Tech:NYC Digest: August 12

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Thursday, August 12, 2021

In today’s digest, the FDA approves booster shots for the vulnerable, 2020 census results show big gains for cities, and the latest edition of Cornell Tech @ Bloomberg is live, featuring Work-Bench co-founder and general partner Jessica Lin.

• ☀️ Quick reminder: Tech:NYC is observing summer Fridays for the month of August, so no newsletter tomorrow. Stay cool out there, and we’ll see you on Monday!

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By the numbers:

• New positive cases statewide: 4,701 (+551)

  • New positive cases, NYC: 2,257 (+298) 

• Statewide Fatalities: 16 (+1)

• NYC Positivity Rates: 

  • NYS reports: 2.6 percent

  • NYC reports: 3.8 percent

• Statewide Vaccine Progress:

  • Percentage of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 77.0 percent

  • Percentage of total population with at least one dose: 64.6 percent

(For fuller breakdowns, find the state’s numbers here and the city’s numbers here.)

Today’s latest:

• The FDA authorized a third shot of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for certain people with weakened immune systems. This is an effort to better protect people with immune deficiencies as the highly contagious Delta variant sweeps the nation. (New York Times)

  • Some people haven’t waited for federal approval to receive an underground booster shot. The Atlantic chronicles one New Yorker’s experience, a chronically ill 78-year-old man who received an underground third dose of Johnson & Johnson’s single shot. 

• 50,000 previously unvaccinated New Yorkers have now received the vaccine through the city’s $100 incentive program. (Bloomberg)

• Mask mandates in school may be coming. Incoming Gov. Kathy Hochul has indicated her support for having everyone in schools, students and staff alike, wear masks when schools open in a matter of a couple of weeks. (New York Daily News)

  • President Biden is also examining whether he can order universal masking in public schools, overriding Republican governors in states like Florida and Texas, which have issued decrees banning mask mandates. (New York Post)

  • The National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union, announced today its support for vaccine mandates and regular testing for the unvaccinated (New York Times)

• The 2020 Census results are in, reflecting a more diverse America. (New York Times)

  • For the first time, all ten of the US’s largest cities have over one million people, and the country’s white population declined for the first time since the census’ inception. (Axios) 

  • The data show that NYC’s population is up to 8.80 million from 8.18 million in 2010. (ABC New York)

In other reading:

• What to Know About Breakthrough Infections and the Delta Variant (New York Times)

• The Vaccine Cards Are the Wrong Size (The Atlantic)

• What About a Booster Shot Now? (New York Magazine)

• See How Vaccines Can Make the Difference in Delta Variant’s Impact (New York Times)

NYC-based venture capital firm Work-Bench has grown a lot from its humble origins in 2013. Co-founders Jessica Lin and Jonathan Lehr came from tech backgrounds, but neither had worked at a high-flying startup or cut an angel investment into the next big software IPO. (Forbes)

But they bet big, believing they could connect the burgeoning enterprise tech community in New York with corporate customers. Fast forward to today, Work-Bench just announced its Fund III, a $100 million fund to continue its investments in a broad portfolio of early-stage enterprise startups.

• The fund will build on a track record of 30 investments in quickly-scaling startups like Catalyst, Cockroach Labs, and Spring Health, and more than ten exits, including Alluvium, Backtrace, and x.ai.

For the latest Cornell Tech @ Bloomberg fireside chat, produced in partnership with Cornell Tech and Bloomberg, Tech:NYC spoke to Jessica Lin about Work-Bench’s trajectory, her investments in the future of work, and her predictions for the city’s tech ecosystem.

• Lin: “Just this year alone, the first half of 2021, there is $7 billion in venture investing going into New York City enterprise startups. Just a year ago, a quarter of that went into early-stage startups. … There’s no better time to be investing in early-stage and enterprise here in New York.”

Stream the full conversation on demand here.In reopening and return-to-office news:

• Facebook announced January 2022 as its new RTO date for US offices. (CNBC)

• The New York Stock Exchange will require full COVID-19 vaccination for access to the trading floor beginning Sept. 13. (CNBC)

• Keeping up with all the recent COVID surge and the day-to-day changes in guidance is hard. Here’s a helpful roundup of many of those details, all in one place.

In other reading:

• Office politics move into the home as families bicker over work space (Axios)

• New York Widens Scope of Tax Audits Targeting Remote Workers (Bloomberg)

• Who Wants To Return To The Office? (FiveThirtyEight)

• Newlight Partners invested up to $100 million in Honest Networks, a New York-based internet service provider for residences and businesses in the Tri-state area. Fifth Wall Ventures also participated in the investment.

• Minded, a consumer telehealth company for mental health medication, raised $9 million in seed funding. Streamlined Ventures and Link Ventures participated in the round.

• August 17: Virtual: A Better Meeting, with Calendly chief product officer Annie Pearl, Mural CEO Mariano Suarez-Battan, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

• October 6 – 7: In-Person Outdoors: 2021 Propelify Innovation Festival, with Tech:NYC founder and executive director Julie Samuels, Capsule CEO Eric Kinariwala, Noom CEO Saeju Jeong, Bowery Farming CEO Irving Fain, and others. Hosted by TechUnited:NJ. Use code WeInventTheFuture to register for a free general admission ticket for a limited time here.

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