Thursday, January 8, 2026
In today’s digest, a state-city partnership on childcare, what to do with your Christmas tree, and recent Series A raises. 🗽
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Albany 🤝 City Hall 🤝 childcare. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul and NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced efforts to expand free and affordable childcare in New York today. 👶 (City & State)
The Governor and Mayor rolled out a roadmap that starts with universal pre-K statewide and a new “2-Care” program offering free childcare for two-year-olds, beginning in high-need neighborhoods as early as 2026, before expanding to the rest of the city.
A-eye? The MTA is kicking the tires on AI as a new set of eyes across the subway system. 👀 (The CITY)
The agency is exploring if and how AI could help analyze live feeds from more than 15,000 cameras to flag weapons, unattended items, or early signs of crowd surges.
MTA officials believe the tech can be used to assist human judgment and make commutes safer and more efficient.
Wondering what to do with your Christmas tree? Check out Mulchfest. 🎄 (Brooklyn Eagle)
You can drop off your tree at parks across the city, where it will be made into wood chips used to nourish trees and make NYC even greener.
At the upcoming Chipping Weekend, bring your firs to a chipping site and take home a tree-mento!
In other reading:
Swap your sad desk lunch for a free chef-prepared meal at this unique pop-up (Time Out New York)
You can name an NYC rat after your ex this Valentine’s Day (PIX 11)
New Jersey bans cellphones in schools after outgoing governor vowed to get rid of “needless distractions” (CBS New York)
December’s A-List: NYC Series A Roundup
Powered by Obviously NYC, presented by Gunderson Dettmer and PwC US.
What’s the Fonz’s favorite type of series? Series Ayyyy! 👍👍
It’s one of ours, too.
This December, Series A: A Series added 17 new NYC companies that just raised their Series A — and together, they’re already hiring for 80+ NYC-based roles. 🚀
Here’s what stood out from this month’s class:
🤖 The classic NYC applied AI scene: Across December’s cohort, AI is doing the work in specific domains.
FINNY, Nevis Wealth, and Kobalt Labs are embedding AI directly into financial advisory, wealth management, and compliance workflows.
🔐 Security, compliance, and “secure by design”: As software stacks grow more complex, trust turns into infrastructure.
Echo is tackling cloud security at the foundation with Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE)-free container images, while Prime Security is pushing security decisions earlier into product development.
DataLane adds another layer, turning messy offline business data into compliant, usable intelligence for sales teams.
Together, these companies highlight a theme: security and governance as core product features.
🌍 Finance, but reimagined: December’s Series A class reinforces NYC’s leadership in fintech, albeit with a slight twist.
Polymarket and Ostium show how blockchain-based platforms are reshaping markets, trading, and prediction itself.
IMTC modernizes fixed-income investing for institutional managers.
Different models, same takeaway: New York founders keep finding new ways to move money smarter.
♻️ From molecules to materials: From science to health, innovation is everywhere in the Big Apple.
Excelsior Sciences is using AI to reinvent small-molecule discovery and manufacturing, while SuperCircle is tackling textile waste and circularity for major retail brands.
🗽 Why it matters: With 16 new Series A raises to close out the year, December’s cohort underscores what made NYC’s tech ecosystem so resilient in 2025: a willingness to build in complex, high-impact industries.
💼 Explore the full December list, see who’s hiring, and zoom in on our map of NYC’s newest Series A companies here.
Did we miss your Series A raise? Let us know — we want to spotlight every NYC founder turning vision into venture.
In other reading:
Can AI do your job? See the results from hundreds of tests (Washington Post)
Harder than Harvard: How to get a job at the most in-demand tech companies (Fast Company)
Dr. ChatGPT will see you now (Tech Brew)
Autonomous Technologies Group, an NYC-based developer of AI agents designed to serve as financial advisors, raised $15 million in pre-seed funding from Y Combinator, Collaborative Group, Fusion Fund, and others.
Oasys, an NYC-based developer of an AI-powered operating system for behavioral health, raised $4.6 million in funding from Pathlight Ventures, Twine Ventures, Better Ventures, and 1984 Ventures.
January 11: RTM Nexus’ Leadership Breakfast, where you can kick off day one of NRF with a breakfast designed exclusively for retail and brand leaders. Register here.
January 13: Tech HR Meet-up, where you can learn how to build an HR function capable of supporting explosive business growth. Register here.
January 13: NRF Networking Breakfast, a curated networking breakfast bringing together senior leaders across retail and consumer brands. Register here.
January 13: Community Board Mixer + Abundance Happy Hour, for prospective Abundance NY Community Board members to connect with current members and learn more about board service. Register here.
January 13: Couture & Code 3.0: The Official NRF After-Conference Mixer, bringing together innovators, founders, executives, creators, technologists, and industry shapers for an evening of collaboration and culture. Register here.
January 14: Tech Ladies × Resident Company Club: NYC Coworking Day, a relaxed coworking day designed to help you get things done and meet other thoughtful, ambitious women in tech. Register here.
January 15: StartupExperts New Year Coffee Meetup, a casual, open space for operators (HR, finance, and operations) to swap insights, talk through challenges, and find ways to help one another. Register here.
January 16: The Age of Extraction: In Conversation with Tim Wu and Bradley Tusk, a discussion on Tim 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 18: Capital & Crayons, Kids in Venture Playdate, bringing together the next generation of thinkers and their parents from the venture community. 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.
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.
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