News Press

Partnership Fund President and CEO Maria Gotsch Featured in Wearables Digital

September 25, 2015

Partnership Fund President and CEO Maria Gotsch, along with New York Fashion Tech Lab Co-Founder Kay Koplovitz, was featured as a “Wearable Trendsetter” in the September edition of Wearables Digital. The piece on Gotsch can be found here.

KAY KOPLOVITZ AND MARIA GOTSCH
Co-Founders, New York Fashion Tech Lab

“Demand for wearable technology is surging, yet the quest for fashionable devices has been mostly fruitless. One of the entities trying to right that wrong is the New York Fashion Tech Lab. The brainchild of Kay Koplovitz (founder of USA Network and innumerable other business ventures) and Maria Gotsch (president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City), the lab is an accelerator program dedicated to mentoring and growing fashion technology startups. “The tech companies get unbelievable access to top-ranked retail and fashion companies – the right people inside the company,” says Koplovitz, the founder of Springboard Enterprises, which has created multiple accelerator programs. “…The whole purpose is to see if what these technology companies are building is really valuable to the market they’re selling into.” In the 12-week course, wearable technology companies and others receive unvarnished feedback and practical advice to build their business. The Lab creates connections that will bring the latest technology to retail shelves. “The tail of this program is very long,” says Gotsch, who runs the investment arm of the Partnership, which strives to foster business in New York City. “… We say you’re adopted by the retailers, so to speak. These relationships play out over a couple of years.”

Fun Fact: Koplovitz served on the board of Kate Spade and recently curated a book of business strategies titled Been There, Run That.”