Tech:NYC Digest: June 30

Tech:NYC Digest: June 30

June 30, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Our apologies for a tardy digest today, but read on for breaking election news! In today’s digest, the Board of Elections attempts to clarify chaos, CLEAR became the latest tech company to list on the NYSE (congrats!), and the city reaches a $99 billion budget consensus — more on that tomorrow. 

  • PSA: The city is asking we conserve energy in our homes until tomorrow morning. The electric grid is under a lot of stress during this heatwave with A/C’s blasting. So charge your phone, make some ice, and consider using a fan instead.

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

The Democratic primary race for mayor has been thrown into chaos as the city Board of Elections appeared to have botched the count amid the city’s first ranked-choice election.

First things first: The Board of Elections has just released updated numbers showing… pretty much the same outcome as yesterday. After nine rounds of ranked choice vote counting, Eric Adams leads with 358,521 compared to Kathryn Garcia’s 358,521, 51.1 percent and 48.9 percent, respectively. The margin is a little narrower than yesterday, and it remains much too close to call before absentee ballots are counted.

So what happened: The Board of Elections released unofficial results Tuesday night that showed Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams’ in the lead, after 11 rounds of ranked-choice counting, at 51.1 percent to Kathryn Garcia at 48.9 percent. (New York Daily News)

  • But there was a 135,000 vote discrepancy between the results on election day last week and the preliminary RCV count yesterday, so the Board of Elections was forced to withdraw the numbers and run the tabulations over again. (New York Times)

  • Some Democrats are concerned that the incremental release of results by the Board of Elections — and the discovery of an error — may stir distrust of ranked-choice voting and of the city’s electoral system more broadly. And Mayor de Blasio says Albany needs to pass legislation to modernize it. (amNY) Us too. (Crain's New York)

  • Meanwhile, lawyers are busy on both the Adams campaign, which first flagged the discrepancy, and the Garcia campaign. Adams called for other candidates to join his action to get a “clear and trusted conclusion to this election.” (New York Daily News)

This isn’t the first time the Board of Elections has screwed up (New York Magazine chronicles some of their greatest hits here), having long had a reputation for mistakes and mismanagement.

What’s next: The BOE will put out another count including absentee ballot votes next Tuesday July 6, and final results will be released July 12.

In other news:

  • N.Y.C. Reaches Deal on Record $99 Billion Budget to Aid Pandemic Recovery (New York Times)

  • Some state lawmakers are pushing for a special session to pass a measure extending the sale of alcoholic drinks to-go. (Wall Street Journal)

  • More than 200,000 K-12 students have signed up for the city’s in-person expanded summer enrichment program. The expanded $120 million summer-camp-style recreational program is offered to all students this year and will center around fun more so than the learning loss that occurred during the pandemic. (Wall Street Journal)

  • Nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the country are now people who weren’t vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been and an indication that deaths per day — now down to under 300 — could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine. (Associated Press)

It has already been a banner 2021 for New York tech IPOs, and this week was no different. Today, CLEAR became the latest company to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker YOU.

  • It joins several other NYC homegrown tech companies — Squarespace, Sprinklr, Oscar, DigitalOcean, and UiPath among them — that have gone public this year.

Chairman and CEO Caryn Seidman-Becker celebrated the company’s IPO in an interview with CNBC after ringing in the opening bell: 

  • “Everyone traveling matters to us, but the reason why we’re listing on the New York Stock Exchange today is because this is about you … You are awesome team members who showed up every day during the pandemic and allowed us to make this happen. This is about you, our partners. It has been an incredible year, and I think it reflects the passion of the CLEAR brand that we’ve built over the past 11 years.” 

Seidman Becker bought CLEAR at a bankruptcy sale in 2010 with the desire to leverage biometrics to drive both security and the customer experience. She thought it was still a good idea, just poorly executed. Fast forward to today, CLEAR’s biometric identity verifier is available at 50-plus airports, stadiums, and other venues nationwide. 

In May, CLEAR launched Health Pass, a major new feature in the company’s iOS and Android app that securely stores COVID-19 information, such as test results or vaccination records. Since its launch, the app has gained traction in stadiums for sporting events that need to check the status of many people quickly. (CNBC)Congrats to the CLEAR team!

  • Forum, a New York City-based buyer of Amazon-focused sellers, raised $27 million in Series A funding. Norwest Venture Partners led the round and was joined by investors including NFX and Concrete Rose Capital. (TechCrunch)

  • maude, a Brooklyn-based sexual wellness company, raised $5.8 million in Series A funding. The round was led by True Beauty Ventures with participation from Fable Investments, True and Endeavor. (Forbes)

  • Orum, a New York-based provider of frictionless financial infrastructure, raised $56 million in Series B funding. Accel and Canapi Ventures co-led, and were joined by Bain Capital Ventures, Inspired Capital, Homebrew, Acrew, Primary, Clocktower and BoxGroup. (TechCrunch)

  • Tenovos, a New York City-based marketing tech startup, raised $8 million in Series A1 funding. Progress Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Revel Partners, and Dublin Capital. (FinSMEs)

  • Toggle, a New York City-based construction robotics company, raised $8 million in Series A funding. Tribeca Venture Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Blackhorn Ventures, Point72 Ventures, New York State, and Twenty Seven Ventures. (TechCrunch)

  • July 8: Virtual: How to Pitch to VCs and Angel Investors, with New York Angels founder David S. Rose, Bread and Butter Ventures head of platform Stephanie Rich, AI Ventures managing partner Callum Bir, and others. Hosted by DownToDash. Register here.

  • July 13: Virtual: Redefining Industries with the Power of 5G, with Newlab 5G Studio Cohort 2 companies Easy Aerial, EVPassport, and others. Hosted by Newlab. Register here.

Any feedback or suggestions of things to add? Get in touch here. Was this digest forwarded to you? Sign up to receive it directly here.