Tech:NYC Digest: October 28
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
In today’s digest, the perks of being a marathon runner, Bryant Park’s Winter Village is back, and what’s next for consumer brands. 👜
Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law today a bill that prohibits AI chatbots from offering a range of standard features to users under the age of 18. 🤖 (Mashable)
Tech:NYC’s take (Take:NYC?): Keeping kids safe online should not mean cutting them off from tools that help them learn and prepare for careers.
The bill could force companies to restrict kids’ access to tutoring tools, homework help, coding assistants, and career platforms — resources that support their education today and help them prepare for tomorrow’s workforce.
Read our full statement here.
On your marks, get set, NYC! The New York City Marathon returns this Sunday, November 1, with roughly 60,000 runners expected to tackle the iconic 26.2-mile course across all five boroughs. Here’s everything you need to know about the race. 🏃 (amNY)
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the marathon’s five-borough route, with road closures across the city and live race coverage beginning at 8am
Running has its perks! This year, finishers can score free Shake Shack burgers, brunch, museum admission, and even marathon-inspired tattoos.
NYC is taking Halloween to the streets. The city’s fifth annual Trick-or-Streets celebration is its biggest yet, with more than 180 car-free events planned across all five boroughs. 🎃 (NYC DOT)
Expect free live performances, pumpkin patches, games, arts and crafts, and 75,000 pieces of candy distributed to event organizers.
Find a celebration near you with the city's interactive event map.
In other reading:
Fintech pay manager expands Midtown South footprint with 150K lease (Crain’s New York Business)
Bryant Park’s Winter Village opens for the holiday season (PIX 11)
NYC Marathon exhibit at Grand Central celebrates 50 years in five boroughs (ABC 7 New York)
Event Spotlight: The AI Summit New York
What’s next for AI and how are leaders putting it into practice?
On December 9–10, The AI Summit New York returns to the Javits Center for its 11th year, bringing together over 7,000 attendees from across the global AI ecosystem.
Register here with promo code TECHNYC20 for 20% off Delegate or VIP All Access passes.
Inside Red Sea Ventures’ Consumer Brand Summit
New York’s consumer brand founders, investors, and industry leaders gathered in Tribeca today for Red Sea Ventures’ Consumer Brand Summit, exploring how the next generation of breakout brands is being built, funded, and scaled. 🛍️
The conversations come as AI reshapes how consumers discover products and brands compete for their attention.
🏙️ Inside the Summit: The event brought together founders and executives behind brands like Olaplex, Supergoop, Seed Health, Siggi's, Little Spoon, Sweetgreen, and Tula for discussions about the future of consumer brands.
On storytelling’s role in science: “Science isn’t finished until it’s communicated,” said Ara Katz, co-founder of Seed Health, citing the well-known adage and emphasizing the need for clear storytelling as AI accelerates scientific discovery.
On staying close to customers as brands scale: “We started out direct-to-consumer, but as we scaled, we realized that most of America buys their products in stores, and we had to adapt,”said Ben Lewis, co-founder of Little Spoon, adding that the company maintains its DTC mindset to stay connected with customers and build lasting trust.
On building for AI agents: Emmett Shine, co-founder of Little Plains, said AI is making software cheaper to build and changing how teams structure their work. “It used to be that everything had to be built to hand off to another member of the team, but increasingly we’re building things to be able to hand them off to agentic tools,” he said.
AI is changing shopping habits: 51% of U.S. consumers reported using an AI-powered shopping tool in the past month, with AI product recommendations (20%) and personal shopping assistants (16%) leading adoption. 🤖
⚠️ But consumers still want control: A recent Gartner survey found that willingness to let AI make purchase decisions topped out at 11%.
The opportunity ahead: Forecasters anticipate a record $275.1 billion in U.S. online holiday spending this year, up 6.7%, with AI-driven traffic to retail websites expected to jump 130%.
🗽 The NYC perspective: “New York is where the culture is built. You have the buyers, the builders, all within a short subway ride of each other,” said Scott Birnbaum, founder and managing partner of Red Sea Ventures.
“AI is helping founders scale at a pace we’ve never seen before, and we couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities that’s creating,” Birnbaum added.
Dig deeper: Explore NielsenIQ's latest research on how AI is reshaping consumer shopping behavior here.
Related reading: Read our spotlight on Scott Birnbaum, Founder and Managing Partner, Red Sea Ventures
In other reading:
Fragment, an NYC-based procurement startup, raised $56 million in seed and Series A funding. 8VC led the A, joined by General Catalyst, A*, and Roelof Botha.
Lumaril, an NYC-based factory optimization startup, raised $66 million in Series A funding at a $400 million valuation. Elad Gil led the round, joined by Felicis, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Pax Ventures, and insiders Lux Capital and General Catalyst.
Mostest, an NYC-based event-booking platform, raised a $4 million seed round from Capital Q Ventures, Nexus Luxury Collection, T-Squared Social, Wildwood Ventures, Locker Room Capital, and Newbond.
Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator is accepting applications for its Winter 2027 Cohort. The four-month program provides early-stage startups with $150,000 in seed capital, access to New York City’s largest mentor network, hands-on operational support, and over $1 million in partner perks and cloud credits. Apply here by November 2.
nextNYC is accepting applications for its Pre-Series A Offsite on November 11 in Brooklyn. The full-day event brings together pre-Series A and seed founders for actionable insights, honest conversations on scaling, and curated networking with fellow founders and top investors from AlleyCorp, Andreessen Horowitz, Battery VC, Ansa Capital, and more. Apply here.
Blue Ridge Labs is accepting applications for its 2027 Catalyst cohort, a 16-week Robin Hood accelerator program for pre-seed startups and early-stage tech nonprofits using software, AI, and data to expand economic mobility for low-income New Yorkers. Selected ventures receive $100,000 in investment or grant funding, plus tailored coaching in product, finance, sales, marketing, and engineering. Apply here by November 13.
Techstars New York City Accelerator is accepting applications for its upcoming hybrid cohort. The program backs founders reshaping health, climate, AI/ML, fintech, enterprise SaaS, and beyond by leveraging NYC’s unmatched ecosystem to help startups reach product-market fit. Selected startups receive $220,000 in funding and tailored mentorship. Apply here by November 18.
The David Prize is accepting applications from individuals with visionary ideas to build a better, brighter New York City. Open to anyone working across the five boroughs, the program supports passionate leaders — whether independent or affiliated with an organization — who are pursuing impactful work outside of established pathways and projects. Winners receive flexible funding to bring their audacious visions for the city to life. Apply here by November 30.
Data Through Design is accepting submissions for its annual gallery exhibition, 10 Years of Data Through Design. Part of NYC Open Data Week, the exhibition invites tangible and multimedia project proposals exploring reflections, reverberations, and the arc of municipal data over time. Submit a proposal here by November 15.
NYC Open Data Week 2027is accepting event proposals for its upcoming two-week festival (March 27 – April 11, 2027). Organized by OTI, BetaNYC, and Data Through Design, the festival brings together NYC’s civic tech community through virtual and in-person events celebrating municipal public data. Submit proposals here by December 6.
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 can express interest here.
The NYC Tech Talent Pipeline Residency Program is also looking for volunteers to conduct mock technical interviews for students pursuing tech careers. Volunteers can schedule interviews flexibly, with resources provided to help students prepare for internships and entry-level roles. Sign up 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.
Have startup news worth sharing? Founder Gazette is looking for startup news and founder stories from the tech community. Submit your company updates, milestones, and founder stories through its submissions page for a chance to be featured.
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