Tech:NYC Digest: April 21

Tech:NYC Digest: April 21

April 21, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Thursday, April 21, 2022 

In today’s digest, Justice Dept. appeals decision to end the travel mask mandate, CDC decides against recommending a fourth booster shot for all, and why inflation is the latest wrinkle in companies’ RTO plans.

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 6,794    

    • New positive cases, NYC: 2,103 

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 4.0 percent (+0.3 percent) 

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • New Yorkers with at least one dose: 90.0 percent

    • New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 76.7 percent

In today’s latest:

  • The Justice Department filed an appeal yesterday seeking to overturn a federal court ruling that struck down the mask mandate for travelers earlier this week, after the CDC concluded it remains necessary. (Axios)

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul has warned that another spike in coronavirus cases could be underway in the state, driven by two new versions of the Omicron variant. (New York Times)

    • Though new confirmed cases and hospitalizations were still far below their peaks in January, both metrics are increasing across the state.

    • The city’s health commissioner said Monday that NYC would likely move up to a “yellow” medium COVID risk level due to rising cases. (FOX 5)

  • A CDC panel isn’t yet ready to recommend a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to the broader population, believing it’s not an achievable health goal to boost people every four to six months. The panel said three doses provided sufficient protection against severe illness for healthy adults. (CNBC)

In other reading:

  • Here’s What Changes When New York Raises Its COVID Risk Level (New York Times)

  • ‘Bing Bong!’ Why the New York Subway Sound Is Everywhere (Wall Street Journal)

  • COVID-19 still isn’t like the flu (CNN)

With tech workers returning to their offices, they’re arriving to find not only redesigned spaces and new safety protocols, but also inflation.

Sticker shock is real: The cost of a daily routine – transit, coffee, and that pick-up order for lunch down the block — is significantly higher now than it was two years ago when offices closed. (New York Times)

  • A recent Harris poll found 72 percent of employees were concerned about the price of food, as well as the cost of commuting by public transportation (38 percent), paying for a fresh office wardrobe (34 percent), and parking fees (33 percent.) 

Companies are trying to head off the combined forces of inflation and return-to-office expenses by making transportation and food more affordable.

  • Some companies were offering gas cards, transportation vouchers, or ride-share credits.

  • Goldman Sachs has increased its daily dinner allowance to $30 from $25, but it also announced it was scrapping a pandemic-era perk of free meals. Instead, it’s transitioning back to “paid-for-meal” service for breakfast and lunch. (Bloomberg)

  • Tech companies are re-evaluating their perks and also offering new ones: Meta announced last month it was ending its employee laundry service, while Google announced in early April that it would be providing free electric scooters to its employees.

Our takeaway: While companies have also dealt with rising inflation costs, it’s important to remember that employees are also navigating their own price increases as they return to the office. Alleviating some of this burden for your employees is one way to make sure RTO plans are more successful. 

In other reading:

  • How I tried to remote work in New York on a $100 budget (Washington Post)

  • What it would take to make us love our jobs again (Vox)

  • ‘Workcations’ Aren’t an Escape. They’re Practice. (The Atlantic)

  • AppHub, a NYC-based provider of e-commerce software for merchants, raised $60 million in private equity funding. Silversmith Capital Partners led the round. (Insider)

  • Bach, a NYC-based group travel planning app for bachelor and bachelorette parties, raised $8 million in seed funding. Corazon Capital led the round and was joined by Freestyle Capital and Oversubscribed Ventures, and Purple Arch Ventures. (TechCrunch) 

  • TômTex, a NYC-based biobased leather alternatives company, raised $1.7 million in pre-seed funding. SOSV led the round and was joined by Nucleus Adventures Capital, C3 Ventures, CRCM Ventures, Gaingels, Portfolia, and Chasing Rainbow. (WWD)

  • Tulu, a NYC-based provider of on-demand access to appliances and entertainment devices for apartment building tenants, raised $20 million in Series A funding. New Era Capital Partners led the round and was joined by Robert Bosch VC, Kärcher New Venture, and Round Hill Ventures. (TechCrunch)

  • April 27: Virtual: Solving for the Last Mile, with Veho co-founder and CEO Itamar Zur. Hosted by Savills America. Register here.

  • April 29: Virtual: Creating a Culture of Data Sharing, with NYC chief analytics officers Martha Norrick, NYC Council Technology Committee chair Council Member Jennifer Gutierrez, and others. Hosted by City & State. Register here.

  • May 4: Virtual: The Future of New York series, with Tech:NYC executive director Jason Myles Clark and Capalino president Travis Terry. Hosted by Capalino. Register here.

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