Tech:NYC Digest: April 6

Tech:NYC Digest: April 6

April 06, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Wednesday, April 6, 2022 

In today’s digest, Omicron subvariant continues to dominate in New York, state unveils new system for tracking absentee ballots, and our recap of the first quarter of NYC venture capital funding.

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 4,358    

    • New positive cases, NYC: 1,641

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 2.3 percent (+0.2 percent)

  • NYC Hospitalizations: 299 (+23)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • New Yorkers with at least one dose: 89.7 percent

    • New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 76.3 percent  

In today’s latest:

  • The Omicron subvariant BA.2 continues to dominate, now accounting for 84 percent of virus circulating in the New York region — a significantly higher prevalence than its national share and a marked increase in the last week, according to new CDC data released Tuesday. (NBC New York)

  • A federal advisory committee of outside experts is meeting today to strategize on the US coronavirus vaccine strategy for the rest of the year, amid growing evidence that new variants have eroded the power of the existing vaccines. (New York Times)

  • A new study shows a fourth dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine seems to offer short-lived protection against infection overall, but protection against severe illness did not wane for at least several weeks. (CNN)

  • Voters statewide will be able to track their mailed-in absentee ballots under a new service that addresses a recurring concern of voters who have continued to choose vote-by-mail over in-person voting through the pandemic. (Newsday)

In other reading:

  • A New COVID Mystery (New York Times)

  • New Yorkers Are Turning to Dinner Party-Style Restaurants to Make Friends (and Find Dates) (Eater NY)

  • From transit passes to library cards, here’s how to move (almost) everything from a wallet to your phone (Washington Post)

The first quarter of 2022 ended on a high note for venture capital deals in New York:

  • The women leaders network Chief (which just announced $100 million in new funding) and IT provider Electric both hit unicorn status last week.

  • In one of this year’s first tech IPOs, Starry went public via SPAC following a $1.76 billion valuation. (Bloomberg) 

  • There were certainly several other eye-popping deals that accelerated this quarter’s success: Cross River’s $620 million Series D, Fireblock’s $500 million Series E, and ConsenSys’s $450 million Series D, to name a few.

According to Tech:NYC’s data, all in all, NYC tech companies closed 215 venture deals and collectively raised more than $11.7 billion in venture capital this quarter.

Why it matters: The pandemic has shifted the geography of innovation — and the record valuations recorded in 2021 left investors and market experts wondering if 2022 would see a cooling period.

  • But in New York, activity hasn’t slowed down, and if you look back at the last decade, NYC has seen the largest increase in venture capital investment of any US metro area — a full seven percent. (Bloomberg)

But it wasn’t just growth- and late-stage rounds: From the last quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022, there were actually more individual deals (203 versus 215). That was especially true in the earlier stages, where there was a small uptick in total seed rounds (34 versus 42) and Series A rounds (40 versus 52). 

  • Esusu, Gauntlet, and Optimism are all NYC startups that, in closing Series B rounds, also hit unicorn status this quarter.

What to watch for: Nationwide, data show that US startups ran into economic headwinds this quarter, but changes in economic conditions are a lagging indicator, which means slower venture activity could be reflected in upcoming quarters. (VentureBeat) 

  • But despite recent market volatility, New York Stock Exchange president Lynn Martin said yesterday that demand for new public listings is still strong — an optimistic outlook on IPO activity to come. (Axios) “The amount of firms we are pitching at the moment, the amount of firms that are queued up to come to market, as soon as volatility comes down, is significant,” she said.

Either way, we’ll be watching closely to see if that holds true for New York. 

In other reading:

  • Ellevest, a New York-based digital investment platform for women, raised $53 million in Series B funding. BMO and Contour Venture Partners co-led the round and were joined by Halogen Ventures, Cleo Capital, New York Ventures, Stardust Equity, The Venture Collective, Envestnet, and Geingels. (Newswire)

  • Fidel API, a NYC and London-based financial infrastructure platform, raised $65 million in Series B funding. Bain Capital Ventures led the round and was joined by insiders NYCA Partners and QED Investors. (TechCrunch)

  • Grafana Labs, a NYC-based open observability platform, raised $240 million in Series D funding. GIC led the round and was joined by JPMorgan and insiders Sequoia Capital, Coatue, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Lead Edge Capital. (TechCrunch)

  • ProofPilot, a NYC-based SaaS clinical trial research platform, raised $12 million in Series B funding. Mitsui & Co. led the round and was joined by Sopris Capital, First Trust Capital Partners, Excelra, and others. (Newswire)

  • Starlight, a NYC-based corporate digital asset management startup, raised $5 million in seed funding. Abstract Ventures and A*Capital co-led the round and were joined by BoxGroup, SV Angel, Paxos, and Brevan Howard. (TechCrunch)

WeWork, in partnership with Oatly, are accepting applications for a nationwide pitch competition for startups making a positive impact on the environment. Eligible startups are invited to apply online for one of five pitch nights in their respective cities, including NYC, which will feature special guest judge Mayor Eric Adams. Learn more and apply by April 8 here.Off the Record, a nonprofit private community for venture-backed startups founders, is accepting applications for its Q2 class. Member benefits include monthly founder pods, access to curated investor introductions, software discounts, and more. Learn more and apply by April 8 here.The Jacobs Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech is accepting applications for its next cohort of Urban Tech Fellows. Researchers, thinkers, and practitioners interested in pursuing independent projects on urban tech subjects like mobility, infrastructure, and climate change are encouraged to apply. Learn more and apply by May 1 here.

Any feedback or suggestions of things to add? Get in touch here. Was this digest forwarded to you? Sign up to receive it directly here.