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​Presented by the Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Queens Economic Development Corporation, the 2024 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge is designed to help early-stage entrepreneurs grow their businesses with five $20K grants, access to industry experts and founder network. Its flexible schedule allows participants to join at any time between October 2022 to February 2023.

​The multi-month program offers high-level entrepreneurial classes, one-on-one office hours with QEDC advisors, networking events with startup founders, and FIVE  $20,000 grants.

​Participants can compete in FIVE categories

: 1) Consumer tech, 2)Enterprise Tech, 3) Sustainability, 4)Food & Bev, 5)Community

​In this information session, the program director will explain the eligibility, application process and answer all of your questions.

2024 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge Info Session

We're excited to enter the new year with another Queens Tech Meetup on Jan. 10, 2024 at the Greater Nexus Jamaica. If you're a tech founder or soon-to-be founder who lives in Queens, please join us and meet other founders and learn about the resources  provided at Queens Economic Development Corporation and Queens Chamber of Commerce.  You can also enjoy our complimentary food and drink!

This event will include a fireside chat with a successful founder from Queens. Speaker will be announced soon.

This event is held by Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC), in partnership with Queens Chamber of Commerce. QEDC has launched its 

 It's an annual competition for early-stage entrepreneurs to have an opportunity to win a $20K grant and grow their businesses. Five winners will be selected and each will be awarded a $20K grant.

 in the fall of 2022. It provides free office space, business coaching, mentorshop and more. 

Queens Tech Founder Meetup

Profitability analysis is crucial for assessing your business's financial health and sustainability, especially for entrepreneurs in the CPG space. We will delve into the essential financial metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) that you should be tracking. We'll also dissect on different revenue channels, shedding light on opportunities for growth and the optimization of existing revenue streams. Additionally, we'll examine the importance of customer concentration and diversity and how these factors can impact your profitability

​This workshop is part of the 2024 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge online workshop series. Participants will have a chance to win a $20K grant for their startup businesses. Applications are due March 1, 2023. Learn more at 

, Founder and CEO of Nama Water - a bottled water brand based in San Francisco. They're on a mission to deliver ethically sourced water that respects both people and the planet. Deepika spent the last decade working at Google, growing their $20bn media ads business. Last year she left her job to follow her passion to create a sustainable, joyful world & started working on her company Nama Water full time. She founded Nama Water in the pandemic & ever since has been working relentlessly to make the beverage industry sustainable & ethical one bottle at a time.

​Besides Nama, she is passionate about giving back, helping other founders; practicing yoga & meditation in her spare time.

Path to Profitability for Food & Beverage Entrepreneurs

Are you a passionate Food & Beverage entrepreneur bootstrapping your business? Have you been selling for a few months or years but haven't reached significant growth? Join us for an exciting workshop with the Tiktok star 

 who will share practical content and brand strategies and discuss how to translate those to short-form video for growth.

,” she has accrued a fanbase of over 100k followers on the platform, thanks largely to her popular “Brand Breakdowns,” which offer thorough case studies on today’s top DTC and women-led brands—topics she explores in even more depth on her hit podcast, 

This workshop is part of the 2024 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge online workshop series. Participants will have a chance to win a $20K grant for their startup businesses. Applications are due March 1, 2023. Learn more at 

How to Grow Your Food & Beverage Brand from $200K to $1M in Sales

Generic fundraising advice rarely works if you don't fit a specific founder profile. That is especially true in today's market.

​Advice like "running a tight process", "warming up your network", "creating FOMO", etc. is basically a catch-22 (Ex: how do you create FOMO when there is zero interest to begin with?). This kind of advice is irrelevant and not helpful to many founders.

​Join QEDC and FirstGen for an important conversation with early stage VCs, who are also firstgen. They will discuss what investors are looking for and provide examples of what businesses  they  themselves  have invested in.  This information will give you the knowledge and tools needed to prepare a compelling reason why your new venture is something to be taken seriously and worthy of investment. 

You can also enjoy our complimentary food and drink!

