Venture Money Returns to New York — but the Checks Come With Strings
Funding is flowing to the city's startups again after a long drought, though investors are demanding profitability, not just growth.
After a punishing dry spell, venture capital is flowing back into New York's startups. Investors who spent two years hoarding cash are writing checks again, drawn by the city's strength in finance, media, and health technology.
The mood, however, has changed. Founders describe term sheets that reward efficiency over expansion, with investors scrutinizing margins that once went ignored. The fictional fund Harbor Ventures says it now funds companies expecting them to reach profitability on the money raised, not to return for more.
The discipline has thinned the herd, and some once-hot startups have folded. But the founders who remain say a healthier market has emerged — one where a good business, not just a good story, gets funded.
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