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A VENTURE DESIGN STUDIO

for bold thinkers, innovative doers, and entrepreneurial leaders.

YOUR STARTUP. PROPELLED.

You bring the drive and determination. We’ll supply the support to help you anticipate and navigate the many challenges new ventures face.

LET'S GET STARTED
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STARTUP STORIES

Vishal Garg (BS' 98) is the founder of Better.com, an online mortgage startup that makes homeownership, simpler, faster and more accessible. Better.com recently raised $200 million in Series D financing and is now valued at roughly $4 billion.
David Steinberger (MBA ‘07) is CEO of comiXology, a cloud-based digital distribution platform for comics. He founded the company while at Stern where he won the Entrepreneurs Challenge. When comiXology rocketed to be a top grosser on the App Store, it caught Amazon’s attention and was acquired in 2014.
Janelle Benjamin (BS ‘01) is a serial entrepreneur and investor. She is one of the few Black female entrepreneurs to raise over $1 million in funding and successfully exit. She co-founded SuperData Research which was acquired by Nielsen in 2018.
While at Stern, Vikram Bhaskaran (MBA ‘09) co-founded Tote, a digital catalog app, and placed second in the 2009 Entrepreneurs Challenge. Among other features, Tote allowed users to save or pin items they liked. The team spun-off this popular tool and ultimately became Pinterest.
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Vishal Garg (BS' 98) is the founder of Better.com, an online mortgage startup that makes homeownership, simpler, faster and more accessible. Better.com recently raised $200 million in Series D financing and is now valued at roughly $4 billion.
David Steinberger (MBA ‘07) is CEO of comiXology, a cloud-based digital distribution platform for comics. He founded the company while at Stern where he won the Entrepreneurs Challenge. comiXology caught Amazon’s attention and was acquired in 2014.
Janelle Benjamin (BS ‘01) is a serial entrepreneur and investor. She is one of the few Black female entrepreneurs to raise over $1 million in funding and successfully exit. She co-founded SuperData Research which was acquired by Nielsen in 2018.
While at Stern, Vikram Bhaskaran (MBA ‘09) co-founded Tote, a digital catalog app, and placed second in the 2009 Entrepreneurs Challenge. Among other features, Tote allowed users to save or pin items they liked. The team spun-off this popular tool and ultimately became Pinterest.

STERN'S RANKING AMONG TOP
B-SCHOOLS

5 TH
Stern is among the top 5 business schools for total equity raised by alumni entrepreneurs.

TOTAL FUNDING RAISED BY STERN STARTUPS

$ 1.03 BILLION
Stern entrepreneurs closed more than $1B in equity financing in 58 rounds.

AVERAGE AMOUNT RAISED BY NYU FOUNDERS

$ 23.6 MILLION
NYU startups closed a
total of 177 rounds.

TOTAL FUNDING RAISED BY NYU STARTUPS

$ 4.17 BILLION
NYU entrepreneurs raised more than $4B in combined funding.

*reflects 2020 fundraising activity. Source: Pitchbook

FOCUS

Stern Venture Fellows in San Francisco

2021 Stern Venture Fellows Program Kicks Off!

Samir Goel & Abbey Wemimo, co-founders Esusu

Esusu Selected as a Top 50 Fintech Company by Forbes

Entrepreneurs Challenge Winners on the stage with confetti and large checks.

Congratulations 2021 Entrepreneurs Challenge Winners!

The 2021 Stern Venture Fellows Program has officially kicked off! Learn more about this year’s cohort below, and be sure to follow us on social to keep up with everything they’re up to this summer. 

Esusu, a fintech platform that allows low-income consumers report rent payments to credit bureaus to boost their credit scores has just been named one of the Top 50 Fintech Companies in 2021 by Forbes! Esusu was co-founded by Abbey Wemimo (Wagner ’15) and Samir Goel (Stern ’16). 

Congratulations to the Social Venture Competition winner, ONE432, and New Venture Competition winner, Stonk League! The Entrepreneurs Challenge awards a combined $150K in seed funding as a KISS investment as well as pro bono services. If you weren’t able to join us, be sure to check out the Awards Ceremony recording below.

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WATCH NOW
Ryan Smith, co-founder and CEO of LeafLink.

Investor Roundtable: Cannabis

On Thursday 4/8 we hosted our latest roundtable, focusing on the future of cannabis. We had a lively discussion with our rockstar panelists on this budding industry. If you weren’t able to attend, be sure to take a look at the recording below. 

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Ryan Davis headshot.

Data-Driven Creator Content Marketing

Join us on 4/22 and learn how companies can use social listening and analysis to inform a modern, holistic content strategy powered by real people, posting real content. 

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How to Build a Billion Dollar Company

Join us and the NYU Stern Alumni Relations team on 4/28 for a conversation with Ragy Thomas (MBA ’03), CEO, Sprinklr and learn how he built a billion-dollar company. 

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