Tech:NYC Digest: December 1

Tech:NYC Digest: December 1

December 01, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Thursday, December 1, 2022

It’s already the final month of 2022, can you believe it? In today’s digest, the MTA can’t put off fare hikes any longer, the latest COVID winter outlook, and why NYU is betting on engineering talent to fill the jobs of the future.

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  • The MTA plans to raise fares and tolls by 5.5% next June to help plug a major budget deficit caused by dwindling ridership since the start of the pandemic. This is the first time the agency has implemented such a hike since 2019. (Gothamist)

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced $3 million will be administered over three years to provide immigrants arriving in NYC with free immigration-related legal services and assistance with critical application filings and required appearances. (amNewYork)

  • As an indicator of NYC’s broader economic recovery: Broadway attendance is up to 86% pre-pandemic levels, and occupancy in the city’s hotels was also 86%, 20 percentage points higher than a year ago. (Patch NYC)

In other reading:

  • Podcast: This COVID winter will be different. But will it be better? (The Atlantic)

  • NYC is hiring a rat czar. ‘General aura of badassery’ required. (Gothamist)

  • How New Yorkers Are Saving, Swapping, and Splurging on Groceries (Grub Street)

The next generation of tech leaders is already here. But ensuring that generation is actually ready to enter tech fields requires supporting them early – even before they’re out of school. 

What’s new: New York University is investing $1 billion in its flagship engineering school in Downtown Brooklyn, in a bid to expand its offerings and elevate NYC’s tech sector. (New York Times)

  • The investment includes the purchase of 3 MetroTech Center, a 350,000 square foot building adjacent to NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, as well new labs spaces and 40 new full-time tenure track faculty.

  • The funding will also support applied research in key areas — secure wireless ecosystems and supply chains, health engineering, sustainability, and human-centered data science.

The investment adds another proof point to Brooklyn’s status as its own burgeoning tech hub: Research Tech:NYC released last month found that tech jobs in the borough have grown a whopping 42% over the past decade, outpacing all other boroughs.

  • Though tech and tech-related jobs represent only 7% of the city’s workforce, they generated $290 billion in economic output in 2021, or 28% of the city’s total economic output — twice as much as in 2013.

Our takeaway: Homegrown investments like this are a major step in the right direction to sustaining more direct pipelines to the city’s tech sector — and to better jobs for more New Yorkers.

In other reading:

  • The ‘Great Reflection’ on the future of work is not over (Fortune)

  • Which Connections Really Help You Find a Job? (Harvard Business Review)

  • 88% of employers are offering RTO incentives — here’s now to negotiate yours (CNBC)

  • Cedara, a NYC-based provider of a carbon intelligence platform, raised $2.7 million in seed funding. (FinSMEs)

  • Daylight, a NYC-based web3 applications aggregator, raised $3 million in seed funding. Framework Ventures and Chapter One co-led the round and were joined by OpenSea, 6th Man Ventures, Eniac Ventures, Seed Club Ventures, Tomahawk, Spice Capital, Uncommon Projects, Very Serious Ventures, and other angels. (FinSMEs)

  • Fleek, a NYC-based web3 developer platform, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Polychain Capital led the round and was joined by Protocol Labs, Arweave, Coinbase Ventures, Digital Currency Group, North Island Ventures, Distributed Global, The LAO, and Argonautic Ventures. (TechCrunch)

  • Frame AI, a NYC-based customer intelligence platform, raised $7.6 million. G20 Ventures led the round and was joined by Velvet Sea Ventures, ValueStream Ventures, FirstMark, Twilio, LiveRamp, and Greycroft. (FinSMEs)

  • ResortPass, a NYC-based hotels and resorts access provider, raised $26 million in Series B funding. Declaration Partners and 14W co-led the round and were joined by CRV and other angels. (TechCrunch)

  • December 6: In-person: Getting Ready to Raise in 2023, with Zeal Capital Partners senior associate Evelysse Vargas and Lakehouse Ventures general partner John Neamonitis. Hosted by Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. Register here.

  • December 8: In-person: Government Modernization Summit 2022, with NYC chief efficiency officer Melanie La Rocca, Port Authority of NY & NJ executive director Rick Cotton, CityBridge CEO Nick Colvin, and more. Hosted by City & State. Register here.

  • December 13: In-person and virtual: December Fundraising Workshop, with Greycroft partner Ellie Wheeler. Hosted by Silicon Valley Bank. Register here.

  • December 15: In-person: Hardware Holiday Party, a casual gathering to celebrate the NYC hardware community. Hosted by Newlab, informal, and NY Hardware Meetup. Register here.

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