About FloodLine
FloodLine was created in response to a growing gap between flood risk and recovery for small businesses. As flooding becomes more frequent and less predictable, the systems meant to support recovery have not kept pace.
When floods occur, business-serving organizations often lack real-time ways to reach their members, and cities lack verified, street-level documentation of damage. Without clear guidance during a storm—and without timestamped, location-specific proof afterward—small businesses struggle to access insurance payouts, disaster relief, and infrastructure support. Over time, these gaps slow recovery and quietly weaken local economies.
FloodLine exists to close that gap by connecting businesses, BIDs, and cities around shared, street-level intelligence before, during, and after flood events.
Our StoryFloodLine began with a shared realization that the tools supporting small businesses before, during, and after floods were fragmented—despite the growing urgency on the ground.
In the summer of 2025, we connected through overlapping work in New York City’s flood preparedness and resilience ecosystem. Although we were approaching the problem from different angles, we kept encountering the same breakdowns in communication, documentation, and recovery.
Wil Jones and Zoe Voss Lee were building community-scale tools through the Cloudburst Collective, focused on flood preparedness, documentation, and resilience planning. At the same time, Nick Nyhan was leading City Sponge and had developed FloodChat, a trusted multilingual flood preparedness and response tool already used by community organizations and small businesses. While these efforts began independently, it became clear they addressed complementary parts of the same system, and that bringing them together could unlock greater impact.
In the fall of 2025, we began collaborating to prototype FloodLine, integrating real-time communication, verified damage documentation, and localized guidance into a single platform designed for business-serving organizations.
Our Team
Three New Yorkers, one mission: building solutions-oriented tools that leverage data to help local economies prepare for floods, respond in real time, and recover faster.
Nick Nyhan is a seasoned entrepreneur with a proven track record of scaling data-driven platforms, from concept and piloting, to investment and growth, to successful acquisition. As Chief Digital Officer in WPP (Kantar), he saw first hand how data ideas get built and scale across a $4B company, as well as the buy/build/partner decisions along the way. His expertise spans market research, digital publishing, sales strategy, and stakeholder alignment. Additionally, he has diverse experience in community organizing and local/national campaigns, covering topics from plumbing to policy. He bridges the gap between complex marketplace needs, technology and local adoption, ensuring trust and impact at the grassroots level.
Founder, CEO
Wil is an MIT-trained and NYC-based urban planner and technologist focused on climate resilience, public-sector product design, and community data governance. Previously a Senior Program Officer at The Rockefeller Foundation, Wil managed a $46M portfolio supporting more than 7,500 small businesses through place-based investment and recovery strategies. He is a co-founder of GROUND3D and the Cloudburst Collective, where he has led building partnerships with communities. At FloodLine, Wil works at the intersection of policy, partnerships, and product strategy—translating street-level conditions into actionable intelligence that supports recovery and long-term investment.
Founder, COO
Founder, CPOZoe is an MIT-trained spatial data expert and product leader focused on community-scale preparedness and recovery. She led the development of New York City’s first Environmental Justice Mapping Tool and brings training in GIS, public policy, and climate resilience at the building, neighborhood, and city scales. Zoe is a co-founder of GROUND3D and the Cloudburst Collective, where her work centers on using data to support collective power-building and inclusive economic development. At FloodLine, Zoe leads business strategy through the lend of product development and implementation, ensuring the platform is grounded in real-world workflows and remains usable under crisis conditions.
CAIO
Maysaa is an urban AI researcher and open-source intelligence practitioner focused on how data is produced and mobilized in contexts of conflict, climate risk, and urban inequality. She has led mapping initiatives tracking violence and displacement in Sudan and developed AI-driven assessment tools for organizations including the United Nations Development Programme. Her work combines satellite imagery analysis, machine learning, geospatial modeling, and participatory research. At FloodLine, Maysaa leads the development of ethical data infrastructures and AI systems that ensure communities most affected by climate risk are empowered to shape the systems that govern their cities.