Tech:NYC Digest: May 25

Tech:NYC Digest: May 25

May 25, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

Tuesday, May 25, 2021Happy Tuesday! In today’s digest, new Google data sheds light on how eager we are to get out of the house, the divide in how everyday New Yorkers and those with power view tech, and what’s still left to do on the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd.Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

  • Moderna announced today its COVID-19 vaccine is 100 percent effective in adolescents ages 12 to 17. (CNBC)

    • While the Pfizer vaccine is currently available to anyone age 12 and older, the Moderna vaccine has so far been available only to individuals age 18 and older. The company plans to ask the FDA to expand emergency use authorization of its vaccine to teens next month.

  • New York also revised its mask guidance for children in child care, day camp, and overnight camp programs. Masks will no longer be required, but “encouraged,” for unvaccinated children. (NBC New York) All other protocols, like collecting and documenting vaccination and test statuses, will remain the same.

  • Vaccine booster shots could be necessary as early as September, according to the Pfizer and Moderna CEOs. (Axios)

    • But public health experts are encouraging people not to worry about some arbitrary expiration date — we don’t yet have enough real-world data to identify how long protection from the first vaccine regimen lasts, and even if protective immunity does begin to fade, it won’t be instantaneous.

  • Google data indicates business activity is surging in New York, with searches for “restaurants” at their highest levels since the company started tracking it in 2004. (Crain’s NY) Searches for “cannabis,” “dress,” “lipstick,” and “heels” are also up.

  • A new survey reports that an overwhelming majority of New York residents — 78 percent — support a move by lawmakers to make to-go cocktails permanent. (Eater NY)

Related reading:

  • What Activities Can Unvaccinated Children Do? Advice from 828 Experts. (New York Times)

  • Lotteries, Doughnuts, Joints: The Weird Incentives to Get People Vaccinated (New York Magazine)

  • 30 observations from my first vaccinated flight (Washington Post)

How tech is portrayed to the public doesn’t always line up with how New Yorkers on the street feel about their local tech companies, our own Julie Samuels writes today.

Generally, people trust tech: Both Morning Consult and The Harris Poll recently found people rank major tech companies among their top trusted brands.

  • “While tech will inevitably continue to attract scrutiny (some valid and some manufactured), most of us still realize that it provides immense help to our lives. From education and work to mental health, entertainment, and family time, today’s most innovative and beneficial products disproportionately come from one sector.”

That holds true in New York, where tech is growing: A Tech:NYC poll released May 20 found 57 percent of New Yorkers view the tech sector as having a positive impact on the city.

  • “[C]learly there’s a divide between elite opinion and the views of everyday individuals on the topic of tech. Not only do people find tech companies useful and trustworthy, but they also see them as valuable to their economies and communities.”

But there’s always room for improvement: Tech is a comparatively young industry and the legal framework is going to take time to work out. At the same time, most tech companies try to be good neighbors and play a positive role in their direct communities. 

  • “To be clear, tech companies aren’t perfect. And here in New York, like across the rest of the world, we need to grapple with how these entities and their technology impact our society. This might look like new regulations in evolving fields, or making sure companies build with more community benefits in mind.”

  • “In addition to designing good products, tech companies have also committed to being good global citizens, and word is getting out. Many of the companies I work with have taken the lead in making education and upskilling more accessible, but they’ve also played a role in everything from contact tracing to transportation for the vulnerable.” 

The takeaway: The growing pains in tech are real, but so are the benefits. Tech is in a position to offer very good things for consumers and communities alike, and people can see that reality behind the headlines.

In Tech:NYC’s latest research on 2021 tech hiring trends, conducted in partnership with Accenture, more than half of the C-suite executives we surveyed plan to increase the number of tech hires in 2021 by as much as 20 percent compared to the year before. Has your company onboarded new team members this month?

  • Bowery Farming, a New York-based vertical farming company, raised $300 million in Series C funding at a $2.3 billion valuation. Fidelity led, and was joined by Amplo, Gaingels and insiders GV, General Catalyst, GGV Capital, Temsek, Groupe Artémis. (Reuters)

  • Clearing, a New York-based digital healthcare platform for chronic pain, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Bessemer Venture Partners and Founders Fund co-led, and were joined by Breyer Capital, Threshold and individual angels. (Insider)

  • Ever/Body, a New York City-based cosmetic dermatology provider, raised $38 million in equity and debt Series B funding. Tiger Global Management led the round and was joined by investors including Addition, Fifth Wall, MetaProp, and Gaingels. The company says the raise is primarily in equity. (WWD)

  • Forter, a New York-based provider of e-commerce fraud prevention solutions, raised $300 million in Series F funding at a $3 billion valuation. Tiger Global led, and was joined by Third Point Ventures, Adage Capital Management and insiders Bessemer Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, March Capital, NewView Capital, Salesforce Ventures and Scale Venture Partners. (TechCrunch)

  • Noom, a New York-based weight and wellness app, raised $540 million in Series F funding. Silver Lake led, and was joined by Oak HC/FT, Temasek, and Novo Holdings. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, RRE, and Samsung Ventures. (PYMNTS)

  • Overture Life, an IVF process automation startup, raised $15 million in Series B funding. Octopus Ventures and Google Ventures invested. (MobiHealthNews)

  • Sharebite, a New York-based food ordering platform for workplaces, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Lafayette Square led the round, with additional investors participating including Seamless founders Paul Appelbaum and Todd Arky, Delivery Hero founder Lukasz Gadowski, Essential Capital, Liberty City Ventures, Percy Capital, Reign Ventures, River Park Ventures and London Technology Club. (Business Wire)

  • Vimeo began its first day of trading as a public company on the Nasdaq today, with the producer of video tools valued at roughly $10 billion. (Crain’s NY)

  • May 26: Virtual: A briefing on Ranked Choice Voting in the NYC primary election, with Rank the Vote NYC and Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max. Hosted by Tech:NYC. Register here.

  • June 1 – 3: Virtual: URBAN-X Summit, with Cohort 09 companies, including OONEE CEO Shabazz Stuart, Dorothy CEO Arianna Armelli, Singularity CEO Wenbo Shi, and others. Hosted by URBAN-X and Canary Media. Register here.

  • June 3: Virtual: VC Voices: A Conversation with Tribeca Venture Partners co-founder and managing partner Brian Hirsch. Hosted by Betaworks Studios. Register here.

  • June 9: Virtual: Machines + Media 2021: Facing the Future, with Tech:NYC founder and executive director Julie Samuels, Primary Venture Partners co-founder Ben Sun, NYCEDC Senior Vice President of Tech Karen Bhatia, and more. Hosted by NYC Media Lab and Bloomberg. Register here.

Today, the country commemorates the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. In the year that followed, as many as 26 million people participated in marches protesting his death, and at least 30 states passed more than 140 police oversight and reform laws in response.

Tech companies and their workforces, too, have committed to more intentional, long-term policies that prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion both inside and outside their companies. We encourage you to sustain your support for many of the racial justice organizations making change in New York and across the country:

Today, we join many of you in standing with the Floyd family, the Black Lives Matter movement, and all allies committed to social justice.

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