Companies to Watch - June 21, 2018

Celebrate Pride with these LGBTQ-founded NYC companies

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This week has been hard. We’ve been inundated by bad news, and it’s challenging to not be consumed by it. But we’re thankful New York leaders and the tech community have both stood against the inhumanity of tearing families apart at the border. If you’re still looking for ways to help, there are many worthy places to donate or volunteer.In New York, we celebrate and support diversity. We know it’s a powerful force that makes our communities and companies smarter, and it generates innovative new ideas. A cornerstone of our city’s diversity is the LGBTQ community, which has left a substantial footprint in tech and business.To celebrate Pride Month, we’re spotlighting five amazing LGBTQ founders from our membership that are building great new services—helping facilitate better workplaces, skills, job opportunities, travel opportunities, and relationships. Below you’ll find an abbreviated look into these companies and their founders. Read the whole post to see more.

Bravely

What does your company do?Bravely Co-Founder and CEO Toby Hervey: Bravely connects employees with professional coaches outside of their workplace, powering confidential conversations about performance, development, relationships, and more. Our goal is to get people talking about whatever they’re facing proactively and productively, whether they’re dealing with a high stress-situation or just looking to keep things in check.Workplaces are rapidly changing in the twenty-first century. What’s the most common workplace issue Bravely gets requests about?TH: The majority of people who have used Bravely so far are women, people of color, or LGBTQ-identifying. They're coming to us to tackle issues that are related to their identities, or facing a greater intimidation or fear factor around routine performance issues given the sometimes lacking representation in their workplaces. 

Jumprope

What does your company do?Jumprope Founder and CEO Jake Poses: Jumprope is the place to discover how things are done and share your skills with the world. We offer step-by-step guides that you can tap through at your own pace, and we make it easy to learn how to do anything and for inspiring creators to quickly share their knowledge and passion with the world.You’ve spent time in New York, Boston, and San Francisco. Why did you found Jumprope in NYC?JP: New York is a hub for creators in categories like food, beauty, and fitness, and it’s the epicenter of innovation in commerce. It’s immensely helpful to be close to those communities. On top of that, New York is the best city in the world. As a founder, you have to make a long-term commitment to live in one city. There was only one choice.

Noken

What does your company do?Noken Co-Founder and CEO Marc Escapa: Noken is building the next-gen way to travel the world. Noken curates flexible routes to explore new countries. After booking, travelers receive a personalized app that seamlessly guides their journey via daily curated routes, offline GPS, and 24/7 concierge support.It looks like you’ve done quite a bit of world travel. What is the single best vacation you’ve ever taken?ME: The Philippines. It's a place with surreal beaches and landscapes, and the locals love sharing their culture. My highlight of the trip was motorbiking around the Palawan island, stopping at deserted beaches along the way.

PERSONALS

What does your company do?PERSONALS founder Kelly Rakowski: We bring people together though text-based personal ads — to fall in love, to build friendships, to form lesbian soccer teams. PERSONALS is a 30,000+ community of lesbian, queer trans, non-binary people who write personal ads to connect with one another. It started on Instagram but the community has outgrown the account. We just started a Kickstarter campaign, raising funds to build the PERSONALS iOS app!It’s easy to feel discouraged by the New York dating scene. Is online dating the cause or the cure for that?KR: I think people are frustrated with the throw-away culture of swipe-based dating apps. It’s difficult to connect with people through a few selfies – what exactly are they looking for? It’s unclear. With PERSONALS, you’re able to write directly about who you are and what you’re looking for in a clever, sexy, and succinct 45 words. 

WethosWhat does your company do?Wethos Co-Founder and CEO Rachel Renock: Wethos is a platform built to connect freelancers with meaningful work by matching them with part-time gigs within nonprofits, socially conscious businesses, and progressive political campaigns. We believe the people solving our toughest problems deserve the best talent and that the future of work is purpose-driven.What's your favorite way to celebrate Pride in NYC?RR: When I worked in advertising, I was able to design a float for the NYC Pride, so I got to ride it all the way through the West Village. That was probably my favorite Pride to date, but normally you’ll find me hiding at the Cubby Hole or hitting up The Woods on a Wednesday. Every month is pretty much Pride Month in my world.NYC Tech Community Events

June 26: Join leaders from the FinTech and venture capital communities for a discussion on the intersection of LGBTQ and FinTech. Led by FinTech veterans Jeff Cruttenden and Nathan Richardson, this discussion will include topics such as why FinTech diversity matters and what it's like to be LGBTQ in finance. Register now.June 27: The third edition of Tech Inclusion New York will convene the tech industry to focus on new solutions to diversity. The theme this year is “Voices of Innovation,” featuring diverse, underrepresented voices building technologies and cultures of our future. Use the code “TInytechnyc20” for 20% off.June 27: Our member Stacklist is hosting “Venture Capital & Fundraising: Advice for Startups,” which will feature Susan Lyne, Managing Partner at BBG Ventures; Katie Shea, Partner at Kairos; and Jeff Wald, Co-Founder and President of WorkMarket. Register now.July 9: Join the NY Tech Alliance for the July 2018 New York Tech Meetup at our member AppNexus. More details will be revealed soon via NYTM on Twitter. Register now.July 10-11: The eighth annual New York Venture Capital Summit will let you connect with and hear from more than 130 top VCs, including Future\Perfect Ventures’ Jalak Jobanputra, SoGal Ventures’ Elizabeth Galbut, and Salesforce Ventures’ Meredith Finn. Use the code “TECHNYCVIP” for a $100 discount.Join Us

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