Meet the New York judges

Danielle Cohen-Shohet
CEO & Founder
GlossGenius, Inc.

Danielle Cohen-Shohet is the CEO and Founder of GlossGenius, one of the largest vertical SaaS payments companies powering local businesses across the beauty and wellness space. Danielle has been named to the Inc. 100 Female Founders List, Entrepreneur 100 list and has driven GlossGenius to be one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, alongside being named to the Forbes Cloud 100 Rising Stars, Forbes Fintech50, and Forbes Next Billion Dollar Startup list. Prior to GlossGenius, Danielle was at Goldman Sachs and graduated from Princeton, summa cum laude.  Back to top

Erich Haun
Co-President
Haun Welding Supply

Erich Haun is Co-President of Haun Welding Supply & Specialty Gases, a fourth-generation family-owned business founded in 1958 that distributes welding and industrial supplies, safety equipment, compressed and specialty gases, and related services across 23 locations in the Northeast. With 15 years of dedicated management experience, Erich has played a pivotal role in leading the company through generational transition, preserving its core values while driving growth and innovation. In 2021, he and his brother Josh assumed co-presidency, marking the company's successful shift to fourth-generation leadership. Erich emphasizes a culture built on the "4Hs": Humble, Helpful, Heart-Driven, and Honest—principles that guide hiring, leadership, and customer relationships. An accomplished entrepreneur from an early age, Erich was honored as Rookie of the Year in 2006 and Executive of the Year in 2007 by Collegiate Entrepreneurs, recognizing his emerging business leadership during his college years. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Vermont. Outside the office, Erich enjoys the outdoors, including water and snow skiing as well as golf, reflecting his passion for balance, adventure, and active living.   Back to top

Ben McKean
Founder/CEO
Hungryroot

Ben McKean is the Founder and CEO of Hungryroot, the AI-driven grocery and recipe service that is redefining food-at-home, making it more personal, sustainable and economical. Prior to Hungryroot, Ben was a Vice President and General Manager at Groupon, overseeing their food and beverage business. Ben came to Groupon through the acquisition of Savored, which he founded in 2009. Savored was the nation’s leading provider of yield management technology to the restaurant industry. Prior to Savored, Ben worked in Merrill Lynch’s technology investment banking group. Ben is a graduate of Georgetown University and currently lives in North Carolina with his wife and kids.   Back to top

Kevin O’Neill
Managing Director, Listings and Capital Markets
NASDAQ

Kevin O’Neill is a Relationship Manager in Nasdaq’s Listings and Capital Markets group, where he manages the overall exchange relationship for more than 150 Nasdaq‑listed companies across the East Coast. In this role, he also advises private companies as they evaluate and prepare for initial public offerings on Nasdaq. Since joining Nasdaq in 2010, O’Neill has developed extensive experience working with public company leadership teams across a broad range of industries, supporting them through critical moments in their lifecycle—from IPO readiness to ongoing capital markets engagement. O’Neill holds a B.S. in Finance from Providence College and an MBA from Columbia Business School.   Back to top

Drew Stein
CEO
North41

Founder & CEO of Audigent (sold to Experian in 12/24).  As a highly awarded data and technology CEO, Drew led his company through extraordinary growth and garnered awards including 4x Inc 5000, 3x Deloitte Fast 500, 2x Financial Times Fastest Growing Cos and, in 2025, EY Entrepreneur of the Year (NY).  Audigent earned over 43 other awards during his tenure for innovation, technology and its data products.  Drew is a passionate entrepreneur with multiple exits and enjoys working with other high growth Founders to help them navigate toward success.   Back to top

Cassie Young
General Partner
Primary Venture Partners

Cassie Young is a General Partner at Primary Venture Partners, a $1.6B AUM early-stage venture capital firm in New York that has backed category-defining companies such as Chief, Alma, K Health, Dandy, Etched and Vestwell. Before joining Primary, Cassie was Chief Customer and Commercial Officer for Marigold (formerly known as CM Group), an Insight Partners roll-up of marketing technology software including Sailthru, Campaign Monitor, Delivra, Emma, Vuture and Liveclicker; Cassie assumed that role when Marigold acquired Sailthru, where she was Chief Revenue Officer. Prior to Sailthru, Cassie served as VP Marketing & Analytics at Gerson Lehrman Group ("GLG") and as VP Marketing & Growth for Savored (acquired by Groupon). Cassie's time in tech dates back to 2006, when she joined TheLadders.com as an early employee and managed marketing and analytics for the company's subscription business. She began her career as a tech and media analyst at Citigroup Global Corporate & Investment Bank. Cassie graduated from Duke and holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Cassie is incredibly passionate about advancing women in the executive suite, and in 2023 launched a series called "On the Business" to help C-Suite and VP-level women in software level up their P&L fluency and board room skills; to date this program has served 600+ women in both private and public companies and was recently featured in Forbes. Cassie also sits on the board of Duke University's Innovation & Entrepreneurship program.    Back to top

