A Stronger Way to Stay Connected

Connecting people, opportunity, and support across Phoenix tech year-round.

Author

Daniela Santangelo
December 19, 2025

The City of Tempe Joins as a City Partner

The City of Tempe has officially joined Freeway’s City Partnerships, stepping alongside Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Avondale as an annual City Partner and signaling something bigger: Tempe is actively investing in connection, access, and opportunity for Arizona’s founders.

Through the partnership, Tempe will spotlight its innovation and business-support ecosystem on Freeway’s public platform, helping entrepreneurs discover resources, connect across city lines, and move faster together.

We’re also planning a local activation in Tempe in Q1 to bring the partnership to life and celebrate the City’s leadership in building a vibrant, founder-friendly community. More to come but for now, welcome to the Freeway Community, Tempe!

2025 has been a year of growth, experimentation, and clarity for Freeway — and none of it happens without this community.

A Few Highlights We’re Proud Of

This year, together, we:

  • Welcomed 750+ people into Tech Talent Summit rooms — founders, operators, students, employers, and ecosystem builders

  • Saw strong growth across the Freeway Dashboard, with 71% growth in users with more people using it one link access to the pulse of the startup ecosystem.

  • Grew our newsletter and community footprint meaningfully by 52%, with deeper engagement, not just bigger numbers

Why This Matters

What this year reinforced for us is simple:

Phoenix has the talent.
It has the ambition.
What it needs is consistent connection and support not just moments, but infrastructure.

That insight is shaping everything we’re building next.

Thank you for being here and being part of the story.

Introducing Freeway Membership!

Phoenix tech can feel fragmented...great people but scattered rooms and inconsistent access. Freeway Membership fixes that with year-round support and proximity to opportunity.

All memberships include:

  • Monthly performance coaching (business + well-being)

  • Private community + curated introductions

  • Member-only opportunities (roundtables, exclusive suites, international tech weeks, and more)

Plus, depending on tier:

  • Event discounts (Tech Talent Summits + PHX Efficiency Lab with Club Req)

  • AI training

  • Kiln Biltmore & Gilbert co-working perks & discounts

  • Talent + visibility add-ons (job board + role promotion)

👉 Introductory offer is now open, complete the poll to receive more info.

Also Launching: Freeway Talent Recruiting

Hiring is one of the highest-leverage decisions a CEO makes and one of the biggest time drains when done without support.

Freeway Talent Recruiting is a grassroots, advisory-led recruiting model designed to help founders and CEOs get the right hire without carrying all the weight themselves.

This isn’t transactional recruiting.
It’s hands-on support that combines:

  • Local, in-market talent discovery and upskilling of what it takes to work at a startup.

  • A deep bench of recruiting veterans and operators with exits who know how to build and scale teams

  • Strategic guidance so you’re not guessing on role design, timing, or structure

How it works
We follow a simple Assess → Advise → Recommend framework. We assess the role, business context, and AI readiness; advise through an experienced recruiting and operator council; and recommend a clear hiring strategy and shortlist — full-time, fractional, contract, local, or abroad.

The outcome: less time spent sourcing and sorting, better hires, and more space for you to focus on your highest-value work as a CEO.

If you’re building a team or deciding who to hire next this is built for you.

👉 Now Accepting Beta Customers

The Invitation

Freeway is becoming a year-round community and support layer not just events.
A place to return to as you grow, hire, lead, and recalibrate.

If you’ve been here before, this is the next chapter.
If you’re new, welcome.

More details coming soon.
For now, tell us what you’re curious about with a quick poll! 👇️ 

What are you most curious about from Freeway right now?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

In partnership with PHX FWD, these roles are vetted and updated continually updated.

There’s more to explore. 🧭 Search over 100 jobs available at growing startups:

If you want to see your open role in this list, reply back to this email.

Your next hire, investor, or collaborator is likely in the room.

Explore the Freeway Dashboard

  • Track VC activity and funding trends

  • See the hottest growing startups and scaleups

  • View ecosystem heatmaps across Phoenix and Arizona

  • Check recent funding rounds and investor activity

  • Search companies, founders, investors, and verticals

  • Save searches and monitor momentum over time

  • Search companies, investors, industries, and save your filters so you can watch everything evolve.

If you want to Phoenix tech in under a minute, this is the place to do it.

With gratitude,

Your friends at Freeway PHX ❤️

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