Tech:NYC Digest: February 7

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Tuesday, February 7, 2023

In today’s digest, NYC finds more room for asylum seekers, Delancey Street’s desperately needed “road diet,” and the new program helping non-tech companies attract tech talent. 

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• NYC will open a sixth Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center at a hotel in the Financial District to serve as additional temporary shelter for the influx of asylum seekers arriving in NYC. (Crain’s New York Business) The number of migrants that have arrived in the city has now surpassed 44,000.

• A federal grant will allocate money to overhaul a section of Delancey Street with a “road diet,” or lane reduction, to create a separated bikeway and make accessibility improvements for cyclists and pedestrians. (Curbed)

• President Biden will deliver his State of the Union address tonight at 9pm ET. Here’s what to expect and how to tune in.

In other reading:

• Can tech help reset your internal clock? Here’s what to consider. (Washington Post)

• Will A Casino Finally ‘Tame’ Times Square? (Curbed)

• Everything You Need to Know About Tipping in NYC Right Now (Grub Street)

The latest jobs report was stunningly good — and it seems to indicate that hiring across all types of sectors is continuing apace. Much of that is for tech roles, a trend we don’t expect to slow down anytime soon.

• Banks, hospitals, and other anchor industries in NYC are competing for tech talent as much as the tech sector itself, with all of them building new skills-matching and onboarding practices to help them stand out in a tightening labor market.

What’s new: NYC-based tech training provider General Assembly thinks apprenticeships are the answer to those dynamics and today launched a new program aimed at helping train and mentor workers into tech jobs at non-tech companies.

• “There is a difference between layoffs in the tech sector and the closing-up of technical jobs,” General Assembly CEO Lisa Lewin told Crain’s New York Business.

• The program is being launched in partnership with Interapt, a federally-registered apprenticeship provider, and with employer partners like CVS and Humana to start.

The model also got the endorsement of Mayor Eric Adams, who last month outlined a plan to connect 30,000 New Yorkers to apprenticeships by 2030.

• “This is on-the-job experience with an opportunity for permanent employment in high-demand careers. And it will ensure employers can tap the talent they need,” he said.

Read more: Putting Apprenticeships to Work: How work-based learning is helping to close the digital talent gap

In other reading:

• Managers: Here are 3 ways to lead in today’s labor market (Fast Company)

• The Bosses Are Back in Charge (Wall Street Journal)

• Are You Prepared to Be Interviewed by an AI? (Harvard Business Review)

• Elementus, a NYC-based blockchain data analytics company, raised $10 million in Series A2 funding. ParaFi Capital led the round. (CoinDesk)

• Flox, a NYC-based provider of package manager software, raised $16.5m in Series A funding. NEA led the round and was joined by Addition and Hetz Ventures. (TechCrunch)

• Follow, a NYC-based social investment platform, raised $9 million in new funding. Participating investors include Atomic, Uncork Capital, and Vera Equity. (TechCrunch)

• Riot, a NYC and Paris-based cybersecurity platform for employee protection, raised $12 million in Series A funding. Base10 led the round and was joined by YC, Funders Club, and Founders Future. (TechCrunch)

• February 9: In-person: Disrupting Delaware: Smarter Strategies for Starting your Startup, with Tusk Ventures CEO Bradley Tusk, Catawba Digital Economic Zone CEO Joseph McKinney, Vice Ventures founding partner Catharine Dockery, and others. Register here.

• February 9: In-person: Stories of STEM Success: Alternative Career Pathways, with K50 head of platform Jessica Lowenstein, Deutsche Bank vice president of strategy and innovation Clarisse Awamengwi, Women in Tech director of business development Marion Siboni, and others. Hosted by Women in Tech USA. Use code WOMENINTECH23 and select the “Women in Tech Partner Ticket” for half off the original price. Register here.

• February 21: Virtual: #notapitch: Unofficial Feedback on Your Idea/Prototype from a VC, with Brooklyn Bridge Ventures partner Charlie O’Donnell. Register here.

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