Julie Samuels
CEO
Tech:NYC

Julie Samuels is the President and CEO of Tech:NYC, an organization representing New York’s fast growing, entrepreneurial tech industry, which she founded in 2016. She is also a Venture Partner at Hangar. Before that she was Executive Director at Engine, a nation-wide nonprofit focused on technology entrepreneurship and advocacy, where she remains a member of the Board. She previously worked at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, where she was a senior staff attorney and the Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents. Before joining EFF, Julie litigated IP and entertainment cases. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Julie spent time as a legislative assistant at the Media Coalition in New York, as an assistant editor at the National Journal in D.C., and she worked at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) in Champaign, IL. Julie earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt University and her B.S. in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She serves on the Boards of Engine, NY Forever, Chamber of Progress, 5Boro, the Freelancers Union, and the Internet Education Foundation, and on various Advisory Boards. She has been named one of Crain’s New York 40 under 40 and one of New York City’s 50 Most Powerful Women. She lives in New York City with her family.   Back to top

Bharani Rajakumar
CEO
Transfr 

Bharani Rajakumar, the founder of Transfr, launched his entrepreneurial career by co-founding LearnBop an intelligent math tutoring software that garnered significant recognition and ultimately led to its acquisition. This early success fueled Bharani's ambition to push the boundaries of technology-enabled learning and create meaningful solutions to address the evolving needs of the workforce. Driven by a vision of democratizing access to quality job training, Bharani founded Transfr with the goal of equipping individuals with the critical skills required for well-paying careers. Transfr's innovative approach combines virtual reality with immersive, hands-on training, providing learners with realistic experiences and empowering them to excel in fields such as manufacturing and skilled trades. Through strategic partnerships with community organizations, workforce development groups, and educational institutions, Bharani has positioned Transfr as a catalyst for economic development, working towards a future where all individuals have opportunities for upward mobility. Bharani's exceptional leadership and commitment to excellence have garnered industry recognition. In 2016, he was honored with the "Outstanding Leader of the Year" award by the US Distance Learning Association, highlighting his significant contributions to the field of distance education. Furthermore, Bharani's unwavering dedication and entrepreneurial acumen earned him a finalist spot for Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award in the New York City region in 2023. In 2024 Transfr was recognized as one of the most innovative companies in the world by Fast Company in the field of education. Bharani holds a B.S. in finance from the University of Florida and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.   Back to top

Gary Hoberman
Founder/CEO
Unqork 

Gary Hoberman is an entrepreneur and technology chief executive who has been innovating and bringing transformative solutions to the market for more than 30 years. In 2017, Gary founded Unqork to break through the biggest barrier to growth he saw serving in technology leadership roles at Fortune 50 organizations: decaying applications. Unqork invented the first completely visual, AI First enterprise-grade regenerative foundation and pioneered the codeless architecture standard, helping organizations build complex, custom software faster, with higher quality and lower costs than code-based methods. Unqork’s customers are global industry leaders, including Goldman Sachs, Marsh, Liberty Mutual, Maimonides Medical Center, New York City, and the District of Columbia. In 2020, Unqork received a $2B valuation at the time of its Series C financing. Based on Unqork’s ability to create complex, secure, mission-critical enterprise applications, Gary was named a New York Entrepreneur of the Year by EY and one of Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs for 4 years. Unqork has been named Fast Company’s #5 Most Innovative Enterprise company in 2022, two time Deloitte Fast 500 award winner, and Forbes’ Best Startup Employers 2021 and 2022. Prior to founding Unqork, Gary served as Executive Vice President and Global CIO for MetLife, overseeing technology across 47 countries, and was one of the youngest Managing Directors in Citi’s operations and technology team. Gary holds seven patents, six of which are still in use in the finance industry today. Gary serves on the Board of Directors for The Shed, a cultural institution for the 21st century in NYC’s Hudson Yards, as well a board trustee for NYSCI.   Back to top