Monday, March 30, 2026
In today’s digest, free municipal childcare, NYC’s ‘it’ bars, and female founders helping shape the future of NYC tech. 💻
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City Hall is testing out a big perk for parents: free, on-site childcare for municipal workers, starting with infants as young as 6 weeks. 👶 (CBS New York)
The pilot at the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building will serve ~40 kids (ages 6 weeks to 3 years old), with extended hours until 6pm and a $10 million renovation expected by fall.
It’s an early step toward the mayor’s broader universal childcare push, with plans to expand access beyond one building to more city workers over time.
Coming soon to NYC skies: A comet! ☄️ This Sunday, April 5, Comet C/2026 A1 MAPS will be roughly 89 million miles from Earth, AKA about as far as your TSA line extends. But that means the comet will be close enough that it could be visible to the naked eye here in Gotham. (Gothamist)
The best way for New Yorkers to spot the comet is to look southwest, where the sun is setting at dusk.
Spring is finally springing! 🌸 Temps will reach mid-70s for the beginning part of this week (with some possible showers too). (PIX 11)
Parents: If you’re looking for what to do with your kids in NYC this spring, we’ve got you covered. 🫡
Another sign of spring: Coney Island’s Luna Park is officially open for the 2026 season.
In other reading:
The insider’s guide to three perfect days in New York City (Conde Nast Traveler)
Meet the mastermind behind Hochul’s unhinged pressroom X account (City & State)
A timeline of New York City’s ‘it’ bars (VinePair)
Companies to Watch: Female Founders Helping Shape the Future of NYC Tech
Funding for female founders showed encouraging signs in 2025, even if the bigger picture is still uneven. Female-founded companies raised a record $73.6 billion across 3,219 deals in 2025 and, for the first time, accounted for more than one-quarter of total U.S. VC deal value.
New York, in particular, remained a hub for female founders, ranking No. 2 in the country by deal count (426) in 2025.
NYC also ranks No. 2 for female-founded deal count since 2016, with 5,550 deals, according to PitchBook.
Earlier this month, Tech:NYC hosted an all-female lineup of technical presenters at our monthly NYC AI Demos series with Pensar and The Refinery at Domino.
In honor of Women’s History Month, we caught up with four female founders building standout companies and helping shape the future of NYC tech.
Here’s a preview of what they had to say, including why they decided to build in New York:
🤖 Kirsten Spoljaric, founder of Barndoor AI, the first and only control plane for the agentic enterprise:
“New York has a way of shaking something loose. The best ideas I’ve had didn't come from a whiteboard session, they came from being present in the city we’re building for.”
🫁 Allie Melnick, founder of Climatic, working to establish daily lung health as a proactive wellness category:
“New York is this rare mix of operators, creatives, athletes, and culture all in one place. It just feels like the best place to build, you’re constantly learning, and constantly inspired by the people around you.”
🏠 Michelle Yin, founder of Housewarming, a social app for you and your friends to share casual moments from everyday life:
“There's nowhere better to build a social app meant to facilitate connection with friends. The city's spontaneity and culture are literally baked into the DNA of Housewarming.”
👑 Jennifer Brisman, founder of VOW, the first B2B2VIP technology powering live events and guest experiences for the people who plan and attend them:
“Building VOW anywhere else would have meant building it in the abstract. Here we built it in the room.”
In other reading:
How to teach programming in the age of AI (The Transmitter)
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang says ‘We’ve achieved AGI.’ But no one can agree on what that means (Fortune)
Waymo’s skyrocketing ridership in one chart (TechCrunch)
Blossom Health, an NYC-based AI operating system for psychiatry, raised $20 million across Series A and seed rounds. Headline led the Series A round and was joined by Village Global, TA Ventures, Operator Partners, Correlation Ventures, and angel investors.
Huskeys, an NYC-and-Tel-Aviv-based edge security management company, raised $8 million in seed funding. 10D led the round and was joined by SV Angel, toDay Ventures, CCL, Alumni Ventures, and angel investors.
Payy, an NYC-based stablecoin startup focused on private transactions, raised $6 million in seed funding. FirstMark Capital led the round, joined by Robot Ventures and DBA Crypto.
Featured events:
⭐ March 31: Runway AI Summit, bringing together industry leaders across media, technology, consumer brands, robotics, and more to explore how AI is reshaping how work gets done — and what comes next for enterprise. Register here with promo code TECHNYC50 for 50% off.
⭐ April 8: Brand Discovery and Engagement in the age of AI and AEO with Perpetual and Webflow, a conversation on AI, Answer Engine Optimization, and the future of brand discovery, featuring a keynote from Webflow’s Guy Yalif, a fireside chat, and networking with NYC digital leaders. Register here.
⭐ April 6-9: HumanX’s conference for AI leaders in San Francisco, uniting 6,500+ leaders, builders, and investors driving real transformation. Discover cutting-edge innovations and accelerate your impact through networking opportunities. Register here with promo code HX26P_TECHNYC to get $$$ off your pass.
Other great events:
March 30-April 1: Visualizing Data with the MTA, an open house to learn about NYC open data and explore public-interest digital storytelling. Register here.
March 31: Climate Scaling Summit, a keystone convening where you can connect with thought leaders in manufacturing, supply chain, and workforce development alongside growth-stage startups that have already made the post-pilot leap. Register here.
March 31: Building at the Frontier, a panel with the builders and operators pushing deep tech forward, featuring Fauna Robotics’ Rob Cochran and Radical AI’s Joseph Krause. Moderated by Eric Newcomer. Register here.
April 2: Hockey Game for Finance Leaders, featuring the Rangers vs. Canadiens. Register here.
April 2: Building the American Century, part of Deep Tech Week, featuring fireside chats with David Ulevitch, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and co-leader of the American Dynamism practice, alongside key members of the team. Moderated by Hyperstition Incorporated’s Andrew Cote. Register here.
April 14: Govtech Happy Hour, for govtech founders and operators, civil servants past and present, and policy enthusiasts. Register here.
April 14: April Nexus Cocktail Mixer, an executive mixer designed for leaders driving operations, technology, and growth at top brands and retailers. Register here.
April 16: Founder Breakfast, a curated breakfast for VC-backed founders, ideally those who have raised a Seed round. Register here.
April 16: Construction Robotics Summit: From Dirt to Data, bringing together the builders, technologists, and decision-makers advancing robotics across the built environment. Register here for early-bird pricing before March 31.
April 17: Founder Breakfast, a curated breakfast for VC-backed founders, ideally at Seed and Series A building in AI. Register here.
April 20: Communicating Your Value with Confidence, an interactive workshop where you’ll learn a practical, repeatable approach to communicating your value with clarity and confidence. Register here.
April 28: Rillet Recon, a full-day program on the future of AI-native finance. Register here.
April 30: The Executive Night, a gathering of ~30 Series A+ founders and investors. Register here.
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