This Week in Fintech Takes Control of New York Fintech Week as Industry Gathering Expands

This Week in Fintech Takes Control of New York Fintech Week as Industry Gathering Expands

This Week in Fintech, the newsletter with 235,000 subscribers, announced Thursday it is taking over organization of New York Fintech Week, positioning the annual gathering as what organizers call "the largest decentralized gathering of fintech operators, investors, and founders in New York."

The week-long event, scheduled for April 27 through May 1, marks a transition from Empire Startups, which founded the conference over 15 years ago and previously drew more than 10,000 attendees. Jon Zanoff and the Empire Startups team handed organizational control to This Week in Fintech, which will coordinate the event alongside partners Fintech is Femme and RevTech Labs.

For finance executives tracking the fintech ecosystem, the event's expansion signals continued momentum in New York's push to establish itself as a fintech hub rivaling San Francisco and London. The timing—coming immediately after Mexico Fintech Week—suggests organizers are building a circuit of regional gatherings that could become essential calendar fixtures for corporate development teams and CFOs evaluating partnerships.

The announcement comes as This Week in Fintech, led by Nik Milanović, has added 620 new subscribers in the past week alone, indicating growing interest in fintech developments among finance professionals. The publication's reach gives it unusual convening power in an industry where deal flow and partnership opportunities often emerge from informal networking.

The event will kick off with a regulatory-focused session: a fireside discussion with Acting New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Kaitlin Asrow, followed by a rooftop reception. The Financial Technology Association and Ribbit, a venture capital firm, are co-organizing the opening event, which could offer finance leaders direct access to the state's top banking regulator during a period of heightened scrutiny around fintech compliance and capital requirements.

New York Fintech Week's "decentralized" structure—multiple events across the city rather than a single conference venue—mirrors the approach of other major industry gatherings like South by Southwest. For corporate finance teams, this format creates both opportunity and challenge: more chances for targeted networking, but less certainty about which sessions will deliver the most value.

The organizers are accepting event submissions through their website and have established a dedicated email address for inquiries, suggesting they expect significant interest from vendors, startups, and established financial institutions looking to showcase products or recruit talent.

The transition raises questions about how the event's character might evolve under new management. This Week in Fintech's newsletter voice skews toward industry insiders and operators rather than the broader audience Empire Startups historically attracted. Whether that translates to more technical programming or simply better-curated networking remains to be seen.

For CFOs and finance leaders, the event's April timing could prove strategic—falling after first-quarter earnings but before the summer slowdown, when many firms finalize their technology roadmaps for the second half of the year. That window has historically been when enterprise software deals and fintech partnerships get serious attention from decision-makers with budget authority.