Introducing our Data Startups Track

Machine Learning, Neural Nets, "AI" and Computer Vision are changing the world. Discover the data startups that matter.

As an engineer turned founder I've been passionate for years about helping other technical founders succeed. There are a unique set of challenges faced by founders, and building support communities to help them successfully overcome their obstacles helps move innovation forward. 

More broadly speaking, I'm also a proponent of bringing engineers together - hence our efforts in the data community via meetups, our conference series and via organizing other, smaller, events for engineers, data scientists and CTOs through Hakka Labs for the past 5 years.

This is why I'm so excited to be introducing the intersection of these two efforts - supporting startups and supporting the data community - into our upcoming DataEngConf NYC.

Here's what you can expect

1.) A dedicated 2-day track featuring talks by 20 of the area's best data startups

Our team is in the process of selecting startups that are doing unique things with data via our networks at TechStars, 500 Startups, AngelPad, Y Combinator, Betaworks and trusted VCs in the space. I'm also excited to announce that data entrepreneur Shinji Kim (YieldMo, Concord.io & Akamai) will be leading the track.

Each selected startup will be featured in the track, and will give a 20 minute technical talk explaining the innovative things they're doing with data. Talks encompass one or more of the following themes:

• How their data tech-stack, architecture or pipeline has evolved over time with the growth of the company
• Different ways of data scraping, aggregation & partnership strategies to acquire data
• How their company uses data to solve your customer needs, improve your customer experience and product development
• How their data team and processes have evolved over time with the growth of the company
• Interesting insights from being a data-oriented company in a specific industry (ad-tech, healthcare, media, fintech, consumer, etc.)

The track will also feature ample time for engineers and founders to network and socialize with each other. There's nothing like meeting other folks who are in the same boat as you when it comes to finding inspiration to push your company forward.

 If you're a data-oriented startup and would like to apply to be featured, you can do so here. 

Meet the Startups Track Host - Shinji Kim

Shinji co-founded and was the CEO of Concord Systems (concord.io), a NYC-based data infrastructure startup acquired by Akamai Technologies in 2016. At Akamai, Shinji was a Senior Engineering Manager in Distributed Data Engineering, and is now the Product Manager for Akamai's new IoT data platform. She advises early stage startups and founders on big data technologies, product strategy and growth.

2.) Special Startup pricing for attendees from qualified companies

We've also announced special pricing for any attendee from a qualified startup to attend the full event for $250, a fraction of the cost of our regular ticket price. (Qualified startups are companies that are 2 years old or less and have raised $2.5M or less.)

We want the event to feel hospitable to engineers and data teams from startups who might not have full conference budgets yet to attend otherwise. You can purchase startup tickets here. 

3.) VC Panel of top data-oriented investors in the space

For those familar with DataEngConf from the beginning, you'll know that we typically pull together an awesome panel of the most technical VCs that we can find. These folks are at the forefront of making investments in data-oriented companies and have perview to hundreds of companies each year giving them insights that are extremely helpful to other technical founders thinking about starting their own companies. 

Past panelists have included VCs from Betaworks, NextView Ventures, Amplify Partners, AngelList, Zetta Venture Partners and LDV Capital, amongst others. We'll have a rockstar lineup of VCs to join us again at this year's event. 

Join us for the Data Startups Track this year at DataEngConf NYC, and network with other engineers and technical founders on the leading edge of bringing data innovations to the world!