean Lai (CS '27), Michael Shen ('25), and Parul Veda ('27), co-leads of Tech@NYU’s Startup Week Committee, led another edition of NYU’s premier student-run entrepreneurship festival.
Taking place from March 1-7, Startup Week 2025 featured panels, workshops, and networking sessions with accomplished alumni, venture capital investors, and industry leaders. Distinguished guests included Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees, as well as representatives from top accelerators such as Z Fellows.
Incorporating participant feedback from previous editions of Startup Week, the team at Tech@NYU introduced a new initiative: the "Buildathon," a hackathon designed to engage both designers and technical builders at NYU. The inaugural Buildathon saw over 200 participants, 100 successful project submissions, and 10 standout candidates receiving priority consideration for internships at venture-backed startups, underscoring its impact within the NYU entrepreneurial community.
Held from March 1-2, the event was made possible through generous support from the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute, Anthropic, Adobe, and the Verci event space, as well as collaborations with the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and Blockchain Lab @ NYU.
“Launching the Buildathon was a vision we had back in November — a challenge that seemed ambitious at the time ... but we did it,” said Sean Lai ('27). ” Despite the complexity of organizing such an event — typically requiring over a year of planning — the 11-member Startup Committee leaned into the entrepreneurial spirit, securing sponsors and resources to bring the Buildathon to fruition."
“We are incredibly grateful for the support of the Leslie eLab funding initiative, as well as our startup partners Soar and Capybara.AI, who placed their trust in this event,” said Parul Veda ('27). The team also extended their appreciation to key sponsors, including Anthropic, Adobe, Clusterbucks, OSK Venture International, Paperlike, and Moshi, for their contributions.
The leads would like to give special recognition to the Startup Committee members, whose dedication made the festival’s success possible: Grace Gao ('27), Kaylee Chen (’28), Andi Jegeni ('27), Hebe Jiang ('28), Eason Wang ('28), Andy Li ('27), Nicole Wu ('27), and Dorien Zhang ('27). A final thanks is given to Andrew Lee, VP of Tech@NYU, who oversaw the media coverage and helped with photography.
With each passing year, Startup Week continues to strengthen NYU’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, equipping students with opportunities to engage with top industry professionals, develop groundbreaking projects, and launch ventures of their own.
