Good day. New York, the second-largest technology startup market in the U.S., is voting for a new mayor today.

The city’s tech industry is split in support for Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani and independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, said Julie Samuels, president and chief executive of Tech:NYC, an advocacy group. Tech:NYC isn’t endorsing a candidate and will work with whoever gains power, she said. Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, has been polling in third place.

“Zohran has made more inroads in tech than in other business sectors,” Samuels said. “It’s a workforce that skews young…His campaign was really a disruptor, it had some of the qualities of a successful tech startup.” Many tech workers, despite being highly paid, also feel priced out of New York, she said. Affordability has been a key issue for Mamdani.

At the same time, the opposition to Mamdani in tech circles is substantial.

“There are people in NYC who spent time in San Francisco and are worried about far-left leadership in the city. That is a playbook that went very wrong in San Francisco,” Samuels said.

Mamdani’s proposals that could hurt the tech industry include plans to raise taxes on wealthy residents, as well as to increase corporate levies.

Reports of the Mamdani campaign’s plans to review Cornell Tech, a hub of startup and tech activities in the city, because of its partnership with Israeli university Technion sparked criticism from members of the venture-capital community, such as Josh Wolfe, partner and co-founder of Lux Capital.

A Mamdani administration could make the government more technologically efficient, Samuels said.

Cuomo, meanwhile, put out a proposal to double down on AI and crypto, she said, and she expects the tech sector would work with him to modernize city government if he were elected. “Andrew Cuomo knows how the levers of government work,” Samuels said. 

The tech industry is a significant growth sector in New York. Its share of New York’s gross city product grew to 9% in 2023, up from 6% in 2013, according to a report by the New York City Economic Development Corp. The tech sector added about 54,000 jobs in the city between 2018 and 2023, well outpacing overall private-sector growth, and ahead of nationwide tech growth rates, per the report.

In terms of venture capital, New York startups raised $7.3 billion in the third quarter via 335 deals, a fraction of Silicon Valley money flows, which has seen a resurgence, but ahead of any other city in the U.S., according to CB Insights.

Kevin Ryan, founder and chief executive of AlleyCorp and a stalwart of the New York tech ecosystem, said he joined a business advisory council for OneNYC, a political action committee for Mamdani, to help with a transition. “I think everyone in the business community should be ready to help the next mayor be successful,” Ryan said, adding that he didn’t contribute to any mayoral campaign.

And now on to the news...

OpenAI, Amazon deal. OpenAI has agreed to pay Amazon.com $38 billion for computing power in a multiyear deal that marks the first partnership between the startup and the cloud company. The deal, unveiled Monday, will help satisfy OpenAI’s fast-growing computing needs. Amazon expects that all of the computing capacity negotiated as part of the agreement will be available to OpenAI by the end of next year, giving the ChatGPT maker quick access to powerful Nvidia chips housed inside its data centers.

• More: Amazon Stock Hits All-Time High After OpenAI Deal

Anthropic signed up professional-services firm Cognizant Technology Solutions in one of its biggest deals yet as the artificial intelligence startup looks to make its flagship Claude models the preferred AI for businesses. The deal makes Cognizant one of Anthropic’s three largest customers by total number of enterprise seats, the AI company said, and comes at a time when it is ramping up efforts to sell to corporate clients. Cognizant will roll out Claude to its 350,000 employees.

Two startups aiming to produce an American supply of rare-earth magnets have sealed a $1.4 billion deal with the U.S. government and private investors. It is the latest sign that the Trump administration is moving to build out a domestic rare-earths supply chain and thwart China’s sector dominance—and willing to pay large sums for it.

People

Global payroll and HR platform Deel appointed Joe Kauffman as president and chief financial officer. He was previously at Credit Karma.

Octaura, an electronic trading platform for syndicated loans and CLOs, appointed Cristina Kim as chief financial officer. She previously served as managing director in the strategic investments group at JPMorgan Chase.

Infravision, an Austin, Texas-based developer of an aerial robotics system for power grid construction, maintenance and emergency response, raised $91 million in Series B funding from investors including Activate Capital and Energy Impact Partners.

Teleskope, a New York-based agentic data security platform, landed $25 million in Series A funding. M13 led the round, which included participation from Primary Venture Partners and Lerer Hippeau. Karl Alomar, managing partner at M13, will join the company’s board.

CUE Labs, a Switzerland-based open-source-configuration language developer, emerged from stealth with more than $10 million in funding. Sequoia Capital and OSS Capital led the investment, which saw additional participation from Founders Fund and Dell Technologies Capital.

Faktus, a Paris-based neobank dedicated to construction businesses, snagged €9 million in equity funding, alongside up to €47 million in debt. Lakestar and Foundamental are providing the equity portion.

KapKap, a Web3 attention economy and value distribution platform, secured $10 million in seed funding. Animoca Brands led the investment, which included contributions from Shima Capital, Mechanism Capital and others.

Downstream, a Dallas-based equipment rental, waste-management and site services marketplace, grabbed $8 million in Series A funding from investors including Brick & Mortar Ventures.

Liquid, a trading app, scored $7.6 million in seed funding led by Paradigm.

• Trump Officials Torpedoed Nvidia’s Push to Export AI Chips to China

• Coca-Cola Injects ‘Holidays Are Coming’ Ads With an Upgraded Dose of AI

• Microsoft’s AI Efforts in the U.A.E. Get a Big Boost

• Homeland Security Biometric Policy for Foreign Travelers Poses Data-Theft Risks

• I Trained for the Marathon with Artificial Intelligence. But the Suffering Was Real.

This newsletter was compiled by Matthew Strozier and Zachary Cole.

WSJ Pro Venture Capital is a premium service of The Wall Street Journal. We cover venture capital and the global startup ecosystem. Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The Team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley and Marc Vartabedian.