The New York Fashion Tech Lab is a community-driven, relationship building, collaboration, and business development platform. The nonprofit program was co-founded by Springboard Enterprises and key fashion retailers to support women-led companies that have developed innovations at the intersection of fashion, retail, and technology.
The NYFTLab was designed in 2014 to uplift, connect, and propel global, women-led, b2b, fashion-focused technology companies, fostering iteration, validation, and acceleration of technologies to advance the industry forward. We believe that real innovation is only achievable when every woman has a chance to take a seat at the table.
Now and in the future, we remain committed to transforming the industry by empowering women regardless of race, ethnicity, age, class, or otherwise.
The New York Fashion Tech Lab program takes place March-June. Through a competitive process where the Fashion and Retail Partners, Advisors, Springboard Enterprises, and the Lab team members review every submission, we select six to ten women-led companies to enter the program, who receive:
Mentorship and collaboration with participating fashion retailers, venture capitalists, and the Lab’s Expert Network.
Access to senior leaders at fashion retailers for product feedback and potential deployment of proofs of concept.
Each selected company will participate in:
Meetings with senior business executives, investors, and experienced entrepreneurs.
Workshops and panel discussions on issues relevant to fashion technology companies, such as data optimization, proofs of concept, technology architecture and scalability, privacy, security, and broader industry trends.
The program concludes with each founder presenting to fashion and retail executives, investors, and media representatives at our Demo Day Experiential Event.