Tech:NYC Digest: April 3

Tech:NYC Digest: April 3

April 03, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Monday, April 3, 2023

In today’s digest, New York’s missed budget deadline, the move to expand apprenticeships for students pursuing tech degrees, and why women are now returning to the workforce faster, three years on.

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  • The news at the top of everyone’s feeds: New York is bracing for Pres. Trump’s arraignment at the Manhattan Courthouse tomorrow.

    • It’s a good idea to avoid the area around the courthouse, as several streets (including Centre, Baxter, Worth, and Canal Streets) in lower Manhattan will be closed tomorrow as a security measure. At least one route near Trump Tower along Fifth Avenue will also be completely shut down. (Bloomberg) Other areas are subject to rolling closures in response to anticipated demonstrations. (NBC New York)

  • There’s no break for the State Legislature this week, as lawmakers failed to agree to a state budget by the April 1 deadline. An extender bill was passed to allow for more time for negotiations, but it’s still anyone’s guess on when the budget will be finalized. (NY1)

  • A new $2 million investment will expand a CUNY apprenticeships program to triple the number of paid apprenticeships for students across all 10 CUNY schools pursuing associate degrees in software engineering, finance, cybersecurity, and more. Learn more.

  • If you know any young New Yorkers looking for a summer job, the deadline to apply for the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program has been extended to April 14. (THE CITY)

In other reading:

  • No, Cities Aren’t Doomed Because of Remote Work (Curbed)

  • Go Play in the Street, Kids. Really. The nonprofit bringing pop-ups to NYC’s open streets and plaza (New York Times)

  • The 5 Best Dishes at Market 57, the James Beard Food Hall at Google’s New Pier 57 Hub (Eater NY)

During the pandemic, nearly 12 million women left the workforce, compared to roughly 10 million men. But an analysis of recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data found that women are returning to the workforce faster than men. (Wall Street Journal)

  • The number of working-age women in the workforce has increased by 3.4% over the pandemic’s low point in April 2020, compared to men’s increase by 2.1%.

But: More women are likely coming back to the workforce because more left in the first place, said Lindsay Kaplan, the co-founder of Chief, a NYC-based membership network for women executives. (Crain’s New York)

  • A recent survey found that hybrid work flexibility, paid family leave, and promotion opportunities remain the most attractive benefits employees seek out, but how they’re put into practice matters as much as the policies themselves.

  • “Offering the option of remote work, for example, doesn’t guarantee that women who take advantage of it won’t be passed over for stretch assignments or be left out of project conversations,” said Chief CEO Carolyn Childers. 

Many are taking those matters into their own hands: Women created about half of all new US businesses for the third year in a row in 2022, largely driven by a desire for flexibility and financial stability. (Bloomberg)

  • That compares to just 29% before the pandemic, according to the payroll startup Gusto.

“Flexible policies enable women to participate in the workforce, not thrive and advance,” Kaplan told Crain’s. “The answer is quite simple: Pay them, promote them, and support them.”

In other reading:

  • DataDome, a NYC-based online fraud and bot management provider, raised $42 million in Series C funding. InfraVia Growth led the round and was joined by Elephant, ISAI, and others.

  • Florence, a NYC-based healthcare and clinical workflow software, raised $20 million in seed funding. Thrive Capital, GV (Google Ventures), and Salesforce Ventures co-led the round and were joined by Vast Ventures, BoxGroup, and Atento Capital.

  • Neptyne, a NYC-based AI assistant for programming spreadsheets, raised $2 million in pre-seed funding. Y Combinator led the round and was joined by a group of angels.

  • Salt Labs, a NYC-based rewards and payments platform for hourly workers, raised $10 million in pre-seed funding. Fin Capital led the round and was joined by Anthemis Venture Partners and others.

  • April 4: In-person: How to Execute a Powerful Content Marketing Strategy, with Pandium founder Cristina Flaschen, Sharmar Brands CEO Nik Sharma, Thingtesting head of content Natalie Sportelli, and Adore Me head of strategy Ranjan Roy. Hosted by Stacklist and Betaworks. Register here.

  • April 4: In-person: Make it in Brooklyn Female Founders Pitch Contest, with Female Founders Fund principal Adriana Samaniego, NYCEDC EVP Faye Penn, HearstLab venture associate Eastin Rossell, and others. Register here.

  • April 11: Virtual: Qualifying and Forecasting: How Real Are Your Deals?, with Work-Bench sales advisor Kiran Narsu. Register here.

  • April 12 – 14: In-person and virtual: NFT.NYC 2023, with OpenSea co-founder Alex Atallah, givepact CEO Alicia Maule, Salesforce general manager of web3 Adam Caplan, and others. Register here.

  • April 20: Virtual: #notapitch: Unofficial Feedback on Your Idea/Prototype from a VC, with Brooklyn Bridge Ventures partner Charlie O’Donnell. Register here.

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