Tech:NYC Digest: January 10

Tech:NYC Digest: January 10

January 10, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

In today’s digest, top takeaways from Gov. Hochul’s State of the State, office-to-housing conversions get the greenlight, and Revel’s plan to power citywide EV adoption.

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  • Ten days into her first full term as governor, Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered an address outlining her priorities for state government this year. (New York Times) Highlights among her 147 proposals include:

    • Zoning and development changes to spur the construction of 800,000 new homes in the next decade;

    • $1 billion in new investments for mental health care services;

    • Public transit upgrades and new light rail infrastructure projects;

    • The launch of a singular online ID and login for all state services and agencies;

    • And the creation of a new fund offering matching grants to tech startups and other small businesses. 

    • If you’re interested in the full (277 pages!) of proposals, get the book here.

  • As office occupancy rates continue to stagnate in NYC, Mayor Eric Adams announced new plans to convert vacant office space into 20,000 new apartments over the next decade. (NBC New York)

  • The MTA has reopened restrooms at nine NYC subway stations for the first time since the pandemic began. (Gothamist)

  • And lastly, the Golden Globes return tonight. (Follow-up question: does anyone still care?)

In other reading:

  • State of the State: 5 takeaways on bail laws, housing plan and more (Gothamist)

  • New York will let you fix your smartphone at the shop you choose (Crain’s New York Business)

  • How to Get Help for Long COVID in NYC (THE CITY)

A highlight of Gov. Hochul’s State of the State address today were her proposals to accelerate New York’s climate goals, with transportation electrification playing a key role.

What’s new: Revel, the Brooklyn-based electric mobility startup, is building five new EV charging Superhubs, tripling the number of public charging stations in the city. (amNewYork)

  • All five Superhubs are within the five boroughs, adding a collective 136 charging stalls at sites in Maspeth, Queens; Port Morris, Bronx; Williamsburg, Brooklyn; and the Lower East Side.

  • The expansion follows an investment from the state’s own energy agency announced in November to develop its Red Hook Recharge Zone.

  • In addition to charging the public’s EVs, Revel’s new charging sites will power the company’s own all-electric rideshare service, which currently has 200 Tesla Model Ys operated by over 480 employee drivers. 

EV adoption has continued rapidly growing, and Revel co-founder and CEO Frank Reig says supporting infrastructure has to keep up: 

  • “The only way mass EV adoption will ever happen in New York City is if the charging infrastructure is there to support it. We need high-volume, public sites in the neighborhoods where people actually live and work, and that’s exactly what Revel is delivering with our growing Superhub network.”

City transportation officials estimate that roughly 40,000 publicly available plugs are needed by 2030. (Wall Street Journal)

  • Under Gov. Hochul’s proposal, New York’s utilities will invest more than $1 billion to support electrification technologies, with most earmarked for EV charging infrastructure for passenger vehicles.

In other reading:

  • How to set (and not forget) your 2023 work goals (Fast Company)

  • The Top Careers for 2023: These 20 Jobs Are in High Demand (Bloomberg)

  • 10 Impressive Questions to Ask in a Job Interview (The Cut)

  • Baton, a NYC-based marketplace for small business acquisitions, raised $2.8 million in pre-seed funding. Giant Ventures led the round and was joined by Bloomberg Beta and a group of angels. (Built in NYC)

  • C14, a NYC-based payments platform for web3 businesses, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by Fin Capital, Cipholio, and Istari Ventures. (Axios)

  • Chronosphere, a NYC-based cloud-based applications monitoring company, raised $115 million in new venture funding. GV led the round and was joined by Geodesic Capital, as well as insiders Addition, Founders Fund, General Atlantic, Greylock, Glynn Capital and Lux Capital. (TechCrunch)

  • January 11: Virtual: The Path Forward: Venture Capital, with Acrew Capital founding partner Theresia Guow. Hosted by the Washington Post. Register here.

  • January 17: In-person: Cornell Tech @ Bloomberg Speaker Series, featuring Adobe chief product officer Scott Belsky. Hosted by Tech:NYC, Bloomberg, and Cornell Tech. Register here.

  • January 17: In-person: Web3 Investor and Founder Insights, with Union Square Ventures partner Nick Grossman, Dfns CEO Clarisse Hagege, Chainstarters co-founder Julie Dwyer, and Gamespad co-founder Constantin Kogan. Hosted by Techstars Web3 and Genesis Block. Register here.

  • January 18: In-person: Building a Marketplace: Advice for Founders and Product Teams, with AptDeco CEO Reham Fagiri, Grailed CEO Arun Gupta, and Transfix CTO Jonathan Salama. Hosted by Union Square Ventures and Stacklist. Register here.

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