Wednesday, February 25, 2026

But first: The lineup is set for Tech:NYC’s next NYC AI Demos event on March 5 with Pensar and The Refinery at Domino! For Women’s History Month, we’re hosting an all-female lineup of technical leaders powering some of NYC’s top AI companies, including Anthropic, Datadog, Suno, Housewarming, Greenly, and Vellum. Register here.

Add one more skyscraper to the NYC skyline: American Express announced plans today to build its new global HQ at 2 World Trade Center. 🏗️ (PIX 11)

MIT researchers just built the first-ever comprehensive map of pedestrian traffic across all of New York City, finally quantifying where New Yorkers are actually walkin’ here. 🚶‍♂️ (Fast Company)

PSA for parents: The deadline to apply for NYC’s free 3-K and pre-K programs is Friday, as Mayor Zohran Mamdani pushes to expand affordable child care citywide. 📚 (NY1) 

The infamous Vessel at Hudson Yards is reopening in March (Time Out New York) 

Hochul lets Long Island grandpa keep his pee-themed license plate in win for dad jokes (NY Post)

Tin Building by Jean-Georges closes, will become an immersive art Balloon Museum (Gothamist) 

Unlike polls that measure what people say or pundits who hedge their predictions, platforms like Kalshi, Polymarket, and Novig (all NYC-based tech companies) allow participants to put real money on specific outcomes (and enjoy free grocery stores?).

These markets aggregate real-time data into probabilities that are often more accurate than traditional forecasting models because they collect dispersed info without ideology, public pressure, or narratives.

This reliability in predicting real-world outcomes has spawned an entire industry that surged to $27.9 billion in annual trading last year while sparking interest from hedge funds, Federal Reserve researchers, and policymakers.

In prediction markets, you trade against other users (peer-to-peer), while in sports betting you wager against a sportsbook, or “house.”

Monthly bets on Polymarket and Kalshi jumped from under $100 million in early 2024 to $13 billion this November. 

The sector is projected to reach $95.5 billion in annual trading by 2035.

Meanwhile, shares of DraftKings and Flutter have fallen 30% in the past month, partly on concerns that old-school betting can’t compete with the new prediction market model. 

Kalshi recently closed a funding round that valued it at $11 billion.

Sports-focused challenger Novig just raised a $75 million Series B, valuing the company at $500 million.

“Over the next three to five years, I think we’ll see a clear separation between platforms that truly embrace market structure — transparency, tight spreads, deep liquidity — and those that don’t. The winners will look far more like financial exchanges than casinos,” Novig Founder and CEO Jacob Fortinsky told Tech:NYC.

More startups are hitting $10M ARR in three months than ever before (TechCrunch) 

Gen AI won’t make your employees experts (Harvard Business Review)

Astelia, an NYC-based cybersecurity platform, raised $35 million in seed and Series A funding led by Index Ventures and Team8 with participation from Holly Ventures.

Basis, an NYC-based agentic AI platform designed for accountants, raised $100 million in Series B funding. Accel led the round and was joined by GV, Lloyd Blankfein, and existing investors.

Jampack AI, an NYC-based wholesale operations automation platform, raised a $3.2 million seed led by Maveron, joined by Timber Grove Ventures.

Nimble, an NYC-based web search and data platform, raised $47 million in Series B funding led by Norwest. Databricks Ventures, Target Global, Square Peg, Hetz Ventures, Slow Ventures, R-Squared Ventures, J-Ventures, and InvestInData joined.

Tech:NYC is proud to partner with Company Ventures to deliver the NYC Startup Internship Program for Summer 2026. This 10-week program connects high-potential NYC students with early-stage tech companies for paid, meaningful work experience while building equitable pathways into our industry. Apply to host an intern here by February 27.

Decoded Futures, Tech:NYC’s initiative to empower the social sector with AI to scale their impact, is headed west, with a pilot in Colorado, and accepting applications from Denver-based technologists to work with the nonprofits. Apply to volunteer here (or tell your Denver friends!).

EY is accepting nominations and applications for Entrepreneur of the Year New York, honoring ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the U.S. Nominate or apply by February 27 here.

Applications are now open for the eighth annual Transit Tech Lab, an accelerated innovation program founded by the Partnership Fund for New York City and the MTA to improve public transit in the NY metro area. This year’s Lab is seeking tech companies with solutions that can help transit agencies advance infrastructure systems or modernize data and operational workflows. Apply here by February 27.

Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s Make It in Brooklyn Ag Tech Pitch Contest, seeking innovative startups that develop cutting-edge technologies to address critical challenges in modern agriculture — from precision farming and crop monitoring to sustainable irrigation, soil health management, and farm automation. Apply here by February 28.

Element 46 Tech Accelerator, a Westchester County program for tech startups, is accepting applications for its spring 2026 cohort. Applications are viewed on a rolling basis until March 6. Apply here.

Headstream Accelerator, supporting early-stage digital health and edtech products that address the mental well-being of young people. Benefits include 16 weeks of virtual-first programming, funded in-person kickoff and conference attendance, access to a supportive network of advisors, funders, industry experts, and a $30k non-dilutive stipend. Apply here by March 15.

Governor Hochul has launched EXPRESS NY, a statewide effort to tackle outdated or onerous regulations that stand in the way of delivering for New Yorkers. The state is soliciting ideas from stakeholders across New York on opportunities to cut red tape and improve government delivery. Submit proposals and recommendations here by April 3.

The Tech Week team is building a list of companies open to co-hosting events in their offices/venues for NY and Boston Tech Week, a great way to reach your target customers, find great co-hosts for Tech Week events, and increase your footprint at Tech Week with minimal cost. Apply to be a venue partner here.

CUNY 2x Tech’s NYC Tech Talent Pipeline Residency Program, connecting high-potential Computer Systems Technology students with NYC-based employers for  10-week, full-time internships focused on software engineering and data analytics. Employers, express interest here.

HubSpot’s How You Hustle, where you and your business could be featured and receive free press exposure to their 1.5 million subscribers. Apply here.

Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s Living Lab is seeking innovative technologies that address operational and quality-of-life challenges in urban parks and public spaces. Selected participants will use DBP-operated streets and plazas as real-world testing grounds for their technologies. Apply here. 

Zero Irving — the Union Square tech hub home to Civic Hall — is relaunching its Workforce Development Project Fund, which awards $200,000 annually for programs that expand tech access and economic mobility for underrepresented New Yorkers, especially those in Manhattan Community District 3 (Lower East Side, East Village, Chinatown). Submit your proposal here.