Startup Newsletter: July 11

Startup Newsletter: July 11

July 11, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

One thing I love about NYC’s tech ecosystem is its diversity. The diversity of the people, the diversity of thriving sub-industries, and the diversity of opportunity. Just as NYC was gearing up to celebrate Pride Weekend, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade (ICYMI: you can read our brief statement here.) It’s important that the tech community uses its tools, influence, and economic power to stand up for what’s right — and recommit to improving gender equality in our own workplaces. Our team has been in regular conversation with many of our member companies about effective ways to carry that work forward; if your company is responding to the ruling or has ideas more broadly, we’d love to hear from you.  

Nestled in the middle was also Juneteenth. Following the murder of George Floyd and nationwide protests against racist violence, the tech sector was at the forefront of the campaign to make Juneteenth a company holiday — and push government to do the same. We marked the day by bringing together a group of Black founders, funders, and other NYC tech leaders to share their founder stories and discuss specific actions we can take to increase diversity within the sector. We will continue convening efforts to demystify the funding process, increase access to resources, and disseminate other critical industry knowledge to BIPOC founders.  

Pride Month and Juneteenth serve as great reminders that our community is creating the resources to support a truly equitable and inclusive ecosystem — but let’s make sure their impact is felt year-round.

Continued success,Jason

A group of transit and mobility startup members met with the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission’s newly-appointed commissioner David Do to discuss how the tech sector can support the city’s efforts on EV infrastructure, safer streets policy, and more. 

Tech Year NYC, a pilot program led by Tech:NYC and the Mayor’s Office of Youth Employment, officially kicked off Week 1 this week! For the next six weeks, nearly 1,000 NYC youth from groups typically underrepresented at startups will get paid work and mentorship experience at NYC tech companies.As part of the curriculum, the program exposes students to the cutting-edge of innovation in tech, so with the help of NYC-based web3 social application Primitives, every student will receive a custom-created NFT to commemorate their participation. The image above is the first one!If your company would like to be involved in events we’re planning this year or in future programs, reach out here. 

For the latest in our Companies to Watch series — and to celebrate Pride Month — we spoke to a group of LGBTQ+ founders about what the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs foreshadows for other rights, how they’re growing their businesses, and of course, how they celebrated Pride. Read Read our conversations here.Tech:NYC is hosting monthly meetups for new startup members to meet our executive director, Jason Myles Clark, and each other. If you’re new to the Tech:NYC network, we’d love to see you at the next one and learn how we can help. RSVP for the next one on July 27!

Coming Soon: The New York Tech Jobs Board! Tech:NYC is launching the first centralized jobs board focused specifically on tech jobs in NYC. As a member company, your job openings are automatically included on the board! We’re excited to launch this project that not only amplifies  job postings, but other curated resources for both job seekers and employers, alike. Visit our FAQ page for more information about the jobs board.

If you’d prefer not to have your job openings listed, let us know by completing our opt out form here.

Netguru Product Development Discounts: Netguru deploys world-class agile product teams on demand. Teams that can research, design, build, ship, and scale your vision in the most efficient way. They collaborate with the largest brands in the world, such as Volkswagen, IKEA, UBS, and Keller Williams, as well as fast-growing startups in the financial, education, and robotics industries.They’re happy to offer our members a 20% discount on all of their services, including:

  • Experts on demand (staff augmentation): engineers, designers, consultants

  • Web & mobile application development

  • Product design (including UX research and branding)

  • Data science and machine learning experts

  • DevOps/cloud services (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)

  • Empowered product teams

  • Consulting services, including Product Validation, Service Design, Business Concept Testing, and more

  • Cybersecurity audit

  • QA services, including performance assessment 

If you’d like to get in touch with Netguru, feel free to reach out to the Tech:NYC membership team here.

Grow with Google/Google scholarships: From small businesses to enterprise organizations, Google is offering access to up to 500 Google Career Certificate scholarships for any U.S small business. These businesses will gain access to industry-recognized, self-paced, online training for their employees in data analytics, digital marketing and e-commerce, IT support, project management and UX design.

Yext Ad Credits: Enjoy up to $35,000 in Yext credits to create a best-in-class AI search experience when you are accepted into the Yext Startup Program. Apply here. With Yext, you can build:

  • Search Experiences like Site Search, Support Search, Application Search, Intranet Search & more

  • Web Experiences like FAQ pages, Location Pages, Product Pages, and more

  • Knowledge Graph index to store all of your startups information

  • URBAN-X, together with VC fund JVP, is accepting applications for its next cohort. Seed to Series B climatetech and urbantech startups building solutions to tackle climate change and create more livable cities are eligible to apply on a rolling basis now. Learn more and apply here.

  • The NYU Tandon Veterans Future Lab, supported by Barclays, is accepting applications to Apex, its nine-month, no-cost, equity-free incubator program. Early-stage ventures led by military veterans, service members, and/or military spouses are eligible to apply. The program includes exclusive desk space and up to $200,000 in in-kind legal and industry resources. Learn more and apply by July 12 here.

  • Company Ventures is accepting applications for its next Grand Central Tech Residency. Beginning in September, the program offers selected startups free office space for one year, zero equity commitment, and other no strings attached resources. Learn more and apply by July 19 here.

  • Antler, a global early-stage VC, is accepting applications for its summer 2022 New York cohort. Following the six-week, in-person residency, founders will have the opportunity to pitch Antler’s investment committee for $150,000 in pre-seed funding. Learn more and apply here.

  • July 14: Virtual: How VCs Can Help Founders During a Downturn, with H/L Ventures managing partner Oliver Libby, 8VC executive in residence Lauren DeMeuse, and Build Talent cofounder Jose Guardado. Hosted by Getro. Register here.

  • July 14: In-person: Under, Over, Through, a showcase with artists from NEW INC’s Creative Science Track. Hosted by Newlab. Register here.

  • July 19: In-person: Bloomberg Crypto Summit, with FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, Uniswap Labs COO Mary-Catherine Lader, Grayscale chief legal officer Craig Salm, and others. Hosted by Bloomberg. Register here.

  • July 20: In-person: The City’s Path to Becoming the World’s Crypto Capital, with New York State Dept. of Financial Services Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris, eToro US CEO Lule Demmissie, Genesis CEO Michael Moro, and others. Hosted by Crain’s New York Business. Register here.

A shoutout and warm welcome to our newest members:

  • Adobe: A content, data, and digital marketing software provider shaping the next generation of storytelling.

  • Bops.ai: A supply chain and inventory intelligence platform for manufacturers and distributors.

  • Buzzfeed: An American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media.

  • Chili Piper: A qualifying, routing, and booking software used by the top B2B revenue teams.

  • Gorillas: An on-demand grocery delivery company

  • Hydronomy: A hardware provider revolutionizing the way we source, purify, and access clean drinking water.

  • Innovare: An edtech and data strategy app to help education leaders visualize and analyze data to drive improvement

  • Make it Black: A circular design and manufacturing startup giving new life to unsellable garments pre- and post-consumer waste.

  • Metafy: An online coaching platform for one-on-one sessions with top players in gaming.

  • Millionways: An emotionally-intelligent AI assistant providing next-gen personality insights.

  • Norby: An all-in-one marketing and audience engagement platform for the modern creator.

  • Oova: A first at-home fertility test that uses cutting-edge medical technology to measure hormones and ovulation.

  • Productiv: A data-driven SaaS management platform for enterprises.

  • Reside Health: A membership-based primary care and wellness provider delivered to office workers as an amenity.

  • Sugarbreak: A natural, non-prescription support system that empowers you to curb your sugar intake and manage your blood sugar levels.