Wednesday, July 16, 2025

July 16, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Wednesday, July 16, 2025 

In today’s digest, score tix to SNL, a “Superdog” competition, and Q2 VC funding stats. 💸

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  • The future is in walking distance: Four of NYC’s five boroughs (sorry, Staten Island) rank among the top U.S. counties for active transportation, or getting around by walking or biking, according to a new report. 🚶 (Gothamist)

    • Nearly 60% of trips in Manhattan are taken on foot or bike rather than by car. 

    • Compare that to this: In more than two-thirds of counties studied, walking and biking account for fewer than 10% of daily trips.

  • Where’s everyone walking to? The office, apparently. Manhattan had the lowest office vacancy rate of any major city in the U.S. at 16% in Q2, according to commercial broker JLL. (Crain’s New York)

    • In a quote that lots of you may agree with: “If my partner and I are working at home on the same Friday, it’s hell,” said Andrew Lim, director of New York research at JLL.

  • It’s almost time to enter the lottery! For Saturday Night Live tickets, that is. The SNL ticket lottery opens in just a couple weeks (August 1). Here’s your guide for how to score free tix to the iconic sketch comedy show. 🎭 (Secret NYC)

In other reading:

  • How to navigate Upstate Art Weekend, according to six Hudson Valley insiders (Vogue)

  • First look: Peek inside the newly renovated Delacorte Theater in Central Park (TimeOut New York)

  • Does your super dog look like Superman’s dog? Enter NYC’s newest contest (PIX11)

Despite a somewhat chaotic beginning to Q2 (the tariffs would like a word), venture activity started showing signs of life by the end of the quarter, with several high-profile deals and billion-dollar M&As, according to the PitchBook-NVCA Q2 Venture Monitor report. 📈

  • Companies operating in AI, national security, defense tech, fintech, and crypto all attracted greater investor interest. 🫰

🥧 AI keeps eating the pie: AI dominated H1 VC activity, accounting for 64% of deal value and five of the top 10 largest rounds.

🏠 NYC in the house: Of course, NYC’s tech sector stepped up.

  • New York was one of the top cities for VC activity, with $6.3 billion invested across 436 deals, only surpassed by the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

  • NY beat out hubs like Boston ($2.7 billion) and Seattle ($1.9 billion).

  • The metro area also leads deals for female founders with 143 deals, beating out the likes of the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California, area.

What’s more: Some of the state’s largest deals come from Tech:NYC members, who continue to innovate and progress the tech sector forward.

  • Wonder Group saw a $600 million deal, Runway with a $307.4 million deal, and Ramp with a $200 million deal.

In other reading:

  • New tech. New work. Your old value case isn’t enough (Deloitte)

  • AI's job isn't to innovate; It's to facilitate creation (Forbes)

  • In America’s return to the office, women are falling behind (Wall Street Journal) 

  • Covenant, an NYC-based AI law firm built for private market investors, raised $4 million in seed funding. Flybridge Capital led the round.

  • Heron, an NYC-based startup using AI to automate workflows in business lending, equipment finance, and insurance, raised $16 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by Y Combinator, BoxGroup and Flex Capital.

  • Monumental Labs, an NYC-based AI-powered architecture and sculpture design firm, raised $8 million in seed funding. Seven Seven Six led the round and was joined by Mythos Ventures, Gravity Capital, Path Ventures, and more.

  • ParadeDB, an NYC-based search and analytics program for Postgres, raised $12 million in Series A funding. Craft Ventures led the round and was joined by Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Susa Ventures, and others.

  • Company Ventures’ Grand Central Tech Residency, for pre-idea founders to seed stage teams looking to accelerate wherever they are on the journey from company concept exploration to company launch. Apply by July 23 here.

  • South Park Commons’ Founder Fellowship, which helps entrepreneurs start a venture-scale company by targeting support at the “-1 to 0” idea stage. Apply by August 3 here.

  • NYCEDC has released a request for proposals for a Founder Alumni Program and is seeking operators to build a dynamic, long-term network of program alumni from its entrepreneurship programs. Download the RFP and apply by August 4 here. 

  • The third annual Environmental Tech Lab, an accelerated innovation program ensuring that New Yorkers can continue to enjoy safe drinking water and a clean environment as the climate continues to change in unpredictable ways. Apply by August 8 here.

  • Precursor Ventures’ How to Raise a Pre-Seed Bootcamp, for founders new to raising venture capital looking to learn the tools and strategies to navigate a pre-seed fundraising journey. Apply by August 22 here.

  • Yale’s Computer Science Fair on September 19, featuring hundreds of students and tech companies. Companies can apply to attend by August 30 here.

  • See NYC is gathering 150 New Yorkers for a three-day summer camp-style experience to share ideas to build a better New York City. Apply here.

  • Company Ventures is hosting AI Review events, a year-long conversation series on the current and future state of AI. Submit your AI-related event for consideration here.

  • Union Square Ventures’ “usvwork” — a casual coworking day once a month for founders and builders in NYC. Apply here.

  • Forum Ventures is accepting pitches to its Forum for Founders program. The firm is investing in 30+ companies over the next three months, offering $100K and admission to its pre-seed accelerator to provide personalized GTM and sales support. Apply here.

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