Tech:NYC Digest: April 26

Tech:NYC Digest: April 26

April 26, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Tuesday, April 26, 2022 

In today’s digest, Mayor Adams delivers his first State of the City address, FDA approves first COVID treatment for younger children, and why Salesforce is recruiting “pre-interns.”

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 4,791     

    • New positive cases, NYC: 1,648

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 4.9 percent (+0.2 percent) 

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • New Yorkers with at least one dose: 90.1 percent

    • New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 76.8 percent  

In today’s latest:

  • In his first State of the City address today, Mayor Eric Adams unveiled his $99.7 billion executive budget aimed at accelerating the city’s pandemic recovery efforts, increasing public safety, and fighting inequality. (New York Times) Some highlights include:

    • $5 billion for affordable housing over the next ten years;

    • A childcare plan for families earning up to $55,000 per year to pay just $10 per week;

    • $55 million for a 911 response program that sends mental health professionals and EMTs instead of police. 

  • The FDA approved Remdesivir as the first COVID treatment for children under 12 who test positive, are not newborns and are hospitalized or at high risk. (Axios)

  • Only a fraction of the available federal supply of COVID-19 oral treatments is reaching patients. (Axios) In response, the Biden administration plans to nearly double the number of pharmacies that carry antiviral pills to combat COVID-19. (Washington Post)

  • Separating food scraps from trash as is done with recyclables could become mandatory in New York City under a legislative proposal due to be introduced in City Council next week. (THE CITY)

In other reading:

  • Why Nasal Sprays Are Poised to Be the Next Weapon for Fighting COVID (Bloomberg)

  • Do Vaccines Protect Against Long COVID? (New York Times)

  • Here’s the lineup of free SummerStage 2022 shows coming to NYC (Gothamist)

Salesforce is launching its first ever “pre-internship” program, designed to recruit rising college juniors from underrepresented backgrounds. 

  • The program, called Futureforce Tech Launchpad, will welcome its first cohort of 25 pre-interns in June. The 10-week in-person program will deliver hands-on technical instruction, capstone projects, and mentorship from Salesforce employees. 

  • While other tech companies are putting more resources into upskilling and apprenticeship programs, Salesforce says it wants a more “preemptive approach” — upskilling employees for technical roles two years before they even receive their bachelor degrees.

Salesforce, in partnership with training nonprofit CodePath, will work with over 70 university partners, including several HBCUs and Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs).

  • Recent data from the Kapor Center shows 10 percent of all Black computer science graduates in 2020 attended a historically Black college or university, and 35 percent from community colleges.

The program comes at a time when many tech companies are seeking new solutions to diversify the talent pipeline. 

  • “Our candidates and our job seekers are reevaluating what's important to them and they also have choices in this very hot market,” Nathalie Scardino, Salesforce’s global head of recruiting told Protocol. “As a recruiting team, we've completely had to shift our mindset and where we source talent from … [and] a big part of what we're talking about today is creating those new pathways and equal access.”

In other reading:

  • The pandemic was hard on office suck-ups. Now they’re back and ready to schmooze. (Washington Post)

  • The Future of the Recent Flexible Work Revolution Depends on Men (Slate)

  • What are you willing to pay for productivity? (Protocol)

  • Ansa Capital, a NYC-based VC firm, launched with $100 million in funding for its debut fund focusing on emerging growth stage companies. Backers include Princeton University, Henry Kravis, George Roberts, Peter Chernin, Financial Investments Corporation, and Accolade Partners. (Bloomberg)

  • Crafty, a NYC-based platform for workplaces to manage food and beverage supplies, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Tribeca Venture Partners led the round. (FinSMEs)

  • Left Lane Capital, a NYC and London-based VC firm, raised $1.4 billion for its second fund, focusing on growth stage consumer and internet companies. (TechCrunch)

  • Lucid Green, a Brooklyn-based cannabis supply chain startup, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Gron Ventures led the round and was joined by Gotham Green Partners. (TechCrunch)

  • Mad Realities, a NYC-based crypto media company, raised $6 million in seed funding. Paradigm led the round and was joined by Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media and others. (Insider)

  • 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.

  • May 5: Virtual: Tech regulation beyond big tech, with Consumer Technology Association SVP Michael Petricone, Small Business Majority director Awesta Sarkash, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

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