Wednesday, November 19, 2025
In today’s digest, futuristic scaffolding, expanded after-school programs, and enterprise SaaS proves it still has legs. 🦵
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NYC revealed six “sidewalk shed” redesigns that shrink the scaffolding footprint and swap out the gloomy cage-like X-bars for something far more futuristic and pedestrian-friendly. ✨ (New York Times)
The city currently has 8,500+ sheds stretching more than 2 million linear feet — enough to stretch from New York to Montreal!
These new models allow in more light and air and improve street aesthetics while helping businesses draw foot traffic that scaffolding usually scares off.
Mayor Eric Adams announced 10,000 new after-school seats coming to 75 schools and 11 community centers starting fall 2026. 🎒 (Chalkbeat)
The $331 million investment is tied to his pledge to add 20,000 seats by 2028 for K-8 students citywide, prioritizing communities with the biggest service gaps.
Queens schools are expected to receive 24 new after-school programs, while Brooklyn and the Bronx will have 17 each, Manhattan will get 10, and Staten Island will have seven.
NYC’s pilot for outdoor e-bike battery charging cabinets is officially graduating to a full rollout by 2027, offering safer street-level charging hubs. 🚴 (NY Daily News)
The refrigerator-sized stations let delivery workers and commuters safely swap or charge batteries without bringing them indoors.
Each cabinet features fire suppression systems, temperature control, ventilation, and automatic shutoff — all designed to reduce lithium ion-related home fires.
DOT plans to install a wider network across the city, viewing the cabinets as a key infrastructure step for the growing micromobility economy.
In other reading:
The world’s first AI dating café is opening in NYC this December (Secret NYC)
These six NYC restaurants just earned Michelin stars (Time Out New York)
The best and most giftable New York City merch (The Strategist)
Enterprise SaaS Holds Steady in New York
Fresh data from PitchBook’s Q3 2025 Enterprise SaaS VC Trends report shows a market that’s stabilizing, maturing, and increasingly shaped by AI. And NYC remains one of the country’s most resilient hubs.
While global deal value technically rose 28.3% QoQ, that bump was buoyed by a $10 billion debt and equity raise by xAI in July. The real story is what’s happening underneath the noise.
Here’s the signal NYC founders, investors, and operators should pay attention to:
💡 Steady deal flow, slower valuations, and AI eating the stack:
Deal flow is steady and disciplined. Global deal count held at 829 in Q3, right in line with the healthy-but-not-hyped post-2021 range. Investors are still active, they’re just more selective.
Exits are back on the board. Figma and Klarna alone drove a 206.6% surge in exit value this quarter, a sign the IPO window is reopening for top-tier SaaS companies.
AI is the operating layer. Whether it’s Microsoft’s CRM suite or Hyland’s knowledge systems, AI is the product roadmap.
🗽 NYC’s enterprise SaaS numbers tell an even clearer story
The NYC metro area has hit $8.8 billion in enterprise SaaS deal value so far in 2025 (317 deals), already surpassing last year’s $7.7 billion (363 deals) and well above 2023’s $6 billion (365 deals), according to PitchBook data.
That’s three straight years of rising deal value, a notable contrast to national volatility.
NYC has now logged six consecutive years with more than $4B in annual enterprise SaaS investment — a sign of long-term durability.
Why it matters: What’s emerging in NYC is a steadier, more sustainable environment where deal value is climbing, exits are resurfacing, and AI-native products are becoming the norm.
🧑⚖️ The verdict: Enterprise SaaS in New York has cooled from its pandemic highs, but it’s stabilizing (not shrinking).
Rising deal value, consistent deal volume, and a maturing AI-powered product landscape point to a sector that’s evolving.
In a noisy market, SaaS in NYC remains one of tech’s clearest signals of strength.
In other reading:
What Pixar’s Wall-E got right about the future of work (Wall Street Journal)
AI, my unexpected daily travel companion (The Verge)
NYCEDC announces applications for 2026 Founder Fellowship Program (NYCEDC)
Asseta AI, an NYC-based accounting platform designed for family offices, raised $4.2 million in seed funding. Nyca Partners and Motive Partners led the round.
Datum, an NYC-based open network cloud, raised $13.6 million in seed funding from Amplify Partners, CRV, Vervin Ventures, and others.
Modern Life, an NYC-based provider of AI tools for financial advisors to offer life insurance, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Thrive Capital led, joined by New York Life Ventures, Northwestern Mutual, and Allegis.
RapidSOS, an NYC-based emergency response data platform, raised $100 million at a valuation north of $1 billion led by Apax.
Thrivory, an NYC-based provider of claims settlement software, raised $3.5 million from Redesign Health.
Tulu, an NYC-based provider of on-demand access to appliances and entertainment devices for apartment building tenants, raised $17 million in Series A extension funding from GreenSoil PropTech Ventures.
Venn, an NYC-based operating system for multifamily housing, raised $52 million in Series B funding. NOA and CIM Group led the round and were joined by Group 11, Oren Zeev, and others.
Robin Hood’s Catalyst 2026 cohort, a four-month accelerator for pre-seed social impact startups who are building technology that expands economic mobility — in areas like housing, education, health, financial access, and jobs. Apply by November 21 here.
Cerebral Valley's AIE Code Agents Hackathon is this weekend, where you can work on some of the most pressing agent problems, including codebase context optimization, reasoning, code generation RL. Apply for the November 22-23 event here.
The New York State Housing Finance Agency is seeking proposals from vendors to provide a technology solution to support MWBE/SDVOB compliance, goal setting, waiver tracking, reporting, and engagement across New York State. Submit your proposal by November 24 here.
Gutter Capital’s Elbow Grease, an eight-week accelerator for founders building applied AI in sectors that still run mostly offline like construction, real estate, energy, government, and small businesses. Apply by November 26 here.
New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Founder Fellowship, an accelerator program designed to improve access to capital and networks for underrepresented founders across all tech-enabled sectors. Apply by December 31 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.
Company Ventures’ Grand Central Tech Residency’s spring 2026 cohort, a 12-month residency program for founders and teams looking to build in-person in NYC. Apply here.
Fierce Foundry’s Investment Readiness Bootcamp for Female Founders, a six-week program designed to help female founders prepare for their first institutional raise in the next 6-18 months. Apply by December 15th for 10% off 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.
New York City Economic Development Corporation is re-launching the Greenlight Innovation Fund, a Request for Proposals to provide City capital funding for the development of facilities in New York City that support the Green Economy, Life Sciences, Advanced Technology and Creative Industries. Submit your proposals by December 19 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.
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