Tech:NYC Digest: August 22

Tech:NYC Digest: August 22

August 22, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Monday, August 22, 2022 

Welcome back! In today’s digest, what to know before Election Day, the latest virus on the Dept. of Health’s watchlist, and NYC founders cheer on the Mets with the Citi Impact Fund.

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 3,251     

    • New positive cases, NYC: 1,593 

  • NYC Positivity Rate (Daily): 6.5%

    • NYC Positivity Rate (7-Day Average): 5.3% 

In today’s latest: 

  • Happy Election Day Eve (round two)! If you didn’t get your ballot in during the early voting period, be sure to reserve some time to vote tomorrow! Polls are open from 6am – 9pm.

    • New Yorkers are watching several races very closely, and they’re still far from decided: just 3% of eligible NYC voters cast ballots during the early voting period. (THE CITY)

    • Remember: district lines were recently redrawn, so some unfamiliar names may appear on your ballot. Check to see if you’ve been redistricted here. 

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul announced more relaxed COVID precautions for students ahead of the school year. Students no longer have to isolate if exposed to someone with COVID and reported cases will no longer send entire classrooms to remote settings. (New York Daily News)

  • In other NYC public health updates:

    • Add West Nile virus to the list: the Dept. of Health announced two confirmed cases, one in Brooklyn and one in Queens, as well as a “record number” of infected mosquitoes in the city. (New York Times) 

    • NYC has released more data on monkeypox vaccine distribution, and the initial rollout closely mirrors that of the COVID vaccine: just 12% of Black New Yorkers have received the vaccine despite comprising 31% of the eligible population. (Gothamist)

    • While you’re thinking about virus protection: New Yorkers can check that they’ve received the polio vaccine (and other immunization history) here.

  • Mayor Eric Adams rolled out the initial parts of his Cannabis NYC initiative to support the recreational marijuana industry in the city. Like New York State plans, the city plans to prioritize cannabis business licenses to those who have been most affected by past convictions for marijuana. (Gothamist) 

In other reading:

  • Can a NYC Garage Full of Revel Taxis Stop the Next Blackout? (Curbed)

  • The best restaurants in America’s busiest airports (Washington Post)

  • Tech Hacks to Make Traveling Right Now Less of a Headache (New York Times)

Is New York’s hottest new accelerator … Citi Field?

Tech:NYC recently teamed up with the Citi Impact Fund to bring together a group of diverse NYC founders and other tech leaders for a summer night at the ballpark! While the Mets were cementing their winning streak on the field, we took the opportunity to celebrate the resiliency of the city's tech ecosystem and exchange strategies on how to accelerate our shared equity and inclusion goals. 

  • “The mission of the Citi Impact Fund is to accelerate scalable solutions impacting underserved communities and to advance gender and racial equity,” said Meredith Shields, head of the Citi Impact Fund. “We’re proud that over 70% of our portfolio companies were founded by people of color and women, and we look forward to continuing to engage in the city’s dynamic and diverse tech ecosystem to identify innovative companies that help advance access and opportunity.”

According to our most recent Innovation Indicators data, Black and Hispanic workers make up 20.8% of NYC’s tech workforce, more than the other two leading US tech hubs, San Francisco (8.5%) and Boston (9.7%), combined. 

  • That represents significant progress from just a decade ago, but it’s still a long way from being representative of the city's overall population. There is more we can do to support the long-term success of entrepreneurs of color and, by implication, New York itself.

So for this month’s edition of our Companies to Watch series, we spoke to five founders — and perhaps newly-converted Mets fans — that are leading by example and applying innovative solutions to some of society’s most pressing challenges. This month’s Companies to Watch are:

  • Nivelo: a platform that optimizes employer cash flow and gets workers paid faster while protecting digital payments.

  • Flume: a last-mile provider of gigabit broadband with the reliability and service that consumers need.

  • MoCaFi: a fintech platform that enables municipalities and other entities to electronically disburse economic benefits to millions of unbanked and underbanked residents and small businesses.

  • EmTech: a software provider building APIs to connect central banks and financial institutions in a frictionless way.

  • My Home Pathway: a fintech platform expanding access to homeownership by helping users navigate the mortgage process.

  • Agora, a NYC and Tel Aviv-based SaaS company for real estate firms, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by Aleph. (Newswire)

  • Bravo Sierra, a NYC-based male personal care company, raised $17 million in Series B funding. The Merchant Club led the round and was joined by Capstar Ventures, Redo Ventures, AF Ventures, and Mousse Partners. (Insider)

  • GrowthSpace, a NYC-based outcome-focused talent development platform provider, raised $25 million in Series B funding. Zeev Ventures led the round and was joined by M12 and Vertex Ventures. (Newswire)

  • Insomnia Labs, a NYC-based web3 advertising and technology company, raised $1.5 million in funding. Participating investors include Polygon, Animoca Brands, Eden Ventures, HBJ Investments, and Concept Art House. (FinSMEs)

  • Tessera, a NYC-based NFT trading platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Paradigm led the round and was joined by Focus Labs, Uniswap Labs Ventures, E Girl Capital, Yunt Capital, and other angels.

  • VidMob, a NYC-based advertising platform for brands, raised $110 million in Series D funding. Shamrock Capital led the round and was joined by eGateway Advisors and Proof, as well as insiders ID Funds and Drive by DraftKings. (Wall Street Journal)

  • September 12: In-person: Entrepreneurs Roundtable 169, with Primary Venture Partners partner Cassie Young. Hosted by ERA. Register here. 

  • September 14: In-person and virtual: How I Raised my Seed, with Guava founder and CEO Kelly Ifill and Peat co-founder and CEO Wilson Wong. Hosted by Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. Register here.

  • September 21 – 24: In-person and virtual: Unfinished Live 2022, with Circle chief strategy officer Dante Disparte, Future\Perfect Ventures managing partner Jalak Jobanputra, Protocol Labs general counsel Marta Belcher, and others. Register here.

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