Tech:NYC Digest: November 3

Tech:NYC Digest: November 3

November 03, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Thursday, November 3, 2022

In today’s digest, NYC wants to build its own tech corps, what to know about the combo COVID-flu vaccine, and why “cloud HQ” Roam wants you to spend less time in virtual meetings.

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

  • A state appeals court rejected a challenge to New York’s absentee-voting laws that allows anyone to vote absentee if they’re afraid of catching or spreading an infectious disease, such as COVID-19. The law is set to remain in place through 2022. (Gothamist)

  • NYC is bringing in associates at law firms to serve short Peace Corps-like stints in city government to address the city’s attorney shortage. But Mayor Eric Adams said he wants to see this temporary service model attracting more than just lawyers to work for the city, including those in the tech industry. (City & State)

  • The city has launched a phone line that will help New Yorkers seeking abortion care connect with licensed health care providers. New Yorkers who dial 877-NYC-AHUB will reach the city’s new “Abortion Access Hub,” a phone service whose operators will transfer callers to licensed, five boroughs-based abortion care providers. (NY1)

  • Pfizer has launched a clinical trial to test a combination vaccine targeting influenza and COVID-19, one of several efforts to combine the two recommended shots as experts increasingly suggest yearly coronavirus boosters will be needed. (Forbes)

  • Dozens of electric yellow school buses are scheduled to roll on city streets as early as next fall. The city is using $18.5 million in federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to purchase 51 electric school buses. (Gothamist)

In other reading:

  • New York’s Hottest Club Is … the Bar at Moynihan Hall? (New York Times)

  • Why daylight saving time is worse for your body than standard time (Washington Post)

  • Get ready to start paying for your own Covid-19 tests and treatments (Vox)

We all rushed to Zoom when the pandemic hit, but almost three years later, more companies are leaning into the longer-term reality of remote work.

  • The pandemic didn’t create distributed teams — companies like GitLab have been all-remote since inception — but it did accelerate a trend that prioritized flexible workplaces, and now a whole new sector of startups are launching to help businesses adapt.

What’s new: Roam, a new startup founded by Yext founder and former CEO Howard Lerman, launched out of stealth to offer a “cloud HQ” for distributed, remote companies. Read more about its launch here.

  • With $30 million in Series A funding, Roam is an “all-in-one headquarters in the cloud,” with an office layout graphic interface that allows team members to roam freely between different rooms, just like you can in a real office. (TechCrunch)

  • Digital conference rooms, private offices, and event spaces are built onto the platform, a design Lerman says makes it possible for “the whole company to be together without being in a meeting.”

We asked Lerman about the staying power of remote work beyond the pandemic: “There's a lot of debate going on about the future of work. While we don't know for certain what the future holds, we absolutely know that it will never be the same. Every company will find what works for them.”

  • “Even the big ones like Apple mandating 'back to office' have people going in just three days a week, which would have been unthinkable a few years ago,” he said. “Successful companies will need to solve for their new normal and with technology that actually supports human workflow, it can be a lot better than the existing way."

Roam is also debunking the idea that more remote work means more meetings: Research has shown that, during the pandemic, workers are spending more than half of their work week in meetings to stay connected to colleagues.

  • But Lerman says that in switching from Zoom to Roam, his own daily meeting time went from 4.5 hours per day to less than 2.6 hours per day, a decline of 42%.

Our takeaway: There are now as many hybrid and remote workplace models as there are companies shifting to them. But one thing is clear: the future of work remains a top issue for tech companies of all sizes. If a “cloud HQ” can replicate — and refine — what workers enjoy most about IRL work, it may quickly become the collaboration tool of choice.

In other reading:

  • The Startups and Investors Betting on Remote Work Future (Wall Street Journal)

  • Green jobs are everywhere, but workers with the skills for them are not (Protocol)

  • Who Wears Crop Tops to the Office? (New York Times)

  • Cover Genius, a NYC-based insurtech for embedded insurance, raised $70 million in Series D funding. Dawn Capital led the round and was joined by Atlas Merchant Capital, GSquared, and King River Capital. (TechCrunch)

  • Guaranteed, a NYC-based tech-enabled hospice care startup, raised $6.5 million in seed funding. BrandProject led the round and was joined by Precursor, Springbank, Lakehouse, and Cake Ventures. (Axios)

  • Haven, a NYC-based homeownership platform for mortgage servicers and subservicers, raised $8 million in Series A funding. Fifth Wall led the round and was joined by Fidelity National Financial, RWT Horizons, 1Sharpe Ventures, Conversion Capital, BoxGroup, AME Cloud Ventures, and Operator Partners. (Businesswire)

  • Meez, a NYC-based professional recipe tool, raised $11.5 million in Series A funding. Craft Ventures led the round and was joined by Struck Capital, FJ Labs, AME Cloud Ventures, and Moving Capital. (TechCrunch)

  • Roam, a virtual office space platform for distributed teams, raised $30 million in Series A funding. IVP led the round. (TechCrunch)

Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator is accepting applications for its Winter 2023 program. Selected companies participate in a four-month program and receive an initial investment of $150,000 on a 6% post-money SAFE, with the potential for follow-on funding. Learn more and apply by Nov. 7 here.Company Ventures, with the New York City Economic Development Corporation, is accepting applications for the second cohort of the City Fellowship. The six-month program is open to tech-forward entrepreneurs with solutions on improving the quality of life in NYC. Sign up to attend an info session on Nov. 9 here, and apply by Nov. 30 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.