Innovators given a front-row seat to New York City’s modern industrial economy, meeting the companies
Brooklyn, N.Y. (May 20, 2026) – The Brooklyn Navy Development Corporation (BNYDC) hosted its inaugural Yard Industry Summit and Day, a two-day series of flagship events bringing together innovators, manufacturers, investors, policymakers, entrepreneurs and community leaders. With more than 300 participants, the program offered an inside look at how innovation grows into industry at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
On May 15, the Yard Industry Summit showcased over 30 companies based at the Brooklyn Navy Yard working in medtech, clean energy, robotics & physical AI, and other advanced industries. Programming moved beyond panel discussions into immersive exploration of the Yard, including a look at impact-driven real estate developments, tenant spaces, campus pilots through the Yard Labs program, and commercial activations of assets across campus. Founders shared candid insights on stakeholder engagement, scaling in New York City and at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and the role of cross sector collaboration in advancing emerging industries. Details of the day included:
- Physical AI: Connector Roundtable: Focusing on expanding access to capital, talent, and market opportunities, this session explored one of the fastest growing ecosystems in the United States. The panel featured Brooklyn Navy Yard President and CEO Lindsay Greene, NYU Tandon School of Engineering Chief of Staff and Director of Strategy Ya-Ting Liu, Columbia Engineering Senior Director of Industry Innovations Dmytro Pokhylko, Techable VC Founder and Managing Partner Amulya Vishwanath, and Aether Manufacturing Co-Founder and CEO Vik Parth.
- Speed, Scale, Delivery, Access: Advanced MedTech Roundtable: The Brooklyn Navy Yard convened MedTech tenants and growth-stage health tech companies for a discussion on opportunities and challenges in scaling life sciences innovation. The conversation covered precision medicine, connected devices, and other frontier health technologies, with a focus on commercialization pathways and collaboration across investors, regulators, clinical researchers, and industry partners to improve patient outcomes. The roundtable panel included: Marcel Botha, CEO of 10xBeta Venture Studio, Paul McGrath, CEO of Validose, Chris Scotto DiVetta, SVP & General Manager AI Applications, Tempus AI, and Joe Chandler, Co-Founder & CEO, Rima serving as the moderator.
- Yard Showcase: Advanced Manufacturing Expo: Attendees gathered on the 9th Floor of Building 303 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for a showcase of New York City’s growing advanced manufacturing ecosystem. The expo featured Yard tenants across robotics and physical AI, clean energy, biomaterials and medtech, space technology, quantum technologies, and other deep tech sectors.
Brooklyn Navy Yard tenants showcasing their innovations at the event especially noted the opportunity to continue building relationships within the Yard campus ecosystem, highlighting the Yard’s singular ability to support business growth through visibility, and shared physical and thought leadership resources such as rapid prototyping capabilities, clients, a hyperlocal supply chain, product collaborations, collective operations strategies, and a peer community.
“The Industry Summit is a great opportunity to learn more about innovation happening here at the Yard and to network with people in the space,” said Giovanni Campos, CEO of Protospark.
“There is such a huge diversity of companies here at the Navy Yard that a lot of people aren’t aware of. The Industry Summit is a great event that shows people outside the Yard all of the innovation happening here, as well as helps bring tenants together to collaborate,” said Mehdi Namazi, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Qunnect.
“Events like the Industry Summit create real opportunities for collaboration, visibility and growth, while showing how innovation can thrive in New York City when companies have access to community, infrastructure and shared ambition,” said Uyen Tran, Founder of TômTex Inc.
On Day 2, May 16, members of the public, including industry professionals, peers, collaborators, partners, early adopters, and innovation enthusiasts from across New York City, joined Yard-based entrepreneurs to experience how innovation is built and scaled at the Yard. Programming included hourly flash presentations, demonstrations, and behind-the-scenes tours. The interactive showcases featured more than a dozen Yard-based businesses working across robotics and physical AI, medtech and biomaterials, immersive media, space technology, clean energy, industrial innovation, and advanced manufacturing.
“The Brooklyn Navy Yard has become a proving ground for the future of urban industry, a place where entrepreneurs, manufacturers, researchers and investors can work side by side to bring breakthrough technologies to market and work with partners to cultivate the next generation of talent that will be critical to those technologies becoming fully adopted in whatever their applicable field,” said Lindsay Greene, President and CEO of Brooklyn Navy Yard. “The Industry Summit and Day were designed to showcase not only the incredible companies at the Navy Yard, but also how New York City can lead in all aspects of supporting the growth of advanced manufacturing, climate innovation, robotics and health-tech industries
when we invest in the right ecosystem.”
“Startups are building amazing new technologies in the Navy Yard. It’s so valuable and energizing for us to come together at events like the Yard Industry Summit and Yard Industry Day to encourage cross-pollination of ideas and networks, and to showcase our innovations in these frontier technologies that will yield such enormous benefits to New York,” said Eric Chaves, Founder & COO of Terrament.
Brooklyn Navy Yard Companies featured in the Yard Industry Summit and Day.
Yard tenants developing market-ready products, pilot programs and next-generation technologies on campus were showcased in the expo across both days, including:
- 10xBeta
- Aether MFG
- Biomific
- Electron Robotics
- Every Electric
- Gather
- Gyroplant
- Icarus Robotics
- Jason Krugman Studio
- Kubota
- Kyber Labs
- NY Robotics
- NYU Tandon @ The Yard
- Pave Motors
- Plantaer
- Pliant Energy Systems
- ProtoSpark
- Qunnect
- Radical AI
- SOUR Studio
- Starsuit
- Tarform
- Terrament
- ThemoVerse
- TômTex
- UnBOXED
- Vycarb
Yard-based food and beverage companies and event spaces further supported and activated the event, making it a truly campus-wide experience:
- Agger Warehouse
- Kings County Distillery
- Monshe
- Russ & Daughters
- Rustik Tavern
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About Yard Labs Pilot Program at the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Yard Labs is the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s applied innovation program, transforming our 300-acre campus into a living urban testbed. We partner with mission-driven companies to pilot new technologies that solve pressing urban challenges, with a core focus on generating measurable community benefits. Supporting the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s core mission of equitable job creation, Yard Labs actively champions minority-and women-owned businesses, and it offers successful pilots the opportunity to expand into leased space.
About the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation
Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) is a not-for-profit corporation that serves as the real estate developer and property manager of the Yard on behalf of its owner, the City of New York. BNYDC’s mission is to fuel New York City’s economic vitality by creating and preserving quality jobs, growing the City’s modern industrial sector and its businesses, and connecting the local community with the economic opportunity and resources of the Yard. BNYDC helps connect local talent to quality jobs via the Albert C. Wiltshire Employment Center and the Brooklyn STEAM Center high school located on the campus. BNYDC’s vision is a vibrant and dense, modern manufacturing community where businesses are provided the stability they need to invest, grow, and thrive and where diverse candidates can attain quality jobs. Brooklynnavyyard.org