Thursday, January 15, 2026

But first: Our next NYC AI Demos event is coming up, timed with New York Restaurant Week! Join Tech:NYC, Pensar, The Refinery at Domino, and hundreds of technologists, founders, and investors on January 29 for live food- and hospitality-themed demos from Bikky, Blackbird Labs, and more. Register here.

Offshore wind in NY is back on track — at least for now — after a federal judge cleared the way for construction on the Empire Wind project to resume off New York’s coast. 🌬️ (CBS News) 

NYC Winter Restaurant Week is almost here, and nearly 600 restaurants are participating this year! 🍝 From January 20 to February 12, restaurants across all five boroughs will offer prix fixe mealspriced at $30, $45, and $60. (amNY)

The Giants may have landed their biggest win of the season without even playing a game. 🏈 Big Blue is finalizing a five-year deal with Super Bowl-winning coach John Harbaugh worth nearly $100 million. (ESPN) 

7 NYC restaurants were just named America’s most beautiful (Secret NYC) 

There’s a secret, underground game room in Times Square. Here’s how to find it (Time Out New York)

What to know as largest-ever NYC nurse strike enters day four (NBC New York)

In Q4 2025, VCs deployed $91.6 billion across 4,482 U.S. deals, lifting full-year activity to $339.4 billion — the second-highest year of the decade after 2021. 🔥

Deal counts are rebounding across stages, with first financings and early-stage rounds approaching their 2021 highs, even as exits and fundraising lag. 📈

AI accounted for 65.4% of all U.S. VC deal value and 39.4% of deal count in 2025. 🤖

Just .05% of deals captured 50% of all capital, driven by mega checks into the likes of Anthropic’s $15 billion round and Project Prometheus’ $6.2 billion raise. 💰

NYC-based AI companies $16.47 billion in 2025, the highest ever. 🗽

Big Apple-based startups raised $12.6 billion across 463 deals in Q4 2025, both second largest in the nation.

In total, NYC tech companies raised $27.39 billion last year, up from the $22.85 billion raised in 2024, according to PitchBook data.

New York had three of the top 10 largest deals in 2025 (👋 Reflection AI, Polymarket, and Kalshi).

The metro area also came in second for deal counts for startups with all-female founding teams in 2025 with 134. 

In the last 10 years, all-female founding teams in New York have raised $9.31 billion (also number two).

2026 may be the year of the mega IPO (New York Times) 

Did you mean: Please serve me an ad? (Tech Brew) 

This company is taking $1 million reservations for hotel rooms on the moon (Space)

Atomic Insights, an NYC-based workflow automation tool for RIAs and family offices, raised $10 million in seed funding led by Aquiline with participation from Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures.

GovDash, an NYC-based provider of government contracting software, raised $30 million in Series B funding. Mucker Capital and BCI led the round, joined by insiders Northzone and YC.

Noise, an NYC-based prediction market for trends, raised $7.1 million in seed funding led by Paradigm, with participation from Figment Capital and Anagram.

January 16: The Age of Extraction: In Conversation with Tim Wu and Bradley Tusk, a discussion on Wu’s latest book, The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity, a timely exploration of platform power and the fight for economic balance in the digital age. Register here.

January 16: New York Engineering, Energy, and Transportation networking event, for engineers, project developers, renewable energy specialists, urban planners, environmental consultants, and infrastructure leaders eager to expand their networks, exchange ideas, and explore solutions driving the future of sustainable development. Register here.

January 18: Capital & Crayons, Kids in Venture Playdate, bringing together the next generation of thinkers and their parents from the venture community. Register here.

January 22: Towards Emissions-Free Waterways, a discussion about whether BATWorks could serve as a center of expertise for the electrification of inland waterways. Register here.

January 27: Investor-Ready Financials: How to Nail Your Financial Pitch, for founders preparing to raise, planning their first institutional round, or wanting to feel more confident discussing their numbers with investors. Register here.

January 28: Volume Four of Critical Mass: Continuums — the closing event of the Deep Tech NY conference — bringing together startups scaling hardware and software  and developing critical technologies that are transforming legacy sectors. Register here.

January 28: Deep Tech NY, spotlighting, uniting, and accelerating the Northeast’s deep tech ecosystem by bringing together founders, investors, and scientists to shape the technologies that will define the next 50 years. Register here.

January 29: NYC AI Demos, the largest recurring AI demo series in New York, hosted by Tech:NYC, Pensar, and The Refinery at Domino. The series spotlights how AI is being built, applied, and adapted to serve both the NYC tech community and the city at large, and this month features demos from Bikky, Blackbird Labs, and more to be announced soon. Register here.

January 29: Founder Breakfast, a private, highly curated breakfast for a curated group of 15 founders at Seed and Series A. Register here.

January 30: 30 Years of Silicon Alley, celebrating three decades of historic innovation in New York by bringing together the OG builders, founders, funders, and community who helped turn NYC into the tech powerhouse that it is today. Register here.

February 2: Beyond Engagement: Developer Experience, Databases & AI with Jay Gordon, digging into how AI is changing the developer experience from new search techniques to the way we create documentation, learn, and build every day. Register here.

February 4: What’s Next for Fintech and Crypto in 2026, a discussion on the emerging market trends, the evolving regulatory environment, and where the most compelling opportunities may emerge for retail investors. 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.