Thursday, March 5, 2026
In today’s digest, NYC parks get a $50 million makeover, secure bike parking gets a long-awaited boost, and a record-breaking year for female founders. 📈
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Ten long-neglected NYC parks across all five boroughs are getting a $50 million refresh. The upgrades will add playground equipment, recreation amenities, and new greenery to parks that haven’t been renovated in over 20 years. 🌳 (amNY)
City Hall says the improvements could benefit 116,500 New Yorkers, and construction will take roughly 3-4 years to finish.
Check out the full list of parks getting the glow-up here.
Still haven’t bought your official NYC trash bin? Time is ticking. The deadline for New Yorkers living in single-family homes or buildings with up to nine units to buy one is June 2026, and violations can cost $50-$200 — though you can now grab bins at Home Depot or even order them via delivery apps. 🗑️ (PIX 11)
More than 1 million New Yorkers have already ordered the city’s standardized bins since the program launched in 2024.
Here’s where to grab your bin.
Secure bike parking is finally coming to NYC streets. Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s budget proposes $25 million to install a network of 500 secure bike lockers across the city to match those seen in comparable cities like London and Paris. 🚲 (Streetsblog NYC)
The lockers — which can accommodate cargo bikes and may include e-bike charging — are expected near transit hubs and residential areas to make biking easier for more New Yorkers.
In other reading:
Here’s where New York’s top chefs eat after service (Financial Times)
Seven things to do in NYC this weekend (NY Daily News)
Finally, spring-like weather is headed to NYC (Time Out New York)
A Breakout Year for Female Founders
March is Women’s History Month, and International Women’s Day is coming up this Sunday. So what better time to look at the state of female founders?
Female founders just had a record-breaking year in venture capital — but the story is more complicated once you look closer.
A new PitchBook report finds that U.S. startups founded by women raised more money than ever in 2025. But much of that growth came from a handful of massive AI deals, suggesting the broader ecosystem is still uneven.
Here’s what stood out from the report. 👇
🚀 Record funding, powered by megadeals:
Female-founded startups raised $73.6 billion in 2025, capturing 27.7% of all U.S. venture deal value — both record highs.
More than $30 billion came from two AI deals alone: Scale AI and Anthropic, showing how much venture capital is concentrating into a few massive rounds.
🗽 Let’s hear it for New York:
New York recorded 426 VC deals involving female founders, underscoring the city’s role as one of the country’s largest hubs for women-led startups.
Since 2008, NYC-based female founded startups have raised $55.5 billion across 7,102 deals, both second in the nation.
Tech:NYC, Pensar, and The Refinery at Domino are hosting our monthly NYC AI Demos this evening, featuring an all-female lineup of presenters from some of the top AI companies like Anthropic and Datadog.
🤖 AI is swallowing the lion’s share of funding: AI startups absorbed about two-thirds of all VC dollars invested in female-founded companies last year.
Outside of AI:
Female founders represent most deals in personal and food products, with clinics/outpatient services not far from the 50% deal count mark.
Biotech and pharma were among the sectors where female founders saw growth in both deal value and deal count.
📈 Exits picked up:
Exit value for female-founded startups more than doubled year-over-year, while exit count rose more than 20%.
Female-founded companies historically exit faster than overall U.S. median, but that gap has narrowed.
Yes, but: Fewer companies are getting funded.
Despite record funding totals, overall venture deal count declined, showing investors are concentrating capital into fewer companies.
💡 The takeaway: Female founders just posted their biggest VC funding year ever. While the gains are heavily concentrated in AI and late-stage deals, women made strides across the entire startup ecosystem, and New York is helping lead the way.
In other reading:
Starting your own business is all the rage again (Wall Street Journal)
Five medical innovations on HBO’s ‘The Pitt’ that are revolutionizing emergency care (Gizmodo)
You’ve never seen ants like this before (New York Times)
Crossover Markets, an NYC-based digital asset trading technology firm, raised $31 million in Series B funding. Tradeweb Markets led the round and was joined by DRW Venture Capital, Ripple, Virtu Financial, Wintermute Ventures, and others.
Reclaim Security, an NYC-based cybersecurity platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Acrew Capital led the round and was joined by QP Investors and Ibex Investors.
Sage, an NYC-based care platform for senior living and skilled nursing, raised $65 million in Series C funding. Goldman Sachs Alternatives led the round, joined by insiders IVP and Goldcrest.
Starface, an NYC-based maker of pimple patches, raised $105 million led by Astō Consumer Partners and Align Ventures.
March 10: Hiring Beyond the 5 Boroughs, a roundtable for Heads of HR/People Ops and Talent to have an honest, off-the-record conversation about what’s working, what’s broken, and what no one really talks about when it comes to non-local hiring. Register here.
March 11: YouCode Forum: Building What's Next in The Agentic Era, an evening with James Kaplan, CTO of McKinsey, and Bryan McCann, CTO of You.com, alongside enterprise builders and technical leaders. Register here.
March 19: City & State’s Digital New York Summit, for New York’s technology and information leaders from government and industry to gather for candid discussions and thought-provoking presentations on innovative ideas that are making everyday life for all New Yorkers more livable, safer, and more convenient. Register here with promo code TECHNYC for 25% off.
March 19: Founder Breakfast, a highly curated breakfast for founders who have raised Seed to Series B. Register here.
March 19: Human by Design: The Empathy Edge in an AI World, for women and allies who build — PMs, founders, designers, marketers, and engineers — to discuss how empathy, judgment, and collaborative AI tools can help you grow your influence and deliver meaningful impact in your work. Register here.
March 19: Own the Room: How to Speak and Present Effectively in Meetings, an interactive workshop designed for women who want to strengthen their voice at work. Register here.
March 19: Airtable Buildathon, a one-day, live builder competition where participants solve real business challenges using Airtable and AI-powered workflows. Register here.
March 20: Keeping It Urban Summit. A one-day conference featuring 10+ powerhouse panelists on media interfaces, robotics, and civic innovation, 5+ early-stage startups, and creative tech artist talks. Register here.
March 21: Anti-Slopathon, a hackathon where participants use AI to build tools, games, features, and experiences, but show how they’ve listened to their user and applied taste and design judgment. Register here.
March 25: Speed Pitch: Guaranteed 1:1 Meetings With Investors, for tech startups with market-ready MVP or revenue generating, preferably with one underrepresented founder, pre-seed to Series A. Register here with promo code TECHNYC20 for 20% off.
March 26: Founder Dinner, an intimate evening with a highly curated group of Series A+ founders that are scaling. Register here.
March 26: American Fintech Council’s inaugural Marketing and Communications Cocktails & Conversations, hosted in collaboration with Tech:NYC, CLYDE, and Current. Register here.
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 2: NYU Wagner’s 20th International Policy and Planning Summit, bringing together academics, practitioners, and students to explore cross-sectoral solutions to the interconnected global challenges of climate change, migration, and global urban resilience. 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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