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All investor lists > New York City
Browse OpenVC's list of venture capital firms, angel investors, and accelerators in NYC. From pre-seed, seed, series A, and beyond - find opportunities to raise capital for your startup.
Last update: June 12, 2026
List author: Devon Wood
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With its unique mix of Wall Street capital and scrappy startup energy, New York City is a hotspot for venture capital activity.
The Big Apple is the largest venture hub on the U.S. East Coast and second only to Silicon Valley nationwide. Here's what makes NYC stand out:
However, the competition is fierce. Pitch decks land in NYC investors' inboxes by the dozens every day. Founders need revenue traction, product-market fit, or data-driven proof of demand to stand out.
If you’re a founder looking to raise capital, it’s essential to understand the NYC venture capital ecosystem, funding trends, and top investors. This blog offers a deep dive into venture capital firms in New York City and provides actionable guidance to help you fundraise smarter.
Several sectors are experiencing significant growth in NYC venture capital. Here's a breakdown of hot industries:
1. Fintech NYC has long been a leading fintech hub, thanks to its proximity to Wall Street. Startups in payments, digital banking, and insurtech thrive here, backed by experienced VC firms.
Successful fintech startups in NYC include:
2. Healthtech With some of the best hospital systems in the world, the city has become a hotspot for healthcare innovation. Investors are especially interested in healthtech solutions targeting efficiency and accessibility.
Two of the top-funded healthtech companies in NYC are:
3. Enterprise SaaS NYC's large corporate base enables SaaS startups to scale quickly. By catering to enterprises, SaaS companies secure hefty contracts and long-term clients.
NYC SaaS startups with recent funding:
4. Climate Tech The city’s focus on sustainability and urban infrastructure innovation is driving growth in climate tech. Startups tackling clean energy, mobility, and environmental challenges are seeing increased interest from NYC venture capital firms.
5. Consumer/DTC
Though still active, NYC investors are now demanding strong unit economics and retention metrics post-pandemic.
DTC example:
Not sure which investors to target? Here's our list of the top NYC VC funds.
Few firms define New York venture like Union Square Ventures. Since 2003, they’ve built a reputation for thesis-driven bets on networked platforms—Twitter, Etsy, Coinbase—and they’re still writing early checks into the next wave of market-shaping companies.
FirstMark is a prominent venture capital firm in New York that does much more than invest. It is renowned for building ecosystems. Praised for its hands-on approach and deep community of founders, the firm has backed Shopify, Pinterest, and DraftKings, which is plenty of proof of its long-term view on category creation.
“We back good people with great ideas who aren’t afraid to do hard things.” That’s the philosophy behind Lerer Hippeau, the seed-stage fund born and bred in New York. Their portfolio—Warby Parker, Glossier, Allbirds—reads like a who’s who of modern consumer and media innovation.
Before there’s a company, there’s a conversation. And BoxGroup wants to be part of it. The New York-based venture capital firm quietly leads pre-seed and seed rounds in breakout startups like Plaid, Airtable, and Ramp, prized for its fast decisions and founder-first culture.
If you’re scaling fast and aiming global, Insight Partners is likely already on your radar. The growth stage venture powerhouse has poured billions into enterprise software companies like Qualtrics, monday.com, and DocuSign, combining capital with data-driven scaling playbooks.
Primary is as local as it gets. This seed firm based in New York knows the city’s founder community inside out and doubles down on early teams with strong market instincts. Their approach feels more like a partner in the trenches than a distant investor.
Backed by one of Wall Street’s most sophisticated data firms, Two Sigma Ventures bridges the gap between finance and frontier technology. Their portfolio spans AI, machine learning, and computational science—bets that reflect the city’s deep bench of technical talent.
Greycroft plays big on both coasts, but its NYC roots show in its range. From The RealReal to Venmo to Scopely, they’ve mastered consumer, media, and enterprise investing—always with an eye on scalable, durable growth.
Betaworks lives where creativity meets code. The investment fund is behind early-stage investments in interactive media and social tools like Giphy and Dots, all rooted in NYC’s culture of experimentation and design-driven tech.
Scout Ventures is an early-stage venture firm with an investment focus on “dual-use technologies”. They are known for backing frontier sectors like AI, quantum computing, and advanced materials. Their team, including many military and intelligence-community veterans, leverages unique access to non-dilutive capital and national-lab networks, enabling seed-stage checks in the $2–5 million range with follow-on capacity through Series B.
