Tech:NYC Digest: July 13

Tech:NYC Digest: July 13

July 13, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Thursday, July 13, 2023

In today’s digest, tracking the city’s early-stage startup market, what shark activity means for New York’s oceans, and the end of the RTO debate. 

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  • A New York appeals court on Thursday ordered the state’s congressional map to be redrawn, the latest twist in a nearly 10-year redistricting fight. (New York Times)

    • The decision — should it hold up on appeal — could have both local and national implications, with lines redrawn on key Congressional battlegrounds in New York City and the Hudson Valley.  

  • While the recent increase in shark bites at New York beaches is, of course, frightening, there’s actually a bit of good news behind the recent spate of attacks: They signify a healthier marine ecosystem. (Vox) 

  • The Excelsior Pass Plus app that served as a digital record of COVID-19 vaccination history will be phased out on July 28 — two months after the federal government announced an end to the public emergency status for the pandemic. (City & State) 

In other reading:

The venture capital market as a whole is still undoubtedly in a cool-down phase, but when we focus in on NYC’s early-stage market, the investment market has proven resilient. 

First, positive signals at the Series A level: 

  • The median total raised by NYC-based startups in the second quarter was $8.7 million, according to data shared with Tech:NYC by Carta. That topped the $7.3 million median Series A raised by Silicon Valley firms and marked a 9% rise from the previous quarter.

  • Valuations at the Series A level for startups also ticked up, according to Carta, to a median of $48 million. Once again, New York came out ahead of Silicon Valley, where Series A deals had a median valuation of $42 million last quarter. 

At the seed stage, deal activity ticked up — even if deal size was slightly down:

  • The 149 seed-stage deals between April and the end of June in New York, as tracked by NYC-focused seed investor Primary, marked an 18% increase from the previous quarter. That’s the fastest increase since the start of 2022.

  • But the average deal size of $4 million was down 13%, which could indicate that "founders who’ve been holding off on fundraising are accepting smaller rounds with slightly less competition from VCs," according to Primary.  

You can probably guess which category saw the strongest seed-stage growth:

  • There were 15 deals at the seed stage for NYC-based artificial intelligence startups, up 50% from the previous quarter, according to Primary.

  • The deals for AI firms tended to be more valuable, too, with 40% falling between $6 million and $9.9 million, compared to 19% of overall deals.

In other reading:

  • The RTO debate is over according to new research (Fast Company)

  • Wages are finally rising faster than inflation (Axios)

  • What the hell are passkeys and why are they suddenly everywhere? (Engadget)

  • Cove, a NYC-based trust and safety platform for the web, raised $5.8 million in seed funding. Thrive Capital led the round and was joined by Sound Ventures, Common Sense Growth, Neo, and Elad Gil, among others.

  • Radar, a NYC-based provider of in-store retail inventory management solutions, raised $30m in Series A funding. Align Ventures led the round and was joined by RX Ventures, The Ferrante Group, Hilldun Corporation, Future Archives, and Leeds Holding.

  • Trunk Tools, a NYC-based employee payment platform for the construction industry, raised $9.9 million in seed funding. Innovation Endeavors led the round and was joined by Fifth Wall, Foundation Capital, and others.

  • July 15 – 16: In-person: Catalyst: learn to found a unicorn with the world's leading talent investors. Hosted by Entrepreneur First US. Register here.

  • July 19: In-person: Building a Proptech Startup, with Moved president Caren Maio, Stak Mobility CEO Diallo Powell, a16z partner Sumeet Singh, and Common founder Brad Hargreaves. Hosted by Stacklist. Register here.

  • July 26: In-person: Responsible Tech Mixer and Summer Celebration. Hosted by All Tech is Human and Betaworks. Register here.

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