NEW YORK, October 21, 2026: Mercury featured Yorkseed founder and CEO Jessica Sophia Wong in “The possibilities are vibe coded”, a story by Rachel Curry on how AI coding tools are opening software development to non-technical founders. The article, published July 23, 2026, follows how Wong built Yorkseed Connect, Yorkseed's platform for founder and investor matching, deal flow and venture intelligence.
The feature traces Yorkseed from its start as a networking spreadsheet that spread through SXSW Austin in 2023 to a global ecosystem connecting founders and investors, with summits at New York Tech Week and Toronto's Collision Conference, hubs across cities including Miami, Dubai and Hong Kong, and gatherings at the United Nations and the World Economic Forum in Davos. Mercury reports a community of more than 35,000 people across Yorkseed's newsletter, events and social channels.
Wong, who came to venture from interior design and digital marketing, began building Yorkseed Connect's software layer herself in 2026, using AI coding tools including ChatGPT and Claude Code. The article details what she built: a due-diligence system for evaluating funds, a deal memo generator, a cross-platform messaging layer that syncs with Telegram, and two-factor authentication, all in a codebase organized so engineers can build on it as the platform scales.
Rather than spending her time explaining what she wanted built, Wong told Mercury, she could take part in building it, while noting that founders who build this way still need to understand how the pieces work.
"I came into this industry as an outsider, and building the product myself was the fastest way to make sure it actually solved the problem I saw. Thank you to Mercury and Rachel Curry for telling that story."
Read the full story on Mercury. More coverage is on Yorkseed's Press and Traction page, and Yorkseed Connect is open for applications at app.yorkseed.co.
Yorkseed is a curated, application-reviewed venture network for startup founders raising capital and investors actively deploying it. Yorkseed Connect, its deal platform, handles discovery, diligence, and introductions across 50+ city hubs worldwide. Founded in New York in 2023. Learn more at yorkseed.co.
Yorkseed Press Team
news@yorkseed.co