Tuesday, February 24, 2026
In today’s digest, scenes from the blizzard, in the drone zone, and the state of private markets. 💰
Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.
The hype was real, New York. This blizzard officially secured its spot in the history books, with Central Park recording 19.7 inches — its ninth-heaviest snowfall on record (we can’t believe there were eight bigger storms either). Other parts of the region saw even more dramatic totals, with Islip peaking at a massive 31”. Here are the final totals across the city. 🌨️ (NBC New York)
The city is already warning property owners to shovel fast — fines start at $100 and inspectors handed out thousands of tickets after the last storm.
The NYPD is gearing up for its drone era. 🛸 Officers are now being trained to use technology to neutralize rogue drones ahead of major events like the World Cup. (Gothamist)
A new federal law may soon give local police the power to actually take drones down — something only feds could do before.
A new report says NYC crime stats for 2025 are trending in a positive direction: historic lows for murders and shootings, and most major crime categories declined in 2025 compared to the year prior. 📊 (The CITY)
The city logged more shooting- and murder-free days than any year since 2019.
While NYC remains safer than peer metros, overall offenses are still about 25% above pre-pandemic levels.
In other reading:
Scenes from your blizzard (Intelligencer)
Does New York City have a snowy 666 curse? (City & State)
Met Gala reveals its 2026 dress code (NBC New York)
The State of Private Markets
Carta’s State of Private Markets report says 2025 was a comeback year, and AI is rewriting the definition of “normal.” Let’s have looksee, shall we? 👀
Carta says startups on its platform raised nearly $120 billion in 2025, valuations rose, founder-friendly terms crept back, and the Northeast (👋 New York) picked up real share.
🚀 The big picture: Startups on Carta raised $119.5 billion in 2025, up 16.9% year over year, capping what the report calls a multi-year recovery from the 2022 reset.
Q4 did a lot of the heavy lifting: $36.1 billion raised, the strongest quarter since Q2 2022.
🧲 Capital is concentrating: Total new rounds fell to 4,859 in 2025 (a six-year low), even as dollars surged — meaning fewer companies got bigger checks.
In Q4, there were just 1,195 transactions, and average round size jumped to $30.2 million (vs. $19.3 million a year earlier).
🤖 The AI premium is real: At every stage from Series A onward, AI startups raised larger rounds and got higher valuations than non-AI peers.
🌱 Early stage is raising more cash but doing fewer deals: Seed and Series A dollars climbed, while deal counts slid toward lows.
Seed companies raised $3 billion in Q4 (up 10% YoY) but closed only 435 rounds (down 23% YoY).
Series A companies raised $15 billion across Q3+Q4 (best six-month stretch since mid-2022), yet deal count stayed below 400 in both quarters — a first this decade.
✅ Founder-friendly signs: Down rounds are fading and dilution is dropping.
In Q4, less than 14% of rounds were down rounds — the lowest quarterly figure since the start of 2023.
⚠️ But wait, liquidity is still rough: With IPOs and exits still challenging, bridge rounds and tender offers are getting more popular.
Bridge rounds were about 29% of seed and Series A deals in 2025.
Carta tracked 396 tender offers in 2025, up 62% from 2024.
🗽 The NYC angle: The Northeast is holding its own (and then some). New York was the biggest driver of all funding after California, claiming 14.1%.
📌 The takeaway: 2025 was the year of bigger rounds, higher valuations, and fewer down rounds — and if you’re building in New York, the region is showing up in the data.
In other reading:
Do bosses still need a private office? (Financial Times)
Stop using chatbots like Google (Axios)
I slept three hours (Big Desk Energy)
Welcome to our weekly jobs section, where we spotlight a selection of the NYC tech jobs from Tech:NYC’s Jobs Board — all recently posted. 🔥
Here are three NYC-based sales and business development roles at tech companies:
Partner Director, Head of Technology Partnerships — OpenAI ($378k-$420k / year + equity): You’ll be responsible for building strategic relationships with leading enterprise platforms and software providers, and translating shared priorities into scalable integrations and go-to-market motions that drive customer adoption. Apply here.
Sales Director, Eastern U.S. — Via ($150k-$210k / year): You’ll take a hands-on approach toward building an inclusive, sustainable, and tech-enabled framework for mobility, leading regional sales efforts across both public and private sectors. Apply here.
Strategic Partnerships Account Lead — Traba ($140k-$160k / year + equity): You’ll serve as the face of Traba to senior operators at leading light industrial companies, while coordinating cross-functional teams internally to ensure operational excellence and long-term partnership growth. Apply here.
Profound, an NYC-based agentic marketing startup, raised $96 million in Series C funding at a $1 billion valuation led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Saga VC, South Park Commons, and Evantic joined.
Slang AI, an NYC-based AI platform for the hospitality industry, raised a $36 million Series B led by U.S. Venture Partners.
February 25: The New York Official Cybersecurity Summit, a full day of expert insights, interactive sessions, and high-value networking with leaders across the cybersecurity community. Register here with promo code CSS26-TECHNYC for a free pass.
February 25: Startup Pitch & Networking in Manhattan, a curated pitch night for startup founders, operators, angels and VC partners. Designed to help founders sharpen their thinking through direct, candid feedback — and to give strong investors access to serious teams. Register here.
February 26: Climate Tech Fellowship Showcase, a look at the New York Climate Exchange Fellows’ six-month journey and the solutions they’re advancing across urban and coastal resilience, climate data, and energy and decarbonization. Register here.
February 26: Her Tech Community Launch Gathering, the launch of a new women-in-tech community designed to create meaningful connection, shared learning, and a space where the attendee’s voice directly shapes what they build. Register here.
February 27: Tech Happy Hour, a low-key way to connect with the NYC tech and startup community to discover shared interests, explore areas for collaboration, and find your next co-founder or key hire. Register here.
March 2-3: Cornell Tech and Weill Cornell Medicine’s 2026 Health Tech Summit, bringing together leaders across healthcare, technology, academia, and government to map out what’s next for responsible, human-centered AI in clinical care. Register here.
March 4: NYC Indie Games March Social, a long-running monthly gathering for indie game devs and pals of all stripes to mix and mingle in a relaxed setting. Register here.
March 5: NYC AI Demos, from Tech:NYC, Pensar, and The Refiner at Domino, featuring an all-female lineup of technical leaders from Anthropic, Datadog (and more to be announced soon) building real AI products across infrastructure, dev tools, healthcare, fintech, and more. Register here.
March 5: Commonweal Ventures Briefing: Procurement at the Department of War, a virtual conversation with Andrew Hunter, Former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. Register here.
March 6: Startup Weekend Women, an exclusive experience in celebration of International Women’s Day to pitch your business, find a team, and build an idea in just 54 hours. Register here.
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 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: 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: Airtable Buildathon, a one-day, live builder competition where participants solve real business challenges using Airtable and AI-powered workflows. 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 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.
Daily Digest Rewards 🎁
Treat yourself: Send subscribers our way, and we’ll send swag your way.
1 Referral: Shoutout in the Digest
5 Referrals: Obviously NYC Hat
10 Referrals: Obviously NYC Tote Bag
25 Referrals: Obviously NYC Sweatshirt
{{rp_personalized_text}}
Or share your personal link with others: {{ rp_refer_url }}
Any feedback or suggestions of things to add? Get in touch here.
Was this digest forwarded to you? Sign up to receive it directly here.