Following the panel, you'll have the chance to connect with other  founders, investors and supporters in both Queens Tech and FirstGen community. Whether you are just starting out or are already well on your way, we hope you'll join us for the evening. 

This event is held by Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC), in partnership with 

 is an organization that helps immigrant and firstgen founders raise their first $1m in funding and get to $1m in revenue through the 4 Cs: Capabilities, Capital, Community and Customers. 

Breaking Barriers in Fundraising: Navigating Today's Fundraising Market for Minority and Immigrant Founders 

In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, creating and delivering software products that stand out and meet user needs is both a science and an art. Whether you're an experienced software developer, an existing or aspiring tech founder, this workshop is your gateway to exploring tools, best practices, strategies required to craft exceptional software products, and simply to learning from the best. 

Victor Hunt is a successful tech entrepreneur who has built and sold his tech company Astorian with four years. He has not only raised millions in VC funding for his own startup, but helped other founders raise over 10 million. In this workshop, Victor will be sharing the tools and process he used to effectively build, ship tech products and take the idea from 0 to 1.

The Art of Building and Shipping Software Product

​Do you have a business or are about to start one but not sure how to go about trademarking your business name or logo? Do you know how to do searches in the trademark database without having to speak to an attorney first? In this workshop, we will explore the basics of trademark law, including what trademarks are, how they're used in business, and how they're registered. We will also discuss strategies for choosing and protecting a strong trademark, and how to avoid infringing on the trademarks of others. By the end of this workshop, you will have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of trademark law and how to use them to protect your brand.

Thomas L. Sica, Esq. is an associate attorney with the law firm of Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti, P.C., an IP-boutique based in Albany, New York.  Thomas specializes in trademarks and has experience in all aspects of trademark law, including searches, applications, licensing, contracts, enforcement and litigation.  Thomas has earned a Bachelor of Arts from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and a Juris Doctor from St. John’s University School of Law in Queens, New York.  He is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

Trademark Fundamentals For Startup Businesses

​Do you know how ownership of a company is divided among multiple founders or business owners in the early stage? What are the key factors that you should consider when preparing or signing a founder agreement. What are the different types of equity and agreements out there? In the workshop, participants can expect to walk away with:

Sarah Besson is an associate at Couch White LLP. She assists businesses and commercial entities on a wide range of general corporate, business and transactional matters including entity formation and management, commercial real estate transactions, contract drafting and review, mergers and acquisitions, loan transactions, and general corporate governance and compliance issues.

Equity Distribution and Founder Agreement

Queens Economic Development Corporation and WeWork Astoria are excited to host a morning of networking for Queens-based founders and entrepreneurs. You will get an opportunity to learn about the 2024 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge which will select five winners and award each winner a $20,000 grant. Whether you have an existing business or are thinking about starting one, come join us to meet with other local entrepreneurs and learn about the resources Queens has to offer.

Complimentary coffee, tea and breakfast will be provided.

 - a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem

Queens Tech + Innovation Founder Breakfast #TechWeek

You've probably used ChatGPT or some other AI tools at this point. But do you know how large language models work or what an AI Agent is and they can be used to improve your startup business? In this workshop, Jesse Bornstein and José María, co-founders of 

 will be talking about how large language models work, AI Agents, the impact of AI on different industries and its future possibilities in the startup world.

José María Lago is the Co-Founder and CTO of 

 - an ecosystem designed to make the creation of AI agents and AI-powered tools accessible to everyone, regardless of their level of expertise. José is a leading generative AI/ML expert since 2016.  He designed the neural network for brain image diagnostics at Methinks AI.  At IBM, he built customer support AI Agents for CaixaBank. José has extensive experience using Super-Computing resources. 

Jesse Bornstein, Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer of 

. Jesse is a business development executive focused on launching tech-driven businesses. He co-founded LiquidX and achieved $25B in traded volume in its marketplace. Later, he joined Nomura Securities to launch a new business in the global markets division.  Jesse advises various fintech and blockchain startups.  

Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge (QTIC)

 Online Workshop Series. QTIC is designed to help early-stage entrepreneurs grow their businesses with five $20K grants, access to industry experts and founder network.

Presented by the Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Queens Economic Development Corporation, this multi-week program offers high-level entrepreneurial classes, one-on-one office hours with QEDC mentors & advisors, networking events with startup founders, and cash prizes (five up-to $20K awards).

The Future of AI for Startups #TechWeek

Free parking at the Hyatt Regency Parking lot A/B.  Please enter from their hotel lobby near the Regency Club or the Sugar Factory. Once inside, you can turn left and come to the private meeting area. The pitches will be held in different conference rooms on the first floor of the hotel.   

2023 QTIC Final Pitch + Award Ceremony

This session aims to help all 15 finalists prepare for their final pitch for the 2023 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge. The program director will answer any questions you may have regarding the pitch deck, judging process, pitch logistics etc. If you've pitched many times to investors, you may not need to attend this session. But if you're less experienced in pitching, we recommend that you watch the "Pitch and Presenting" video first and come to this session. It's going to be very helpful. 

Final Pitch Assistance and Q&A

The 2023 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge is due on March 1, 2023 at Midnight. As the deadline is approaching, we’re hosting  several Q&A sessions in February to assist you during the application process. Our program director Sarah Liu will be leading each session and answer any questions you have and hopefully provide the resources you need to complete the application. The last two sessions will be held on:

This is a great opportunity to enhance your application and your chance towards winning the $20K grant. Don’t miss it.

2023 Queens Tech Challenge+ Innovation Application Assistance Session

Are you a food or beverage entrepreneur ready to sell your products? Do you need help cracking the distribution code - pitching your products to Buyers, retailers and foodservice? Do you know how to track inventory and get paid in a timely manner? To answer those questions and more, we're excited to have Deepika Phakke, Founder and CEO and Nama Water to lead this workshop. She will walk us through- how to create a distribution plan, tactical tips on talking to retailers; provide tools & templates to help you effectively operate your business.

This workshop is part of the 2023 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge online workshop series. Participants will have a chance to win a $20K grant for their startup businesses. Applications are due March 1, 2023. Learn more at 

 spent the last decade working at Google, growing their $20bn media ads business. Last year she left her job to follow her passion to create a sustainable, joyful world & started working on her company Nama Water full time. She founded Nama Water in the pandemic & ever since has been working relentlessly to make the beverage industry sustainable & ethical one bottle at a time.

Besides Nama, she is passionate about giving back, helping other founders; practicing yoga & meditation in her spare time.

The Food & Beverage Business Toolkit for First-Time Entrepreneurs

This workshop is designed for those who are or will be submitting the applications for the 2023 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge for an opportunity to win a $20K cash award. Attendees will need to have at least 1-2 questions filled out in the application in order to attend this workshop. The instructor will invite everyone to read their answers and provide detailed feedback. This is a great opportunity for you to get an expert review of your application and boost your chance to win a $20K grant. 

Here are three selected questions from the application. You're required to answer one question and write down your answer before the workshop:

Philip Dray is a non-fiction writer based in Brooklyn who has written several books about U.S. history, and teaches opinion and advocacy writing at The New School in New York City.  He also woked for several years as a grant writer for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental law advocacy organization, and was active in community affairs in Williamsburg, Brooklyn from 1989 to 2010.  He currently lives in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

How to Write a Persuasive and Concise Business Application?

Join the Queens Economic Development Corporation with Nina Fiore on how to create a winning a video pitch to your potential investors and customers. You will learn how to communicate effectively to your target audience and the tactics for you to best present yourself in a video. This workshop is designed to be particularly helpful to those who are applying for the 2023 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge. Applicants are required to submit a 1 -3 minute video. 

