Tech:NYC Digest: April 5

Tech:NYC Digest: April 5

April 05, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Chag Sameach and a happy and meaningful Passover to all those celebrating. In today’s digest, COVID booster gear up for round two, the NYC Computer Science Opportunity Fair returns in full force, and the startups on a mission to help NYC achieve its climate goals this decade.

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  • The FDA plans to allow older and immunocompromised people to get a second updated coronavirus booster shot in the near future, free of charge. Those still dying from COVID-19 are overwhelmingly 65 and older. (New York Times)

  • New York issued another 99 new licenses to cannabis dispensary operators statewide, including the first three awarded to entrepreneurs in Brooklyn. (THE CITY) 

  • And NYC Parks has officially declared it “peak bloom” for the cherry blossom tree season. Luckily, there’s a citywide map for that.

In other reading:

  • The Four Neighborhood Zones Getting Extra Help to Fight Rats (Curbed)

  • How to compost, recycle, and get rid of basically anything in NYC (Time Out New York)

  • New York Restaurants Go Full Camp (Grub Street)

NYC has pledged to develop enough solar power by 2030 to energize 250,000 homes, but it will need to significantly ramp up the pace of solar panel installations to get there. (Gothamist)

  • It’s not due to lack of demand: More than 4,500 solar projects are currently underway across the five boroughs, according to state data.

New York has the homegrown startups to help: BlocPower, a Brooklyn-based startup providing solar and energy efficiency retrofits the city’s building stock, thinks making those options more accessible to lower-income neighborhoods is how we close the gap.

  • CEO Donnel Baird told The Washington Post today that, in Brooklyn for example, buildings are 100+ years old, and his startup’s mission is not only to make those buildings greener and safer, but more affordable.

  • He notes buildings in the US account for 30-40% of emissions, but “we have all of the hardware, software, and finance to solve this problem by 2030. In New York, we have Local Law 97 that forces reductions in existing emissions.” 

It also means investing in a green labor workforce, says Baird:

  • “There's a massive shortage of skilled construction workers and construction firms across America and Europe. For all of us to implement the kind of massive interventions in the built environment to reduce emissions, we must make it cool and sexy and interesting and lucrative for young people to re-enter the trades,” he told The Washington Post.

In other reading:

  • ‘Recession Resilient’ Climate Startups Shine in Tech Downturn (New York Times)

  • The startups raising funding for tools to weather a recession (Crain’s New York)

  • Politicians can’t tell the difference between AI chatbots and human constituents (Gothamist)

  • Everywhere Ventures, a NYC and Los Angeles-based VC firm formerly known as The Fund, raised $25 million focused on global pre-seed investments.

  • Hype, a NYC-based marketing and payments platform for creators and small businesses, raised $10 million in Series A funding. King River Capital led the round and was joined by Bullpen Capital, Precursor Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, Tapestry VC, and Sterling Road.

  • Presta, a NYC-based digital lending and loan origination platform, raised $3.3 million in pre-seed funding. Distributed Ventures led the round and was joined by Zeal Capital Partners, Matchstick Ventures, The Fund, Techstars, and Jumpstart Ventures.

The NYC Computer Science Opportunity Fair (CS Fair) is looking for volunteers to support NYC's largest annual college and career inspiration event for more than 2,000 public high school students studying computer science. Learn more here and use this link to sign up.The Microsoft Philanthropies Technology Education and Learning Support (TEALS) Program, which pairs industry professionals with CS teachers to support coursework in NYC schools, is looking for volunteers for the 2023-2024 school year. Visit the TEALS website for more information and to apply.Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator is accepting applications for its Summer 2023 NYC accelerator program. ERA invests $150,000 for a 6% post-money SAFE and provides a four-month intensive mentorship program. Learn more and apply by April 17 here.The Urban Future Lab is accepting applications for its 7th Annual Urban Future Prize Competition. Two entrepreneurs building the next great ideas in climate tech will be awarded $50,000 prizes each. Learn more and apply by April 24 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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