November 2019 Newsletter

New York has always been forward-looking. So has the tech sector.

December 02, 2019 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

New York has always been forward-looking.So has the tech sector.

Just over one year ago, Amazon announced it had chosen New York for one of its two “HQ2” cities, promising at least 25,000 jobs to be located in Long Island City. While that obviously did not go according to plan, the fundamentals that led Amazon to choose New York remain just as strong as they were then.I recently wrote about this for the New York Daily News. In short, we have a lot of reason to be optimistic. New York’s robust and diverse economy, a uniquely international and diverse population, and strong universities all serve as a strong foundation supporting the growth of our tech sector. As I wrote in the Daily News:Big tech companies and the city’s 9,000+ startups alike are hiring at increasing rates. In fact, new research we released with Accenture found that 85 percent of New York companies — not just tech companies, all companies — plan to increase tech hires in 2020, and to do so with homegrown talent from right here in NYC. A robust tech workforce, paired with the successes of education and workforce development initiatives like CS4All, the WiTNY program, and the Grow with Google Learning Center, is a clear sign that New York is taking the right approach to ensuring everyone in the city can grow with and into our tech ecosystem. So much so that, even as Amazon decided not to build a headquarters here, it still plans to make significant expansions in NYC.New York has always been a forward-looking city. Our leaders know the technology sector will bring jobs and will have a major impact on all industries, and we should root for that economic development to take place here in New York City. But we should root just as hard for this development to empower all New Yorkers. Luckily, all signs point to the fact that we’re on the right track.Julie

For last month’s Companies to Watch feature, we profiled five cybersecurity startups that are keeping up with the threats that put the data of individuals, businesses and governments at risk.

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We kicked off the inaugural citywide

initiative by co-hosting the opening reception with our friends at Gemini. Stay tuned for next year’s plans!

Our own Julie Samuels joined NYCEDC president James Patchett, Cornell Tech Dean Greg Morrissett, Laguardia Community College president Paul Arcario, and RXR EVP Seth Pinsky at the

to discuss how the neighborhood’s growing role in New York’s innovation economy.

Get Involved

Pitchfest, a program of the Tech Incubator at Queens College, is a yearly competition that brings together New York City’s best and brightest entrepreneurs to compete for seed investments. Tech-enabled ideas in energy, healthcare, and social improvement are encouraged to apply. Apply by December 1 here.Applications are open for the inaugural David Prize, a new, no-strings-attached prize for individual New Yorkers with extraordinary ideas for how to make NYC a place where people yearn to live, and concrete ideas about how to achieve it. Apply, or nominate a candidate, by December 1 here.Applications are open for MetaBronx’s 2020 cohort. In partnership with Village Capital, MetaBronx is seeking startups owned and operated by founders who usually lack access to the resources and networks required to build their companies. Apply by December 9 here.Applications are now open for the next cohort of Living Lab startups. With the program, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership partners with tech companies to pilot products in real world situations. Using DBP-operated public spaces as a testing ground for smart city technologies, participating groups share their data and findings with DBP for future planning purposes. Get more details here.The Hub is a marketplace that connects highly vetted photographers to anyone who needs photography. Their platform has 37,000 highly vetted creators, where one simply goes to their website, posts a “job” (e.g. headshots, photoshoot, product shoots, events, etc.), receive bids from vetted photographers, hires and pays the best fit, and receives images directly on the platform. Use code TECHNYC15 for 15% off a job.

NYC Tech Community EventsDecember 3: Join Tech:NYC’s Julie Samuels to discuss big data, AI, and VR trends in real estate at the 2019 Commercial Observer’s Innovators Forum, also featuring executives from Google, Knotel, the MTA, and others. Get tickets here.

December 4: Join the Global Cities Initiative at SOSA NYC, home of New York's official Global Cyber Center, for discussion and networking with cyber industry professionals on how to engage with the world’s leading cybersecurity ecosystems. Register here.December 10: Join Tech:NYC for the next installment of the Functions.NYC lunch roundtable series, with IntegrateNYC executive director Sarah Zapiler. If you work for a Tech:NYC member company, you can request an invite here.December 11: Join Choose Paris Region at Company for an evening of startup pitches and networking dedicated to the future of work, featuring WeWork Labs, Bravely, and others. Get tickets here.December 17: Tech:NYC, in partnership with Cornell Tech and Bloomberg, present the next installment in our monthly speaker series, featuring Chief co-founder and CEO Carolyn Childers. Registration is required here. 

Welcome to Tech:NYC

A warm welcome to our newest members:

  • Cloud4Wi: AI-driven application suite for location services

  • Curacity: B2B data analytics company serving hotels

  • iReply: Business management suite for influencers

  • Nova Credit: Provides lenders and others with international consumer credit data to acquire immigrants that lack domestic credit history

Join Us

Tech:NYC is looking for a Communications and Marketing Director and for a Policy and Communications Associate to join our team.

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If you’ve been thinking about joining Tech:NYC as a member, now’s the time.

, and let us know if you have any questions.