Tuesday, October 14, 2025

October 14, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Tuesday, October 14, 2025 

In today’s digest, City Council general election races, break a world record, and new data shows New York’s venture scene is thriving. 🏙️

  • But first: Our next NYC AI Demos event is coming up! Join Tech:NYC, Pensar, Two Trees Management Co., and hundreds of NYC technologists, investors, and founders at The Refinery at Domino on Oct. 23 to catch demos from ElevenLabs, Tabs, Whop, Slingshot AI, Rogo, and Cyborg. Register here.

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  • The first NYC mayoral general election debate is this Thursday at 7pm, featuring candidates Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa. Here’s how to watch. 📺 (NBC New York)

  • While the mayoral race may get most of the headlines, the City Council map could see some significant shifts this cycle too. 🗺️ Here are the City Council races to watch in the upcoming general election. (City & State)

    • Most of the city’s council seats are likely to remain blue, but three races could shape the balance of power next year in the Bronx, Central Queens, and Southern Brooklyn.

    • A reminder: Election Day is Nov. 4 and early voting begins Oct. 25.

  • Free 5G and Wi-Fi are coming to New York and New Jersey transit hubs. A new 20-year agreement between the Port Authority and Boingo Wireless will bring high-speed, encrypted connectivity to major airports, PATH stations, and tunnels. 🛜 (PIX11)

    • Coverage will expand to JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, and Stewart airports, as well as the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, PATH stations, and the Midtown Bus Terminal.

In other reading:

  • These are New York’s top 10 best colleges for 2026 (Fox New York)

  • Open House 2025: 300+ seriously cool NYC sites you can explore that are typically closed to the public (Time Out New York)

  • Celebrate 75 years of Wollman Rink and help break a world record (New York Family)

The Thriving New York Venture Scene

New York’s venture scene is thriving, and women founders are leading the charge.

What’s new: A new report from State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli shows New York City is holding strong as the nation’s No. 2 venture capital hub, bringing in $28.5 billion in 2024 investments — more than Boston, LA, and Philly combined. 🗽

🤖 AI, captain: The report shows that AI has (of course) taken a big lead in terms of venture funding. 

  • Artificial intelligence now accounts for the majority of VC activity nationwide — jumping from 16% of deals in 2021 to 71% in early 2025. The trend is mirrored locally, where NYC’s AI sector has exploded to include 2,000+ startups, 35 unicorns, and 40,000 AI workers.

  • Among the city’s big winners: Ramp ($200 million), Hebbia AI ($130 million), and Rogo ($50 million) — meaning investors have an appetite for applied AI.

  • These mega-deals are driving record growth: transactions over $50 million now make up nearly 70% of all VC dollars.

💻 SaaS in the house: The report also shows that more than half of NYC’s venture capital now goes to software and tech services, up from 37.6% in 2019.

  • Between 2020 and 2024, the sector drew over $44 billion in investment, supporting at least 13,000 local jobs.

  • Other major sectors include financial services (13% of VC funding) and media, where NYC continues to outpace national averages.

👏 Women founders leading the charge: In the 12 months ending June 2025, all-female-founded startups in NYC raised $955 million across 143 deals, edging out San Francisco’s $938 million. 

  • Since 2015, women-led companies in the New York metro area have raised $9.2 billion — nearly matching the Bay Area’s total — suggesting the city is becoming a national leader for female entrepreneurship.

⚠️ Yes, but: Despite the surge in funding, first-round and seed-stage deals have barely grown — meaning smaller startups still face an uphill battle for capital.

  • Investors are moving toward larger firms with more established industry footholds.

  • While the total dollar value of deals increased by 30.3 percent in 2024 compared to the prior year, total funding for preseed and seed deals only increased 1.5 percent during the same period.

  • This lack of competition could lead to a slow-down in innovation down the line. 

📊 Bottom line: Venture capital in New York is bigger, smarter, and more inclusive than ever, with women founders, AI innovators, and local investors all shaping the city’s next great tech wave.

In other reading:

  • The future of work has arrived: How AI is rebuilding workplace culture (Forbes)

  • Don’t lose your star new hire (HBR)

  • The 4 next big things in workplace and productivity tech for 2025 (Fast Company)

  • ​​Kalshi, an NYC-based prediction market, raised over $300 million in Series D funding led by Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz. Paradigm, CapitalG, Coinbase Ventures, General Catalyst, and Spark Capital joined.

  • Pavus AI, an NYC-based procurement data structuring startup, raised $5.3 million, led by Sentinel Global.

  • Previvor Edge, an NYC-based cancer prevention and early detection platform, raised $3.3 million in pre-seed funding. CoFound Partners and Max Ventures led the round and were joined by Humbition Capital, Red Swan Ventures, and Designer Fund.

  • Reflection, an NYC-based open-source superintelligence lab, raised $2 billion in Series B funding from Nvidia, Disruptive, B Capital, Citi, and others.

  • October 15: Mental Health Tech Summit, bringing together 20+ speakers and 120+ attendees of executives, founders, clinicians, and investors discussing the next generation of mental healthcare. Register here.

  • October 16: 5BORO Institute’s NYC Child Care Summit, a convening of leaders from across sectors in New York City to discuss the critical role that accessible, affordable child care plays in driving a healthy and thriving city, and the opportunity that business leaders and large employers have to drive policy change. RSVP by emailing [email protected].

  • October 18: Daydream.ing in SoHo, an IRL shopping experience from the team at Daydream, where you can unlock discounts and giveaways at over 25 partner stores, meet the Daydream team, and enter to win a $1,000 shopping spree. Register here.

  • October 22-23: Fundraising Strategy & Storytelling Workshop, a hands-on two-day workshop for early-stage founders preparing for fundraising and getting real feedback from top founders and investors on pitch deck. Register here.

  • October 23: NYC AI Demos, a series collab between Tech:NYC, Pensar AI, and the Refinery at Domino, this month featuring live demos from Tabs, Whop, Slingshot AI, Rogo, and more to be announced. Register here.

  • October 23: Tech:NYC and Crain’s Tech Summit, a day of conversations that explore how AI is transforming key industries — from reshaping real estate tools and bedside care to revolutionizing financial strategies and raising urgent legal considerations. Register with promo code FRIENDSOFTECHNYC for a 15% discount here.

  • October 23: Curated Founder Breakfast, a private breakfast for a curated group of early-stage founders who are fundraising soon. Register here.

  • October 24: AI Builders & Ramen, for a curated group of AI engineers, consultants, or enthusiasts for an evening of great conversations over ramen. Register here.

  • October 28: SIEDC Elevate Tech Summit, where you can dive into specialized tracks in AI, marketing, and business operations, featuring top leaders and innovators shaping the future of tech in the tri-state area. Register here.

  • November 7: AcceleratorCon, for top early-stage founders connect directly with investors, accelerators, and ecosystem partners. Register with promo code NYCDIGEST for a 30% discount here.

  • November 11-12: Urban Tech Summit, offering insights and examples of how researchers, companies, governments, and communities can continue to drive innovation, and how urban tech can help cities do more with less as they prepare for the future. Register here.

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