Lux Capital backs companies where the technical risk is real and unavoidable. They invest early in founders building around hard constraints: novel AI systems, robotics, advanced materials, biotech, and space-adjacent technology. Lux is comfortable underwriting long development cycles and high uncertainty when the upside is category-defining. If your company depends on deep technical breakthroughs rather than fast go-to-market iteration, Lux is one of the few NYC-based funds that consistently leans in instead of passing.
Bessemer Venture Partners is a venture capital firm based in SF, but with a presence in NYC. They bring a product and metrics lens to early stage investing that shows up quickly in diligence. They back companies that demonstrate early traction, clear user adoption, and the potential to scale into large, durable businesses. In New York, Bessemer is especially active in enterprise software, cloud infrastructure, and AI-native platforms. Founders who can show momentum and explain how it compounds tend to get further with Bessemer than those pitching long-term vision alone.
RRE Ventures leads early rounds and stays involved as companies mature. Their portfolio spans consumer, fintech, and enterprise, but the common thread is an emphasis on business fundamentals and long-term ownership. RRE tends to engage deeply with founders early, often before metrics are perfect, but expects clarity on how a company becomes durable over time. They’re a strong fit for founders building real businesses in New York who want an early partner that won’t disappear after the first round.
Great Oaks Venture Capital is an active seed investor that moves early and often. Their portfolio companies are giants like Stripe, Casper, and BuzzFeed. Great Oaks is known for writing early checks, supporting founders through the messy zero-to-one phase, and helping companies reach their first meaningful inflection point. If you’re raising a pre-seed or seed round and want an institutional investor willing to commit early, Great Oaks consistently fits that role.
Next, we turn to individual angels and angel networks with significant presences in New York City.
New York Angels is one of the city’s oldest and most active angel networks, known for funding dozens of early-stage startups each year. Its members include veteran operators from fintech, enterprise software, and healthtech who bring both capital and hands-on expertise.
BoxGroup is a New York City-based seed and angel investment group known for getting in early—they’ve backed companies like Plaid, Airtable, and Ramp. With a reputation for fast decisions and clear theses around marketplaces and fintech, BoxGroup gives founders both credibility and momentum.
Based in New York City, Empire Angels stands out as a millennial-led network that often writes the first check for fintech, consumer, and SaaS founders. Members combine professional finance backgrounds with a collaborative, next-generation approach to early-stage investing.
Led by a community of women investors, 37 Angels runs a fast, founder-friendly diligence process that helps early-stage startups secure smart capital. The group also educates new investors, creating a supportive cycle for women on both sides of the table.
The HBS Alumni Angels of Greater New York leverage a network of over 300 Harvard-affiliated operators and executives. Known for disciplined deal flow and active follow-on capital investments, they bridge early-stage founders with growth-stage funding networks.
Joanne Wilson—better known as the Gotham Gal—has been a fixture of the NYC angel scene for over a decade. With 140+ investments in companies like Food52, Eater, and Parachute, she continues to champion women-led startups and creative entrepreneurs.
Fabrice Grinda, co-founder of FJ Labs, is one of the most prolific angel investors in the world. Based in New York, he’s known for hundreds of investments in marketplaces and consumer platforms, driven by a sharp thesis and lightning-fast decision-making.
Barbara Corcoran brings her trademark energy and NYC savvy to the angel investing world. Beyond her “Shark Tank” fame, she backs small-business and consumer brands, often using her media reach to help founders gain visibility.
Daymond John—another “Shark Tank” entrepreneur and founder of FUBU—invests in startups at the intersection of culture, retail, and DTC. His focus is on helping consumer brands grow through authentic marketing and strong product storytelling.
Esther Dyson is a Swiss-born NYC angel investor whose portfolio spans from early internet companies to healthtech and space innovation. Her deep technical understanding and mentorship-first style make her one of the most respected voices in venture.
Raising venture capital in NYC isn’t without its challenges, but understanding the lay of the land gives you an edge. Here’s what to keep in mind:
Finding the right angels or investment firm is more than just a numbers game. Here’s how to build a targeted investor list tailored to your needs:
Match the Stage
NYC offers everything, from pre-seed angels to growth equity megafunds. Focus on investors who specialize in your current stage.
Sector Fit
Many VCs have a specific area of expertise. If your startup is in SaaS, for example, prioritize SaaS-focused investors like Insight Partners.
Use Tools like OpenVC
OpenVC simplifies your search. Here’s how it works:
New York’s funding landscape isn’t just dominated by traditional venture firms. Corporate venture capital (CVC) and private equity–backed venture arms play a growing role in fueling innovation. For founders, these investors can offer more than capital, becoming strategic growth engines.
