Tech:NYC Digest: January 26

Tech:NYC Digest: January 26

January 26, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Thursday, January 26, 2023

In today’s digest, Mayor Adams unveils his “working people’s agenda,” curbside composting goes citywide, and the initiatives doubling down on investments in underrepresented NYC founders.

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  • Mayor Eric Adams delivered his second State of the City address this afternoon, outlining a “working people’s agenda” for the city’s future. (New York Times) Among the highlights:

    • A new accelerator program connecting 30,000 New Yorkers to apprenticeships by 2030; (New York Daily News)

    • A new 50,000-square-foot biotech incubator at the Brooklyn Navy Yard that includes office space, research labs, and programming space for biotechnology startups and companies; (THE CITY)

    • A requirement for high-volume for-hire vehicles to be zero-emissions by 2030 and the construction of more EV charging stations throughout the five boroughs; (The Verge)

    • The expansion of the CUNY2x Tech program to more public and community colleges throughout the city;

    • An increase in funding to minority and women-owned business vendors by committing to $25 billion in MWBE contracts by 2026, and increasing that to $60 billion by 2030;

    • Investments over $375 million in new public spaces, open streets, parks, and bike lanes and establishing a permanent version of outdoor dining regulations and new dining structures.

  • Bloomberg announced it would hire 1,000 new employees this year — many of which will be data, product, and engineering roles — at a time when many other media and tech companies are cutting back. (Insider)

    • The company employs 21,000 people, including 7,000 engineers, and is known for hiring in downturns.

  • The state Cannabis Control Board awarded 30 new dispensary licenses, including 15 in NYC, bringing the total number of planned dispensaries across the state to 66. (NY1)

  • The residential curbside composting pilot launched in Queens will expand citywide over a phased timeline between now and late 2024. Registration won’t be required, and participating will not be mandatory for now. (Gothamist) 

In other reading:

  • Fact or Fiction: Here’s What Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to do with gas stoves (Gothamist) 

  • Welcome to the Shoppy Shop: Why does every store suddenly look the same? (Grub Street)

  • Is 4am the New 8pm at NYC Restaurants? (Eater NY)

Last night, Tech:NYC gathered a group of investors and BIPOC founders, in partnership with Google for Startups, to kickstart an effort to pool deeper support for underrepresented founders across the New York tech ecosystem.

  • Funding ratios didn’t improve last year: According to Crunchbase data, US Black founders raised an estimated $2.25 billion out of $216 billion in US venture capital allocated in 2022 — or about 1%. That’s a slight drop from the 1.3% raised in 2021. (TechCrunch)

McKinsey & Company’s InNYC accelerator program is among a growing collection of programs recently announced to respond to those persistent gaps:

  • The program is currently accepting applications for its 2023 cohort in NYC, and selected startups receive dedicated support from a consulting team focused on solving a major founder pain-point, all pro bono.

In 2020, Google for Startups began responding with its Black Founders Fund and Latino Founders Fund for founders disproportionately locked out of access to the funding critical to getting their startups off the ground in the earliest stages.

  • The two funds have supported more than 200 founders to date nationwide, including 35 based in NYC.

  • Visible Hands’ BX-XL Brooklyn BIPOC accelerator and NYC’s own city-supported Founder Fellowship are additional local efforts scaling up this year.

Why it matters: Tech is now a leading driver of the city’s overall economy, and the long-term success of the sector will require it to be more reflective of the city’s overall population.

In other reading:

  • How recent tech layoffs disproportionately affect women and people of color (Fast Company)

  • How quantum computing is the world’s next ‘industrial revolution’ (TIME)

  • The Corporate Cafeteria is Broken. So How to Feed Workers? (New York Times)

  • AtomicJar, a NYC-based integration testing platform, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by Irregular Expressions, as well as insiders boldstart ventures, Tribe Capital, Chalfen Ventures, among others. (TechCrunch)

  • Emperia, a NYC and London-based virtual spaces developer for the retail industry, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Base10 Partners led the round and was joined by Dastore, Sony Ventures, Background Capital, Stanford Capital Partners, and Concept Ventures. (TechCrunch)

  • FJ Labs, a NYC-based VC firm, raised a total of $260 million for a new pre-seed fund and an opportunity fund. (TechCrunch)

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