Tech:NYC Digest: June 27

Tech:NYC Digest: June 27

June 27, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Happy Primary Day! In today’s digest, sizing up early-stage startup clusters, more wildfire smoke heading our way, and how hospitals are using AI to free up more time focused on patients.

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  • Polls are open until 9 pm today for primary elections in NYC. Every one of the 51 City Council seats is up for re-election this year (although about half of those are uncontested). 

  • The federal government has given final approvals to a plan to charge congestion pricing tolls on drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street, which officials hope will tame traffic and generate revenue to fund public transit improvements. A local panel appointed by the MTA can now decide on final toll rates, including any discounts or exemptions. (New York Times) 

    • While no pricing structure has been set yet, an MTA released last year included a proposal to charge $23 for a rush-hour trip into Midtown and $17 during off-peak hours. The new tolls could go into effect as early as spring 2024.

  • Wildfire smoke from Canada is again expected to worsen air quality in New York this week. Smoke plumes are expected to reach NYC this Thursday, and air quality advisories will go into effect to recommend the use of N95 masks when outdoors. You can check the air quality near you at AirNow.gov and sign up for emergency alerts for the city here.

In other reading:

  • How NYC hospitals are using artificial intelligence to save lives (Gothamist)

  • Here’s a list of 34 additional open streets—including 13 new locations—coming this year

  • Riverside Park’s gardening goats are back (Time Out New York)

A VC trend we're tracking: The early-stage startup cluster.

"Seed-stage companies are a lot like grapes," as Crunchbase News reported, "they tend to form in bunches." And New York is home to many startups in the sectors sprouting fastest. 

Everyone is talking about AI and the future of work, of course, so it is no surprise that early-stage investment clusters have quickly formed within both this year: 

  • In the generative AI cluster, New York is home to recently-funded early-stage startups such as the insurtech Sixfold.AI and Nova, which is building tools for brand integrity in AI-generated content. 

  • For the future of work cluster, there’s been a sustained swell of VC support for NYC startups since the pandemic forced companies across all sectors to reimagine their workflows. Among them: Engin Sciences, an AI-powered recruiting platform; Sinecure, a talent acquisition and retention platform; and Skillit, a recruiting platform focused on full-time construction labor. 

A couple of areas we’re seeing early-stage action in New York that are not on the list (but should be): climate tech and enterprise technology. 

  • Recent local early-stage deals in climate tech include the Brooklyn-based roofing automation startup Renovate Robotics and NYC-based Alcove Labs, which helps companies manage and track carbon credits.

  • Local enterprise startups were among the most resilient in 2022 when it comes to venture dealflow, and our friends at Work-Bench published a list at the start of the year with 17 early-stage startups to watch. 

What we’re watching: How these clusters commingle. The city’s ecosystem is making room for several clusters at the same time — increasingly AI startups are also future of work startups, and enterprise tools are breaking into the climate tech space. It makes the clusters harder to define, but it’s the future of the sector’s growth — a direction New York is already embracing.

In other reading:

  • Mondays Are the New Office Fight (The Wall Street Journal)

  • How immigrants play outsize role in the AI game (Axios)

  • Prioritize these things in the workplace if you really want to keep employees happy (Fast Company)

  • Nuvaocargo, a NYC-based digital shipping and trade platform, raised $36.5 million in Series B funding. QED Investors led the round and was joined by Tresalia Capital and Amador Holdings, as well as insiders NFX, Tiger Global, and ALLVP, among others.  

  • Slang.ai, a NYC-based AI-powered phone answering product for the restaurant industry, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Homebrew led the round and was joined by Stage 2 Capital, Wing VC, Underscore VC, Active Capital, Collide Capital, Tom Colichio, and Scott Belsky.

  • 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 28: Virtual: State of Crypto Philanthropy Summit, with Givepact CEO Alicia Maule, Blockchain Association senior counsel Marisa Coppel, Coinbase advocacy manager Darin Carter, and more. Hosted by Endaoment and The Giving Block. Register here.

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

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