Why they matter: Corporate investors like Citi Ventures, Comcast Ventures, and JetBlue Ventures bring access to enterprise customers, data infrastructure, and industry partnerships that can fast-track market validation. In sectors like fintech, media, and mobility, these alliances can mean real revenue, not just exposure.
What to watch for: Unlike traditional VCs, CVCs often have mandates tied to their parent company’s strategy. The best outcomes happen when your vision aligns naturally with theirs—say, a logistics startup partnering with a supply chain conglomerate. If the fit feels forced, move on; strategic capital is only “strategic” when it accelerates your core mission.
Founder takeaway: Don’t treat CVCs as a fallback for slower fundraising markets. Use them intentionally. On OpenVC, you can identify which corporate venture arms are active in your sector and evaluate whether their backing comes with meaningful commercial upside or unnecessary strings attached.
New York City has no shortage of access to capital, but navigating the ecosystem demands preparation, strategy, and a clear value proposition.
OpenVC is here to help. With our free platform, you can:
👉 Start your raise today and get one step closer to landing your NYC funding.
Several venture funds compete for the top seed-stage investors in New York City, including Lerer Hippeau, Primary Venture Partners, Insight Partners, Starta VC, Thrive Capital, and Hypothesis.
You can browse more early-stage venture capital funds by checking out the list above, and filtering “Stage” to “Prototype” or “Early Revenue”.
New York City might be one of the biggest venture hubs in the world—but it’s far from the only one. Founders looking to expand their investor search can explore other investor lists for other top cities across the US:
San Francisco – The heart of venture capital, leading in AI, SaaS, and deep tech.
Los Angeles – Strong in media, consumer, gaming, and entertainment tech.
Boston – A global leader in biotech, healthcare, and academic spinouts.
Austin – Known for SaaS, AI, and frontier tech, backed by a collaborative founder community.
Miami – A fast-growing hub for fintech, crypto, and international startups.
Each city offers a unique mix of venture firms, angel investors, and local accelerators. Explore their investor lists on OpenVC to compare networks, funding trends, and active VCs—all in one place.
NYC and Silicon Valley may both dominate the financial landscape, but they’re worlds apart in how they approach venture capital. To start, NYC leans revenue-first. You’ll find fewer dreamers and more realists here, even in early-stage pitches. Investors love revenue (even tiny amounts) as proof of concept.
There’s also a noticeable sectorized strength. While Silicon Valley thrives with consumer internet and deep tech, NYC takes the lead in sectors like fintech, proptech, and enterprise media. And lastly, many NYC venture capital funds work with a private equity-like mindset. They’re bullish on capital efficiency and clear profitability metrics. Translation? Don’t pitch for just “growth at all costs” unless that’s what your metrics genuinely suggest.
Save investors, manage outreach, and run your fundraising in one platform.
OpenVC is a free startup fundraising platform that helps founders find the right investors and manage their entire raise. Search 20,000+ verified investors, including venture capitalists, angel investors, family offices, accelerators, and more. Build your target list, send your pitch deck, and track your pipeline all in one place.
Founders raise with OpenVC because it is designed to cut through the noise and get founders in front of the right investors, fast. With built-in tools for CRM, analytics, and warm intros, it helps you stay organized and improve your chances of getting a reply.
OpenVC is for early-stage startup founders who want to raise capital efficiently. Find investors from dozens of industries including SaaS, AI, fintech, biotech, and more. Whether you’re pre-seed, seed, or Series A, OpenVC helps you find and pitch aligned investors without paying intro fees, aimlessly cold-emailing, or scraping databases.
To start pitching investors on OpenVC, create a free account and submit your pitch deck directly through our startup funding platform. Investors receive a unique link to view your deck, and you get analytics on who opens it and how long they spend on it. No cold emails, no guesswork. For more info, check out our complete guide to fundraising on OpenVC.
Absolutely, OpenVC is designed for early-stage fundraising. You’ll find thousands of angel investors, pre-seed VCs, accelerators, incubators, and family offices who are actively backing startups across sectors and geographies. Use OpenVC’s filters to narrow your search and find the right investors for your startup.
Some examples of startups that successfully secured funding through OpenVC include Mobly (2.5M seed), Paxum ($1.2M seed), and Laennec AI ($400k pre-seed). OpenVC startups have gone on to raise more than $1 billion from top venture capital firms like YC, Sequoia, Google Ventures, and M12.
OpenVC was created by Stephane Nasser and Lucas Roquilly—two founders building tools to make startup fundraising more transparent and accessible. We launched OpenVC to help founders find investors, get replies, and raise smarter. The platform is bootstrapped, community-driven, and built with a lot of heart.
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