Strategic Acquisition strengthens founder and investor access across the Capital Region, New York, and nationwide.
CONNECTpreneur, a long-standing pillar of Mid-atlantic investment and entrepreneurial ecosystem, is taking its next major step on the national stage. The organization announced the acquisition of the New York Private Equity Forums (NYPEF), expanding its capital formation platform into one of the world’s most influential private capital markets—New York City.
For founders across the Mid-Atlantic and the broader CONNECTpreneur community, this milestone represents more than geographic growth. It signals deeper access to sophisticated investors, stronger cross-market connectivity, and an expanded infrastructure designed to support long-term company building.
Founded in 2001 by Bryan Emerson, Founder of Starlight Capital and CEO of CIM Securities, the New York Private Equity Forums have hosted 104 highly attended events over more than two decades, earning a reputation for credibility, discretion, and substance among serious investors and high-quality companies.
Now under the leadership of CONNECTpreneur, NYPEF will be fully integrated into CONNECTpreneur’s national ecosystem of founders, private investors, and operating partners.
“The New York Private Equity Forums have always been about signal over noise,” said Tien Wong, Founder of CONNECTpreneur. “This is not about reinventing something that already works. It’s about stewarding a respected platform forward with tighter curation, clearer signal, and a more intentional operating model. New York is too important a capital market to do this any other way.”
Building on a Proven Foundation
Under CONNECTpreneur’s ownership, the New York Private Equity Forums will remain investor-driven and highly curated, with an emphasis on fewer, higher-quality interactions and long-term relationship building over transactional pitch activity.
“CONNECTpreneur understands what made the New York Private Equity Forums successful in the first place,” said Bryan Emerson, Founder of the New York Private Equity Forums. “They share the same respect for investor time, founder quality, and thoughtful capital engagement. I’m confident they’re the right stewards for the next chapter of the Forums.”
This continuity is critical in New York, a global hub for family offices, ultra-high-net-worth investors, private equity firms, growth equity funds, and operator-investors. By bringing NYPEF into its ecosystem, CONNECTpreneur will more directly connect New York–based capital with its national investor base and its strongest presenting companies across technology, healthcare, and emerging growth sectors.
A Win for the National Innovation Economy
CONNECTpreneur has played a central role in Maryland’s innovation economy for years, connecting founders to capital, advisors, and opportunity through trusted, relationship-driven forums. This acquisition extends that impact outward—creating new pathways for Maryland and Mid-Atlantic founders to engage with New York capital, while also bringing national deal flow and investor insight back into the region.
The move reflects CONNECTpreneur’s broader strategy of treating capital formation as durable infrastructure rather than isolated events.
“Events are gateways, not endpoints,” Wong added. “The real value is trust, continuity, and relationships that compound across cycles. That’s what we’re building.”
The New York Private Equity Forums are expected to relaunch in 2026, maintaining their core DNA while benefiting from CONNECTpreneur’s national reach, operational discipline, and expanded investor network.
About CONNECTpreneur
CONNECTpreneur is a national community and platform connecting founders, operators, and private investors through curated events, investor forums, and structured capital formation programs. Its ecosystem includes more than 250,000 founders, executives, and investors nationwide, with a private investor community exceeding 7,000 ultra-high-net-worth, family office, and institutional participants.
About the New York Private Equity Forums
Founded in 2001, the New York Private Equity Forums is a long-running private market event series that has hosted 104 forums bringing together private equity, growth capital, and early-stage investors with high-quality companies in New York. Through its network of more than 3,000 private investors and 6,000 founders and business leaders, the platform has facilitated over $1 billion in early-stage capital over the past two decades.
For Maryland’s founders and beyond, CONNECTpreneur’s expansion into New York marks a powerful step forward—unlocking greater access, stronger networks, and more opportunity across the innovation economy.
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