Tech:NYC Digest: August 23

Tech:NYC Digest: August 23

August 23, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Tuesday, August 23, 2022  

In today’s digest, tracking today's primary results, the software forcing cars to obey the speed limit in NYC, and why post-summer RTO plans are still anyone’s guess.

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 3,965       

    • New positive cases, NYC: 1,783 

  • NYC Positivity Rate (Daily): 6.6% 

    • NYC Positivity Rate (7-Day Average): 5.5%

In today’s latest: 

  • We’re T–3 hours until polls close on the second round of primary election races. When polls close at 9pm, results will start trickling in to determine who moves on to the general election in November. Follow the trackers here.

  • A new CUNY Graduate School of Public Health poll found that nearly two-thirds (63%) of NYC residents have now caught COVID-19, but just half have received a booster shot. (New York Post)

  • NYC has launched a six-month pilot of “intelligent speed assistance” technology in 50 municipality vehicles. The software prevents vehicles from moving above the speed limit, and studies of similar pilots projected a 26%-50% reduction in traffic fatalities. (Axios)

  • A new drop of monkeypox vaccine appointments will go live tomorrow, August 24, at 6pm ET. Beginning at that time, search available slots here.

In other reading:

Tech:NYC is hearing from many of our member companies about their post-summer RTO plans, and even after all this time, it’s still a mixed bag.

  • An August survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found at least 30% of New York metro area respondents are working remotely for 3.3 days on average. (Commercial Observer)

It’s becoming even clearer that remote work is here to stay: The most comprehensive research on remote work has found it has stabilized at an unexpectedly high level, indicating that knowledge workers are clocking three of every five workdays from home. 

  • But an RTO showdown could be looming: Companies like Apple and Peloton have identified Labor Day as the pivot point for enforcing stricter in-office work rules, but executives are already getting pushback from employees demanding more permanent flexibility. (Bloomberg) 

What it means: No one quite knows — still. Executives are trying all kinds of tactics — including forgoing their own summer vacations to set an example by being at the office themselves. But even for companies enforcing new RTO rules, it remains to be seen if employees will comply. The results could provide useful insights into how much workers have kept the upper hand — and how much their preferences will continue to shape the future of work.  

In other reading:

  • Experts weigh in: The parts of hybrid work that need the most improvement (Protocol)

  • Why Founders Are Afraid to Talk About Exit Strategies (Harvard Business Review)

  • Podcast: Is the Office Dying? It’s Time to Rethink How We Work (New York Times)

  • Highbeam, a NYC-based e-commerce banking startup, raised $7 million in seed funding. FirstMark and Mayfield co-led the round and were joined by a group of angels. (TechCrunch)

  • Mobot, a NYC-based mobile experience robotics company, raised $12.5 million in Series A funding. Cota Capital led the round and was joined by Heavybit, Uncorrelated Ventures, Bling Capital, Primary Venture Partners, and others. (TechCrunch)

  • Primitive, a NYC-based decentralized finance startup, raised $9 million in Series A funding. Bain Capital Crypto led the round and was joined by 1confirmation, Collab+Currency, Hart Lambur, Nascent, Robot Ventures, Electric Capital, and Framework Ventures. (The Block)

  • 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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