Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Subway crime in NYC has hit a 16-year low, dipping 4% in 2025. There were fewer reported incidents in 2025 across all six major subway crime categories. 🚨 (amNY) 

No surprise fees, please! Ahead of the FIFA World Cup this summer, and to lower costs for visitors, the city is requiring hotels to list all mandatory fees, deposits, and credit card holds upfront. 😮 (Bloomberg) 

Governor Kathy Hochul announced yesterday that New York State’s child tax credit has expanded, raising the credit to up to $1,000 per qualifying child under age four. Check your eligibility and learn how to receive the tax credit here. 🧒 (New York Family)

The best sandwiches in New York City (Conde Nast Traveler) 

Zohran Mamdani needs a winter hat. We have some ideas (City & State)

How to get tickets to Harry Styles’ NYC concert residency (Time Out New York) 

AI tools for drug discovery and medical imaging are two of the clearest growth stories.

Drug discovery tools in particular are projected to grow from a $1.6 billion market in 2025 to $60 billion (!) by 2030 as AI improves clinical trial success and unlocks new medicines.

AI that helps companies manage data, automate customer support, and power internal tools is expected to become core infrastructure.

Robotics, datacenter efficiency, and AI for logistics and maritime are earlier stage, but could be huge over the decade ahead.

In many of these categories, startups risk becoming interchangeable features inside larger platforms rather than standalone winners. 

Go after big, painful problems in large industries.

Build on unique or hard-to-replicate data.

Deliver clear ROI.

Become part of a customer’s daily workflow.

Invest in strong distribution and partnerships.

There are now more than 1 million ‘.ai’ websites, contributing an estimated $70 million to Anguilla’s government revenue last year (Sherwood)

All rise for JudgeGPT (The Verge) 

Science breakthrough as biologists team up to write genetic code of virus that destroys killer bacteria (GB News)

Senior Staff TLM, Data Mining and Sampling for ML and Evaluation — Waymo (281k-356k / year + equity): You’ll develop tools to easily mine novel situations from Waymo’s driving logs that could impact safety. These tools will support evaluation and ML datasets using a mix of machine learning and structured data. Apply here.

Front End Software Engineer II — Microsoft (100,600-199k / year): You’ll play a key role in building engaging, performant, and accessible user interfaces that help developers and IT pros design, debug, and manage their workflows with clarity and confidence. Apply here.

Senior Fullstack Engineer – Gen AI solutions — Adobe (159,200-301,600 / year + equity): You’ll help shape how generative AI capabilities are translated into practical, user-friendly experiences and workflows across the Adobe ecosystem. Apply here.

Barnwell Bio, an NYC-based animal health and behavior intelligence company, raised $6 million in seed funding. Twelve Below led the round and was joined by Max Ventures, Dorm Room Fund, Banter Capital, and others.

Chamelio, an NYC-based legal intelligence platform designed for in-house legal teams, raised $10 million in seed funding. The round was led by Work-Bench and Emerge with participation from additional investors.

Flora, an NYC-based node-based design tool, raised $42 million in Series A funding led by Redpoint Ventures.

Gigablue, an NYC-based marine carbon removal startup, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Planet Ocean Capital.

Lucend, an NYC-based AI platform designed for data center optimization, raised $3.3 million in seed funding. Remarkable Ventures Climate led the round and was joined by Mitsubishi Electric’s Innovation Fund, New Climate Ventures, Avesta, and Stepchange.

Pace, an NYC-based insurance BPO startup, raised $10 million from Sequoia Capital.

SpotDraft, an NYC-based contract lifecycle management platform, raised $8 million in Series B extension funding at a $380 million valuation from Qualcomm Ventures.

Visitt, an NYC-based AI-powered property operations platform, raised $22 million in Series B funding. Susquehanna Growth Equity led the round and was joined by Vertex Ventures Israel, Anfield, and Sarona Ventures.

⭐ 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 DoorDash, Runway, Magic, Blackbird Labs, Bikky, and 222. Register here. 

⭐ 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.

⭐ 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 (there’s a sale today too!).

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 29: Founder Bowling, ​for founders from Seed+ navigating the critical phase of scaling — refining GTM, growing the team, and shaping their narrative for the next round. Register here.

January 29: NYC Tech Breakfast Club January, a celebration of everything good/early — early-stage investing, breakfast, etc. Register here.

January 30: BetaBagels 013: Your Community Boards, PIT, and Power in Local Politics, a conversation on how to use your tech, design, and analytical skills to support your neighbors. Register here.

February 2: Tech News & Breakfast, where you can meet and discuss the week’s news related to tech, startups, and business. Register here. 

February 3: Founders Social, a curated happy hour bringing together founders, builders, and investors across tech, AI, and Web3. 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.

February 6: Advanced Founder Roundtable Lunch, for Series A+ founders solving real scaling problems during an executive networking lunch at the National Arts Club. Application required. Register here.

February 7: TECH Basketball, an informal gathering where to play basketball and talk about tech startups and much more. Register here. 

February 9: NY Tech Meetup: Gaming Edition​, a gaming-focused gathering bringing together creators, builders, and players shaping what’s next. Register here.

February 11: Health2Tech NYC, an exclusive gathering bringing together the brightest minds in the digital health space. Register here.