NYC Startup Internship Program

Presented by NYCEDC, Blackstone LaunchPad, Company Ventures, Tech:NYC, and The City University of New York (CUNY)

Tech in NYC

New York City’s tech sector has grown significantly over the past few decades, with tech-enabled jobs making up seven percent of the city’s workforce.

However, these opportunities—which typically offer higher wages and greater economic mobility than those of other sectors—have remained out of reach for many New Yorkers, particularly those from groups already underrepresented within tech occupations.

The NYC Startup Internship Program builds a diverse talent pipeline of NYC students, with a focus on City University of New York (CUNY) students, directly into New York City’s booming tech sector and supports New York City’s tech startups with the operational and financial capacity to host and develop interns while growing their businesses.

Program Overview

Through the NYC Startup Internship Program, CUNY and other NYC students receive paid work opportunities in roles such as software engineering, data science, social media and marketing, UX/UI, operations, and more. Students also receive professional development, mentorship, and networking experiences throughout the program.

After interns complete a paid, pre-internship training week that provides a primer on the tech and startup world, participating NYC startups host students for nine weeks and can extend the internship or hire students for contract, part-time, or full-time work at the conclusion of the program. Startups are often venture-backed and represent a variety of industries and fields, such as enterprise software, healthtech, education and training, sustainability, and fintech. Beginning in 2025, more than half of host startups are solving real-world challenges either with AI and/or within the green economy.