Tech:NYC Digest: June 14

Tech:NYC Digest: June 14

June 14, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Tuesday, June 14, 2022 

In today’s digest, NYC announces plan to address growing housing crisis, attention returns to BQE upgrades, and NYC retains its spot as the #2 global tech hub in new ranking. 

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 3,890

    • New positive cases, NYC: 2,184

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 5.2 percent (+0.1 percent)

In today’s latest: 

  • As NYC continues its recovery efforts, the city’s unemployment rate has improved from a whopping 21 percent during the peak of the pandemic to 6.4 percent. However, that number is still roughly double the national average of 3.6 percent.

    • THE CITY launched a new recovery tracker that will provide weekly updates on hiring, subway, RTO, and tourism metrics. Explore the tool here.

  • Mayor Eric Adams announced his blueprint to address the city’s growing housing crisis. The plan includes new efforts to accelerate the creation of affordable housing stock, streamline the conversion of vacant hotels to housing for unhoused or low-income New Yorkers, and require new construction to provide high-quality broadband access at a minimal cost to tenants. (New York Times) Read the full blueprint here.

    • The median rent in Manhattan reached $4,000 in May, the highest price ever reported by the brokerage Douglas Elliman. (New York Times)

  • Four likely new cases of monkeypox have been identified in NYC, bringing the total to 14. (Gothamist) Anyone can get and spread monkeypox, but the known cases so far are primarily among gay and bisexual men.

  • Mayor Adams wants to begin major renovations to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway within five years, reversing a proposal under the previous administration to provide temporary fixes for twenty years that give the city more time to work out a permanent solution. (New York Times)

In other reading:

  • Moved During the Pandemic? You May Need to Update Your Insurance (New York Times)

  • New York Harbor becomes a dining hotspot — for bottlenose dolphins (Gothamist)

  • For your next night out: Here Are NYC’s 2022 James Beard Award winners (Eater NY)

Amid recent hiring freezes and layoff announcements, the doom-and-gloom of a potential downturn can feel like it's setting in. But as the New York Times’ Shira Ovide wrote today, tech hiring is still bonkers and there’s a lot of reason to be optimistic. Nowhere is that more true than New York.

Annual research released by Startup Genome — powered by data and insights from Tech:NYC and the New York City Economic Development Corporation — today ranked NYC's startup ecosystem as second worldwide, only behind Silicon Valley.

  • This year’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report, which evaluates 140 tech ecosystems worldwide, confirms NYC has retained its spot as the second-strongest hub for the fifth year in a row.

What’s new: NYC’s banner job growth and VC investment levels in 2021 fortified its position more than ever. (Crain’s New York Business)

  • The report calculates that the NYC tech generated $371 billion in ecosystem value in the roughly 18 months between July 2019 and December 2021.

  • Over the past four years, total venture capital funding has reached $88 billion in NYC. NYC startups raised $55 billion in VC funding 2021, more than double the $20.2 billion in 2020.

  • NYC’s ranking was also boosted by last year’s record-breaking wave of 30 homegrown IPOs. 

A robust talent pool has long been a leading contributor to NYC’s position, and the report identified that talent was flocking to several notable subsectors, among them AI, blockchain, and life sciences.

  • NYC is now home to 250 blockchain startups, and in 2021, accounted for almost half of all venture-backed cryptocurrency investments nationally.

“Record investment in New York startups is a testament to our city's unmatched entrepreneurial talent,” said Jason Myles Clark, executive director of Tech:NYC. “Beyond strong investment figures, this report highlights a number of distinguishing factors — including innovative workforce development programs, world-class research centers, and government support for early-stage startups — that show why New York will remain an ideal launchpad for startups for years to come.”

Our takeaway: It’s clear local tech continues to drive the city’s economy — a win for all New Yorkers.

In other reading:

  • How to Keep New Hires From Quitting in the First 30 Days (Wall Street Journal)

  • Your friendly neighborhood library could be your new WFH haven (Business Insider)

  • Here’s why summer may be the perfect time to revive your annual works resolutions (Fast Company)

  • CoachHub, a NYC-based digital coaching platform, raised $200 million in Series C funding. Sofina and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 co-led the round and were joined by Molten Ventures, Speedinvest, HV Capital, Signals Venture Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank/SVB Capital. (TechCrunch)

  • Wonder, a NYC-based "cloud kitchen on wheels" startup, raised $350 million in Series B funding. Bain Capital Ventures led the round and was joined by Forerunner, Amex Ventures, Yieldstreet, Harmony Partners, and Watar Partners, as well as existing investors GV, NEA, Accel, General Catalyst, and Alpine Group. (Wall Street Journal)

  • June 15 – 17: In-person: Roadmap to Billions Conference, with Guava founder and CEO Kelly Ifill, Harlem Capital investor Tonna Obaze, Google for Startups head Jewel Burks Solomon, and others. Hosted by Black Women Talk Tech. The first 25 tickets today are free using code "BWTTFF" and after, use code “BMTT” to get 60 percent off tickets. Register here.

  • June 15: In-person: Brooklyn Magazine Festival 2022: Tech in my backyard: How innovative companies can be good neighbors, with Brooklyn Bridge Ventures partner Charlie O’Donnell and Community Service Society of New York VP Emerita Torres. Register here.

  • June 16: In-person: Cornell Tech Fest, with Tech:NYC director of Tech Year NYC Bethany Crystal, Lunchbox CEO Nabeel Alamgir, Primary VC principal Sam Toole, and others. Hosted by Cornell Tech. Enter code “technycmem” in the “Admin Use Only” field for 50 percent off tickets. Register here.

  • June 21: In-person: 2022 Brooklyn Energy Summit & Expo, with COI Energy Services founder SaLisa Berrien, BlocPower co-founder Keith Kinch, Build Edison COO Max McCafferty, and others. Hosted by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. Register here.

  • June 20 – 23: In-person: NFT.NYC 2022, with Snark.art cofounder Andy Alekhin, Slow Ventures partner Clay Robbins, Offchain Labs co-founder Ed Felten, and others. Hosted by NFT.NYC. Register here.

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