Tech:NYC Digest: May 13

Tech:NYC Digest: May 13

May 13, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Friday, May 13, 2022 

It’s Friday the 13th! 👀 In today’s digest, where to march for AAPI and abortion rights this weekend, the ghosts haunting Gracie Mansion, and Tech:NYC founder Julie Samuels on the future of web3 in New York. 

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 11,486

    • New positive cases, NYC: 4,369

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 4.6 percent (-0.3 percent)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • New Yorkers with at least one dose: 90.3 percent

    • New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 77.1 percent

In today’s latest:

  • Just one of New York’s 62 counties — the Bronx — currently meets the CDC’s definition of “low” community risk of COVID-19 transmission. Western New York now has the highest rolling COVID case rate in the state, followed by Long Island. (NBC New York)

  • Flags on state buildings flew at half-mast today in remembrance of the 1 million Americans — a once unthinkable number — who have died of COVID-19. (Gothamist)

  • A new parade for Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month is being planned in NYC for the first time. (Gothamist) The parade will commence on Sixth Avenue between 44th and 55th Streets in Manhattan this Sunday, May 15.

  • And one reminder: The citywide “Bans Off Our Bodies” march kicks off at noon in Cadman Plaza tomorrow. If you’d like to participate, more details are available here.

  • And lastly, Mayor Adams believes Gracie Mansion, one of the oldest wood structures in the city, is haunted. 

In other reading:

  • This 86-Year-Old Nonna Is Known as NYC’s Pasta Machine (Grub Street)

  • What was the Mega-Viral Rainbow Bagel? A post-mortem (Gothamist)

  • A Carbone for "members only" is opening in NYC (Time Out New York)

It’s been a tough week for many top cryptocurrency companies, to say the least. We’ll leave most of the market analysis to industry experts, but we will say: This is a unique opportunity for New York to set the standard on the future of the industry.

Tech:NYC’s founder Julie Samuels wrote for the New York Daily News that, despite recent sell-offs, web3 technologies are here to stay, and much of how the next generation uses them will be decided right here in New York:

  • Some of the earliest pioneers in web3 — Paxos, Consensys, Gemini, as well as investors like Union Square Ventures, among them — built their companies in NYC.

  • In 2021, NYC accounted for almost half of all venture-backed cryptocurrency investments nationwide, and at the beginning of this year, four of the top five most valuable unicorns in NYC were crypto startups.

If New York is going to remain a global hub for this industry, it’s clear what needs to come next: smart oversight and expanded access.

  • Samuels writes: “We have a generational opportunity to harness this global transformation for the economic benefit of the entire state and have this economic revolution lift up all of New York State, not just the affluent.”

Unlike other industries, Samuels argues that the winds powering the next iteration of the global economy are strongly blowing beyond the boroughs to regions with low-cost, underutilized renewable energy sources also most impacted by deindustrialization and job losses.

  • “We face a rare opportunity to foster the kind of economic growth usually only seen in Manhattan and Brooklyn throughout New York State,” she says. 

Slashing regulations or slamming the brakes while we craft news ones aren’t the only two options: “Neither is the New York way.”

In other reading:

  • All Those ‘Great Resignation’ Quitters? They’re At Work. (New York Times)

  • The Hottest Work Day of the Week is Now … Hump Day (Wall Street Journal)

  • Why Boomerang CEO Aye Moah Says Inbox Zero is Overrated (Protocol)

  • AiTA Bio, a NYC-based microelectromechanical drug delivery company, raised $8.5 million in Series A funding. Participating investors include Hammerstone Capital, BlackPoint Partners, SkyView Investment Advisors, and others. (Newswire)

  • Ours, a NYC and remote-based telemental health startup focused on couples therapy, raised $5 million in seed funding from TMV, Serena Ventures, Lakehouse Ventures, Collaborative Fund, GreyMatter, and a group of angels. (Businesswire)

  • SimpliFed, a New York-based baby feeding telehealth startup, raised $6 million in seed funding. Morningside Ventures and The Venture Collective co-led the round and were joined by NY Ventures, Elizabeth Street Ventures, Waterline Ventures, and 3CC. (Forbes)

  • TIFIN, a NYC-based wealth management tech startup, raised $109 million in Series D funding. Participating investors include Franklin Resources, Motive Partners, and Hamilton Lane. (TechCrunch)

  • May 19: In-person: State of NYC Business Summit, with Tech:NYC executive director Jason Myles Clark, Partnership for New York City president and CEO Kathryn Wylde, NYC Hospitality Alliance executive director Andrew Rigie, and others. Hosted by the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce. Register here.

  • May 19: Virtual: What’s Next for New York State’s Budget, with City & State City Hall bureau chief Jeff Coltin and deputy state politics reporter Rebecca Lewis. Hosted by ABNY. Register here.

  • May 25: In-person: The Business of Biodesign, with AlgiKnit CEO Tessa Callaghan, TomTex chief scientific officer Ross McBee, and Werewool CEO Chui-Lian Lee, and others. Hosted by Newlab and the Biodesign Challenge. Register here.

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