Learn more about the 2023 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge at 

Nina Fiore is the Founding Director of Astoria Film Festival. She has extensive experience in both TV and digital production. Nina  has worked with leading global brands, including RespectAbility/Netflix, MTV, Noggin, NickJr, Sesame Workshop, Sundance Film Festival, Paramount, CBS, and PBS, on both series development and digital strategy and content creation. She also was the co-founder of internet entertainment startup Content360 in the early 2000s, where she spent many days, pitching to VCs, and securing first-round funding for the organization. 

Nina established the Astoria Film Festival in 2018, as a way to give her disabled son fun, inclusive filmmaking workshops to attend. The Festival has since evolved to create a supportive local filmmaker community, and to provide filmmaking education, skills, work experience, and industry connections for local youth (especially historically-ignored youth) interested in media/film/tv careers.

Nina has a BA and EdM from Harvard University.  She currently lives in her hometown of Astoria, Queens, where she also homeschools her son.

How to Create a Winning Video Pitch?

The 2023 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge is due on March 1, 2023 at Midnight. As the deadline is approaching, we’re hosting three Q&A sessions in February to assist you during the application process. Our program director Sarah Liu will be leading each session and answer any questions you have and hopefully provide the resources you need to complete the application. The three sessions will be held on:

Presented by the Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Queens Economic Development Corporation, the 2023 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge is designed to help busy entrepreneurs launch or grow their startup. Its flexible schedule allows participants to join at any time between October 2022 to February 2023.

The multi-month program offers high-level entrepreneurial classes, one-on-one office hours with QEDC mentors & advisors, networking events with startup founders, and FIVE five $20,000 prizes.

Participants can compete in FIVE categories

: 1) Urban tech, 2)Big Data & AI, 3) Aviation&Hospitality Technology,  4)Food & Bev, 5)Community

In this information session, the program director will explain the eligibility, application process and answer all of your questions. 

2023 Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge Info Session

Having a solid financial model is crucial in building a successful business. It helps you plan and make important decisions for the future, and is especially important when you are looking to raise money. In this workshop, our startup consultant will walk you through how to make financial forecasting in the P&L, how to make realistic growth assumptions, and how to find and track the right metrics for your startup.

Julia is the Founder & CEO of USourced, a product sourcing agency and platform connecting brands and creators with the best manufacturers worldwide. She's also the Founder of Multitasky, a (FUN)ctional omnichannel lifestyle brand designed for women. Before starting her ventures, Julia has built business strategies and financial models for Fortune 500 companies including Alibaba, Disney+, McKinsey & Co., and many more.

Born in San Francisco and raised in Beijing, Julia is a hybrid of both cultures, carrying a global perspective in life. She was Chief of Staff at Alibaba North America, where she led global business operations for a cross-border eCommerce and tech titan.

Before Alibaba, Julia was at Disney corporate strategy, and she built the global financial model for Disney+, the subscription video streaming service launched in 2019, working directly with the segment CFO. She started her career with McKinsey, one of the top management consulting firms.

When she was a student at Brown University, she founded the ethical knitwear accessory brand Tink Knit, a nonprofit financially empowering single mothers through knitting. She has received the McKinsey & Walmart’s Women Impact Award, and also spoke at many events and conferences including TEDx and Female Founder Day (by Female Founder Collective).

Understanding Startup Financial Models and Projections

As a tech founder, are you familiar with the different financing options and their legal considerations? Do you know what Term Sheets, Convertible Notes and SAFEs are? In this workshop Sarah Besson, a corporate attorney at Couch White, LLP,  will walk you through the tech startup financing fundamentals and present different scenarios to help you understand the pros and cons of each option.

Sarah is an associate at Couch White LLP. She assists businesses and commercial entities on a wide range of general corporate, business and transactional matters including entity formation and management, commercial real estate transactions, contract drafting and review, mergers and acquisitions, loan transactions, and general corporate governance and compliance issues.

Legal Considerations for Future Financings and Liquidity for Tech Startups

Do you know when is the right time to incorporate your company? Should it be a C-corp, S-corp or LLC? Is Delaware a must for tech startups? What are some key tax items to look out for and what is an 83(b) election? To answer those questions, we are excited to have Sarah Besson, a corporate attorney at Couch White, LLP, join us for this workshop.

