About Next Top Makers
The City of New York is committed to supporting entrepreneurs who choose to base and grow their businesses right here. New York’s Next Top Makers, brought to you by New York Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), is helping to position New York City not only as an entrepreneur-friendly city, but a leader in the new production economy, stimulating the growth of an ecosystem of Makers, designers, creators and manufacturers that is dynamic, sustainable and provides opportunities to all New Yorkers.
In its third year, Next Top Makers is expanding opportunities for others to engage in the space by introducing a five part series of community workshops geared at aspiring product entrepreneurs. We are also popping up at our own and other relevant events such as MakerFaire, Northside Festival, and local meetups to get the word out about the program and manufacturing here in New York. Read more about last year’s Five Borough Pop Up Tour on the blog.
In the 2014-2015 program year we worked with five product companies providing them with a prototyping budget and helping them expand their networks, find workspace, and connect with resources and mentors throughout the city. These companies (Sunhouse, BotFactory, Poursteady, Capacita and Blackbox) taught us even more about what it takes to Make in New York City, and based on their guidance and that from the community as well, we are thrilled to launch a new and improved 2015-16 program.
Here are some of the key highlights to look for from Next Top Makers this program year:
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Community Workshop Series for Product Startups: Starting in January through May of 2016, Next Top Makers and Impact Hub NYC will bring you a five-month series on what you need to know to launch your own product startup ranging from business planning to design for manufacturing to marketing to understanding users to legal. You will be walked through the process of creating your own Product Startup Plan over the course of five months.
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Next Top Makers Pop Ups: A combination of Next Top Makers hosted events and existing community events where we showcase what is exciting about Making in New York City. Look for the Next Top Makers community at events like World MakerFaire, SXSW Interactive, and Northside Festival.
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Studio Incubation Program: A customized seven-month accelerator-like program for six (6) Next Top Makers Fellows who will receive support to develop their product company through access to mentorship, expertise, tools, a prototyping budget and other resources as needed.
Next Top Makers is a program of New York City Economic Development Corporation, the City’s primary engine for economic development, charged with leveraging the City’s assets to drive growth, create jobs, and improve quality of life. The program is made possible through generous support from our sponsors including Microsoft, Nike, ImpactHub and Make: Media. Program operations are led by SecondMuse and Imagination in Space. If you are interested in getting involved in the program, please reach out to [email protected].
