Tech:NYC Digest: June 28

Tech:NYC Digest: June 28

June 28, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

In today’s digest, expanding broadband access, the next step in containerizing trash, and the tech book recs to take you into the holiday weekend.

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  • New York officials have announced air quality health advisories statewide as more smoke from Canadian wildfires blows in. 

    • You can check the air quality near you at AirNow.gov and sign up for emergency alerts for the city here.

    • Here are some steps New Yorkers can take to protect themselves, including limiting outdoor exposure, wearing a mask, and making sure your air filters have been recently cleaned.

  • In case you need to catch up: The New York Times has a full list of results from yesterday’s Primary Day elections across the city.

  • New city regulations announced by Mayor Eric Adams today will require nearly one-quarter of businesses across the five boroughs to put out their trash in containers instead of bags. (NY1)

  • With the hope of a more clear holiday weekend: Here are 10 ways to celebrate July 4th: park parties, fireworks and, of course, Nathan’s Famous hotdog eating contest. (Gothamist) 

In other reading:

Now more than ever, in an era of hybrid work and online learning, high-speed broadband is critical infrastructure.  

President Joe Biden and lawmakers in Congress made that clear earlier this week when they allocated $42 billion toward broadband expansion efforts as part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal.

New York state will receive about $665 million of that broadband funding, the White House announced this week. 

  • That funding will help support New York's $1 billion ConnectALL effort, a five-year plan launched by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022 to close gaps in access. 

  • Biden said Monday that the goal of the federal funding is to provide universal internet access to all Americans by 2030. 

Meanwhile, a city program is expanding broadband access in public housing. 

  • More than 220,500 New York City Housing Authority residents — or about 100,000 households — have enrolled in the city's Big Apple Connect program since it launched last fall, Mayor Eric Adams announced earlier this month. (amNewYork)

  • The program fully covers the monthly cost of a high-speed internet plan and cable television for 300,000 eligible New Yorkers. 

These efforts to expand broadband will also require working with the startups actually building the infrastructure: That includes efforts such as Starry Connect, a five-year-old program through which Starry has partnered with nine public housing agencies (including NYCHA) to provide free or low-cost internet service to more than 87,000 units of public or affordable housing.

By all measures, these programs are working. The number of New Yorkers earning less than $20,000 who have a broadband subscription rose from 64% to 76% between 2019 and 2021, according to a May report from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. 

  • More than 1.3 million New York state residents enrolled in a federal program that offers a $30 a month toward a broadband subscription for households at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, which DiNapoli credited with boosting overall internet access.

In other reading:

  • Astrix Security, a NYC-based startup for securing app-to-app connections, raised $25 million in Series A funding. CRV led the round and was joined by insiders Bessemer Venture Partners and F2 Venture Capital.

  • Datapeople, a NYC-based SaaS recruiting predictability platform, raised $13 million in Series A funding. GreatPoint Ventures and New Markets Venture Partners co-led the round.

  • Hash3, a NYC-based VC fund focused on pre-seed and seed stage crypto-native companies, raised $29 million in a debut fund.

Inicio Ventures is accepting applications for its 2023 NYC Awards competition. Latinx-led early-stage startups are invited to pitch their companies at the competition for a chance to win a non-dilutive cash prize. Learn more and apply by June 28 here.Make It In Brooklyn is accepting applications for its AI Tech for Good Pitch Contest on August 2. Pre-seed through Series A startups with AI solutions that benefit humankind and/or the environment are eligible to pitch for a $5,000 cash prize. Learn more and apply by July 7 here.Forum Ventures is accepting applications for its next accelerator program. The four-month program offers selected early-stage B2B SaaS startups with a $100K investment, mentorship on establishing product market fit, customer introductions, and other resources. Learn more and apply on a rolling basis here.BLCK VC is accepting applications for its next Breaking into Venture cohort. The nine-week program is designed for early-career Black professionals looking to transition into the venture capital industry. Learn more and apply by July 14 here.The Grand Central Tech Residency Program is accepting applications for its Fall 2023 cohort. Selected startups receive free office rent for a year, as well as other community and programming benefits. Learn more and apply by July 15 here.

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