Meet the NYC Venture Capital Internship Alumni: Samira Chowdhury

Ever since I started dreaming of building my own startup, I knew that understanding the venture capital world would be key and that finding the right partners who believe in your vision can make the biggest difference. So when I came across the NYC Venture Capital Internship in April 2025, I knew it was something I had to pursue. The program offered a rare opportunity to dive deep into New York City’s VC ecosystem and learn directly from the people, systems, and processes that bring founders’ ideas to life. I was incredibly excited to be selected as part of the program’s very first cohort.

I was matched with Plum Alley Ventures Company, a female-run venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology and healthcare companies, focusing on frontier tech and medical breakthroughs through a gender lens. I was especially delighted to be matched with PAVC because of their mission of funding women-founded companies. As a computer scientist and aspiring founder, I deeply value organizations that are intentional about creating opportunities for women in spaces overwhelmingly dominated by men.

This was my first real step into the VC world, so I was especially grateful for the week-long VC bootcamp run by Supermomos. It was an intense week full of lessons and insights straight from VCs themselves. I got a crash course in everything from deal sourcing and term sheets to crafting an investment thesis, and much more. After the bootcamp, I was ready to dive into my work at PAVC.

My goal for the summer at PAVC was to bring the power of AI into the heart of the firm’s operations. I was genuinely excited to roll up my sleeves and use my background in data science and software development to design smarter and faster workflows, building tools that could help the team cut through the noise, move more efficiently, and uncover hidden gems in the deal flow. I was primarily focused on building a robust and efficient deal sourcing pipeline. I had the chance to dig into where the firm’s deals were coming from, how we could cut down on manual work for the team, and how to better bring to light the most promising opportunities. Day to day, I was writing Python scripts and doing some nifty data science to clean up and enhance our proprietary deal database.

Beyond my day-to-day focus on automating the firm’s workflows, I gained so much during my time at PAVC. I got a behind-the-scenes look at how a fund really operates, how we build relationships with founders, source new deals, and keep everything running smoothly (or even when it is not running so smoothly). One highlight of the summer was hosting our summer investor event, which was an incredible opportunity to connect with seasoned professionals in the space and represent PAVC in a meaningful way.

With everything I’ve learned during my time at PAVC (shout out to the entire PAVC team!) and in the VC Internship Program, I feel more prepared than ever to one day raise capital for my own startup. My long-term goal is to build technology that serves real people, starting with my own community in New York City, my very first home in America. I’m especially passionate about using tech to close gaps in healthcare access and equity, and I hope to create tools that truly help, not harm.

While I can see myself stepping into the world of venture capital someday, for now, I’m most excited about being on the builder's side, rolling up my sleeves and creating meaningful, human-centered tech. This internship gave me a front-row seat to how innovation is funded and scaled, and I’m walking away more inspired than ever to be part of that journey, starting from the ground up.