Tech:NYC Digest: June 20

Tech:NYC Digest: June 20

June 20, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Welcome back! In today’s digest, how AI is being used to optimize hybrid work, why affordable child care remains elusive for many New Yorkers, and your guide to early voting in this month’s primary races.

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  • Early voting for the June 27 primary elections started over the weekend and … is off to a slow start. (amNewYork) 

  • Childcare costs could consume nearly half of the median income from young families, according to a new analysis by the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York. (Gothamist) 

    • The analysis estimates a family with one infant and one preschool-aged child earning $86,000 per year would spend about 43% of their income on center-based child care.

  • A new rest stop where delivery workers can rest and charge electric bikes opened last week in SoHo, through a partnership between GrubHub and JOCO, a company that makes rentable e-bikes. (Gothamist)

In other reading:

  • 35 Ways Real People Are Using AI Right Now (New York Times)

  • Rat complaints were down 15% in May compared to the same month last year. But are we just getting used to them? (Gothamist) 

  • Go to the New LaGuardia Airport for the Art (Curbed)

We’re nearly three years out from the earliest return-to-office efforts, and companies are still sorting out how exactly the hybrid office should look. One tool that architects are increasingly using to make sense of how to get the IRL-remote balance right: AI. 

  • With staffers working a mix of days at home and in the office, designers are using a mix of sensors and AI-powered tools to study and predict how offices are commonly being used post-pandemic, The New York Times reports. 

  • The tools are being used to help businesses make informed decisions on everything from the square footage they need to where to place the coffee machine. 

  • One software tool used by architecture firm Zaha Hadid Analytics + Insights can come up with 100,000 possible designs for a building’s interior in just 27 hours.

Finding the right workspace design for the hybrid world is still an ongoing experiment—literally. 

  • Architecture and design firm NBBJ in November opened a 30,000-square-foot "living lab" office in the Flatiron District to test what types of designs and layouts work best for hybrid work. (TIME)

  • When VC firm Contrary decided to expand its presence in New York at the end of 2022, it opted to create a “Soho House for techies” that is experimenting with building more open community spaces over offices. (Protocol)

The findings so far? Long tables are in and individual desks are out, said one NBBJ director: “If you’re coming back to the office, you’re not coming back to sit at a desk—you’re coming back to collaborate.”

The shifting workplace can also offer opportunities for startups: Brooklyn-based Room, for example, has seen growing demand for its customizable prefabricated phone booths and meeting rooms. (Crain's New York Business) 

In other reading:

  • How smaller VCs are having an impact on diverse investors and founders (TechCrunch)

  • New York is one of just 11 US states with a paid parental leave law (Axios)

  • The best AI apps to try now (The Wall Street Journal)

  • Blackbird.AI, a NYC-based AI narrative and risk intelligence provider, raised $20 million in Series B funding. Ten Eleven Ventures led the round and was joined by insiders Dorilton Capital, Generation Ventures, StartFast Ventures, and Trousdale Ventures.

  • ElevenLabs, a NYC-based AI voice synthesis platform, raised $19 million in Series A funding. Participating investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Nat Friedman, and Daniel Gross. 

  • Lalo, a Brooklyn-based DTC baby products startup, raised $10.1 million in Series A funding. Spin Master Ventures led the round and was joined by Babylist, 35V, and Untold Holdings.

  • June 21: In-person: Raising Your First Venture Round, with Diageo Ventures head of North America Sallie Jian, NY Ventures vice president Silvia Garcia, and RSE Ventures investor Stephen Reisert. Hosted by Stacklist. Register here.

  • June 21: In-person: FirstGen's Immigrant Founder Appreciation Happy Hour to celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month. Register here.

  • June 26: Virtual: #notapitch: Unofficial Feedback on Your Idea/Prototype from a VC, with Brooklyn Bridge Ventures partner Charlie O’Donnell. Register here.

  • June 28: In-person: AI Meets Virtual Worlds: The Future of Sentience, with Google Labs visiting scholar Steven Johnson, cognitive scientist David Chalmers, and Betaworks CEO John Borthwick. Hosted by Betaworks and Next Big Idea Club. Register here.

  • June 29: In-person and virtual: How I Raised My Seed, with Ned CEO David Silverstein. Hosted by Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. Register here.

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