Tech:NYC Digest: November 28

Tech:NYC Digest: November 28

November 28, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Monday, November 28, 2022

Welcome back! In today’s digest, how AI is keeping NYC’s bus fleet in service, the RTO data feeds we’re taking into the new year, and the last-minute Cyber Monday deals worth snagging.

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  • Following a two-year pilot, the MTA plans to use AI sensor technologies to monitor equipment and maintenance issues in the city’s 6,000 buses and prevent them from breaking down on the road. (Gothamist)

  • Experts are warning that a winter surge COVID infections could be as severe as previous years. (New York Times) 

    • While updated booster shots have been effective in dodging serious illness or death, especially for immunocompromised people, even those are already outdated. Newer variants, called BQ.1 and BQ.11 are spreading quickly and available data has shown them to be excellent evaders of immunity.

  • New NYC Dept. of Health data shows Latinos across the entire city and residents of the Bronx reported long COVID symptoms at disproportionately high rates last year. (THE CITY)

  • And, to point out the obvious, it’s one of the internet's busiest days of the year: here’s Wirecutter’s list of the best 150 Cyber Monday deals.

In other reading:

A few weeks ago we gathered HR and operations leads at many Tech:NYC member companies to share notes about the evolution of their RTO policies as we look to the new year. They recalled a lot of optimism for an almost-normal end of 2022, but the reality is … the year is wrapping up not too far from where it started.

Getting an accurate picture of how often New Yorkers are back in the office is challenging, because as Bloomberg writes, it depends on who’s counting.

Here’s some of the leading data sources we continue to follow:

  • Kastle Systems is perhaps the most-cited tracker, and its monitor of building keycard swipes shows office attendance in Manhattan remains below 50%. There was a notable surge just after Labor Day, but it has stagnated around 47% since then.

  • Placer.ai, which tracks foot traffic based on anonymized cell phone data, launched an Office Index that found that NYC has one of the smallest year-over-year increases in office visits compared to other large US cities, but more unique visitors went into NYC offices in October versus September.

  • Partnership for New York City’s surveys closely echo Kastle’s insights: the group’s most recent one found 49% of Manhattan office workers are in-office on a given weekday.

  • WFH Research, a group based at Stanford University, is unique in that it surveys employee sentiment, not actual activity, and recent results found that while New Yorkers worked from home 2.1 days out of the week in Q3, they wanted to WFH a full three days per week, indicating a trend to more WFH in the future, not less.

What it means: The dueling – and sometimes conflicting – data shows companies’ RTO plans are still very much in flux. Employers are still figuring out how to make hybrid models work long-term. It remains to be seen if 2023 becomes the year we see more of this data stabilize. 

In other reading:

  • The Holidays Are Longer Now Thanks to Remote Work. Is That a Good Thing? (New York Times)

  • HR leaders provide an in-depth look at their return-to-office wins and missteps (Fortune)

  • These Young Workers Are ‘Romanticizing’ the Return to Office (New York Times)

  • Aura, a NYC-based digital frame and photo-sharing startup, raised $26 million in funding. Lago Innovation Fund led the round. (TechCrunch)

  • Capitol, a NYC-based provider of an AI solution for healthcare insurers, raised $10 million in seed funding. 468 Capital led the round and was joined by Designer Fund, Fuel Capital, Tokyo Black, Nomad Capital, AirAngels, Sanno Capital, and a group of individuals. (FinSMEs)

  • Nucleo, a NYC-based crypto infrastructure security startup, raised $4 million in seed funding. Bain Capital Crypto and 6th Man Ventures co-led the round and were joined by Aztec Network, Aleo, and Espresso Systems. (Businesswire)

  • Taktile, a NYC-based decision flow platform for fintechs, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Index Ventures and Tiger Global co-led the round. (TechCrunch)

  • November 30: Virtual: Info session for NYCEDC’s Founder Fellowship, a program to support 100 diverse tech startups, with Chloe Capital, Company Ventures, Newlab, Tech Incubator at Queens College, and Visible Hands. Register here.

  • November 30: In-person: Building a DTC Startup: Opportunities and Challenges in 2023, with Blueland COO John Mascari, Little Spoon president Lisa Barnett, and Public Goods CEO Morgan Hirsch. Hosted by Stacklist and Union Square Ventures. Register here. 

  • December 2: In-person: A Night of Climate Innovation, Collaboration, and Action, with Dollaride founder and CEO Su Sanni and We Don’t Have Time president Dr. Sweta Chakraborty. Hosted by Urban-x and Newlab. Register here.

  • December 5: In-person: NY Product Meetup, featuring a fireside chat with the first product manager at Figma, Badrul Farooqi. Hosted by Bond Collective and Productboard. Register here.

  • December 8: In-person: Government Modernization Summit 2022, with NYC chief efficiency officer Melanie La Rocca, Port Authority of NY & NJ executive director Rick Cotton, CityBridge CEO Nick Colvin, and more. Hosted by City & State. Register here.

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