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We are building the tech and venture ecosystem of the future that is diverse as the standard, puts people first, and delivers outsized returns for all. We are operators specializing in early stage product development We support founders who operate early-stage technology companies who are historically overlooked and provide them education, resources, and connections to scale their business. We're here to change the path to bringing your idea to life. We're Product and Design professionals with 10+ years experience scaling products and teams for early to mid-stage startups. Now, we're empowering founders with the fundamentals to scale their ideas and prepare for the industry ahead.

Venture capital is living in a bygone era. Our industry uses its capital to fund disruption but, ironically, has done little work to disrupt itself. Hierarchy and homogeneous networks still dominate. Affiliated wealth creation is limited to closed networks of people. And the “game” is played with “rules” that don’t best serve founders. We know that having a diversity of perspectives leads to better outcomes. Organizations need to hear from enough vantage points to make the most informed decisions. And democratizing access to wealth creation broadens influence to a less uniform group. A change is far overdue.

New York Ventures supports high-growth companies and their partners to use technology to solve important challenges in areas of strategic interest and importance. We actively look to provide greater access to venture capital for regions, industries and individuals, including women and minority entrepreneurs and fund managers. Our goal is to build a robust startup ecosystem across New York State, leveraging public and private sector assets. New York Ventures is actively deploying over $300 million of capital through equity programs for both direct and indirect investment. In 2022, New York was awarded funds via the U.S. Department of Treasury State Small Business Credit Initiative, which helps us to support our several programs. Venture Capital Program Funds Pre-seed and Seed Matching Fund: $30 million fund for investing in venture backable start-ups at the early stages of their development NYS Innovation Venture Capital Fund: $135+ million fund for investing in venture-backable startups from Seed through Series B Emerging and Regional Partner Fund: $102 million fund for investing in diverse and emerging venture fund managers or managers who invest in undercapitalized regions in NYS Community and Regional Partner Fund: $52 million fund for investing in venture fund managers who operate or partner with mentor-based programs like accelerators Impact NY Ventures programs and companies create impact in numerous ways, but we are proud of the range and diversity of companies and managers that all our programs have supported since 2011. 224 companies: More than 55% located outside of New York City $135M+ invested by NYS, matched by $900M+ from the private sector 43.3% portfolio companies started and/or led by women or minorities Team The New York Ventures team has extensive experience as investors and entrepreneurs, with offices in New York City, the Southern Tier, Western NY and the Capital Region. In addition, we regularly collaborate with our partners within the Small Business and Technology Development Division who help entrepreneurs at all stages of growth and development. Jennifer Tegan - Managing Director Silvia Garcia Codony - Assistant Vice President Karan Mehta - Senior Director Ryoko Nozawa - Senior Director Josh Nelson - Director Zack Pecenak - Director Audrey Chisholm - Assistant Director Elaine Chen - Operations Associate Thomas Halpin - Project Associate

Visible Hands is a venture capital firm on a mission to highlight and invest in the limitless potential of overlooked founders. We envision a world where talent and execution - not race or gender - are the key predictors for success. Our Manifesto Our world is changing. Our communities are changing - they are becoming stronger and more vibrant in their diversity, and face fresh possibilities and challenges as a new generation looks increasingly different from the last. We believe that as new opportunities arise, anyone should have the chance to seize them. The best solutions come from those closest to the problem - as our problems evolve, so should the problem-solvers. We believe that investing in women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups is key to creating a more prosperous and equitable future for everyone. We celebrate the bold, the curious, and the irrational. We applaud those with big dreams, and who choose the harder, riskier path in relentless pursuit of pushing forward what is possible. We also acknowledge that being a risk-taker often comes from a position of privilege - opportunity and wealth gaps persist along racial and gender lines, and access to financial and social capital too often determines which ideas are nurtured to grow. We believe that we must first acknowledge that the playing field was built to be unequal in order to change it. We know that we must change it. High-growth entrepreneurship should not be reserved for the privileged few. We need to shine a light inwards on our collective blindspots, and cast out a wider and more inclusive net to find and support existing talent. Instead of relying on unseen market forces, we’re taking matters into our own hands. No one should have to look a certain way to be deemed deserving; great entrepreneurs are all around us but we must choose to see them. By sharing our privileges with those not born into it and manufacturing fairness where it doesn’t yet exist, we can fundamentally change access to wealth and opportunity in this generation. This is our open call for anyone who feels stuck on the outside looking in: We see you. We value you. We need you. Your perspective is unique, your lived experience is invaluable, and your potential is limitless. Never doubt that your voice matters and that you deserve to be heard, even if it can feel like it doesn’t. We believe that good ideas, regardless of who or where they come from, should rise to the top, and we will fight alongside you to get them there.

As an impact-driven organization serving remarkable entrepreneurs & ecosystems, we leverage corporate partnerships, specialized programming, meaningful mentorship, and capital investments to drive growth within the minority innovation economy. Lightship provides remarkable founders the resources and direction their businesses need to scale.

We help and invest in entrepreneurs from diverse underrepresented communities go from 0-10 via pre-seed funding, pre-accelerator support, and early talent matching/team building.