Tech:NYC Digest: April 27

Tech:NYC Digest: April 27

April 27, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

Thursday, April 27, 2023

In today’s digest, what we know about NYC’s new budget, the tech companies rallying for fire safety, and the new coalition committing VC firms to a UN-backed set of climate goals.

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  • As the state budget approaches the finish line, Mayor Eric Adams released his budget plans for the city, a $106.7 billion proposal — the largest in city history. Here are the numbers we know so far. 

  • Grubhub, Uber, and DoorDash teamed up to each offer $100,000 donations to the FDNY Foundation to support education and outreach efforts on lithium-ion battery safety. (CBS News)

  • And check out the inside of the American Museum of Natural History’s new expansion (which includes a massive indoor canyon to wander through)!

In other reading:

  • How the Rent Guidelines Board Sets the Price on Your Next Lease (THE CITY)

  • How one investor is pushing innovation in the real estate industry (Crain’s New York)

Climate tech has quickly become one of the most burgeoning sectors in the New York tech ecosystem, and a new group of VCs are hoping to capture those values from the earliest stages of business creation — and their own deal flow. (Axios)

  • The Venture Climate Alliance was formed by more than 20 VC firms, including several major NYC-based firms like Union Square Ventures, Tiger Global Management, and Fifth Wall. The coalition is made up of both climate-focused investors and generalist firms alike.

Membership to the group requires several commitments, which are backed by the UN. (CNBC) Among them:

  • Achieve net zero or negative missions for their own operations by 2030 or sooner;

  • Encourage their portfolio companies to set their own targets to achieve net zero alignment by 2050 or sooner, and provide proactive assistance in doing so;

  • Offer transparent reporting on their progress towards those goals.

Collectively, the VCs involved represent $62.3 billion in assets, and “the risks and opportunities posed by climate change are real for all investors, not just climate-focused investors,” said Tiger Global head of responsible investment Ali Hartman.

In other reading:

  • The plug-in that stops employees from leaking sensitive data to AI chatbots (Fast Company)

  • Why Work Friends Are Crucial to Your Health (TIME)

  • Axoni, a New York-based data synchronization technology and financial market infrastructure provider, raised $20 million in funding. EJF Ventures led the round and was joined by Laurion Capital Management, Communitas Capital, and others.

  • Greycroft, a NYC-based VC firm, raised more than $1 billion across two funds, including $549 million for its seventh flagship fund and $432 million for its fourth growth fund.

  • POSH, a NYC-based live experiences management and monetization platform, raised $5 million in seed funding. Companyon Ventures and EPIC Ventures co-led the round and were joined by Cameron Dallas, Day One Ventures, Pareto Holdings, Joshua Browder, and others.

Primary Venture Partners is accepting applications exclusively from women, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming entrepreneurs for its next Founders Fellowship, a two-month part-time immersion program in business creation. Learn more and apply by May 7 here.Betaworks is accepting applications for its AI Camp: Augment accelerator program. The three-month program offers 8-10 pre-seed/seed applied machine learning and generative AI companies a $500,000 investment, as well as mentorship and programming opportunities. Learn more and apply by May 22 here.The Grand Central Tech Residency Program is accepting applications for its Fall 2023 cohort. Selected startups receive free office rent for a year, as well as other community and programming benefits. Learn more and apply by July 15 here.

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