Setting up the Corporate Structure for your Tech Startup

How to make a winning video pitch?

Are you a tech founder and are thinking about applying for an accelerator? Do you know how the accelerator selects candidates and what makes a company or an entrepreneur stand out ? To answer those questions, we're excited to have Tristan Bel, Program Director of Urban-X, a leading urbantech accelerator in NYC, join us for the workshop. He will be discussing everything you need to consider before applying for an accelerator.

Tristan has 12 years of experience in innovation and early-stage entrepreneurship, as the director of hardware tech incubator NYDesigns on the ecosystem side, and as the cofounder of Topager (urban farming) and Sitrep (urbanism studio) on the founder side. Tristan holds a Master’s in Industrial Engineering from the Ecole Centrale de Marseille and a Masters in Competitive Intelligence and Innovation from Aix-Marseille University.

How to Get Into a Startup Accelerator?

As one of the biggest metropolitan cities in the world, New York City plays a major role in leading the global urban technology innovation. However, who is funding the urban tech startups? What are the different financing options for the urban-tech startups ? What projects and returns are investors looking for? To answer those questions, we're excited to have Zeev Krieger join us and share his thoughts. 

Zeev is the Partner at Third Sphere (fka Urban Us) - A $100M Pre-Seed and Seed stage fund focused on rapid, scalable climate action and targeting outsized impact and outsized returns. He leads investment research, sourcing, deal structure and execution, portfolio company tracking and value-added improvements across the Third Sphere (fka Urban Us) Credit fund platform. Zeev has been a real estate entrepreneur, investor and community builder for the better part of 15 years.

Previously, he ran a non-profit focused on urban systems innovation and most recently specialized in ESG and impact investment in the family division at Goldman Sachs. Most recently Zeev helped to build and co-lead Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Family Office. There he focused on direct alternative investments including new business formation, thematic private equity, venture capital and private credit. Zeev received an MBA from NYU Stern and graduated Cum Laude from University of Pennsylvania.

Funding and Financing Strategies for Urbantech Startups

: 1) Urban tech, 2)Big Data&AI, 3) Aviation&Hospitality Technology,  4)Food & Bev, 5)Community

Do you have an innovative product? Do you know what it takes for a product to go viral? This workshop will showcase all the positive and negative elements that underpin a viral business. You will leave the workshop having a stronger knowledge base about what kinds of products, campaigns, and businesses can go viral and why.

To make this workshop happen, we're excited to have 

, the founder of When Going Viral, to share about his "going viral" experience. Max is a serial entrepreneur from Long Island, NY. In January 2015, he helped cofound his most famous startup to date - the popular Hoverboard brand called PhunkeeDuck. Max witnessed PhunkeeDuck go viral overnight and turn into a global phenomenon with the help of the Kardashian family, Jamie Foxx, Jimmy Fallon and hundreds of other influencers. In less than eight weeks PhunkeeDuck generated over a million dollars in sales, and accumulated over 100,000 followers on social media. However only 14 months later the company and the entire Hoverboard industry literally and figuratively crashed and burned due to various fire incidents leading to the government banning Hoverboards.

In this workshop, you will be able to learn not only the crucial elements that underpin a viral business, but also Max’s mistakes launching PhunkeeDuck and gaining viral traction. 

How to Launch and Scale Innovative Products that Go Viral

You want to talk to your local store owner about your product/product concept but don't know what to say? You want to sell your product to the big retail chain but can't find the right person to speak with? Regardless where you're in your business, this workshop will provide you with some guidelines on how to move things forward. 

We're excited to have Movitzsa Simmons to lead the workshop. She is the CEO and Founder of SmoothPops. She will be sharing her experience launching her food brand into 50+ stores in NYC and working with all kinds of local stores. Movitzsa is the winner of the 2018 Queens StartUP! Competition in the food category and Tory Burch 2021 Fellow.