Tech:NYC Digest: November 9

Tech:NYC Digest: November 9

November 09, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

In today’s digest, Pfizer seeks booster authorization for all adults, BOE counts absentee ballots, and the metaverse goes to work.

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  • Pfizer is expected to seek full authorization for their coronavirus vaccine booster shot, making the general adult population eligible to receive the extra dose. (Washington Post)

    • The request, which may be filed as soon as this week, is likely to win the backing of the FDA.

  • More than 4,500 New York City students ages five to 11 got vaccinated on the first day of the citywide in-school drive, bringing the total dosed in that newly eligible age group to 24,000 since late last week. (NBC New York) 

    • But demand was greater than expectations, as many parents reported being turned away when sites ran out of doses. (Gothamist)

  • New York City will give city workers and contractors with children additional sick leave to get their kids COVID-19 vaccinations. The city is also working on passing legislation that would require private companies to do the same. (NY1)

  • We won’t know the official final results of New York’s elections for another few weeks. The Board of Elections said it would start counting absentee ballots on Monday, Nov. 15 and work every day — except Thanksgiving and the Friday after — until they’re done.

    • As of Nov. 5, the BOE had received 87,221 returned absentee ballots in the five boroughs. (POLITICO)

In other reading:

  • Here’s what’s in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill for tech (Protocol)

  • New York State Gambling Regulators Approve Nine Mobile Sports Betting Operators (Wall Street Journal)

  • The Pandemic May Have Killed the Dollar Slice (Eater NY)

The metaverse is a concept long worked on before Meta was formed, and it’ll surely grow even larger than Meta in the future.

In fact, it already has. The term was coined in the early 1990s, but in the last couple of weeks, tech companies big and small have begun outlining business plans for the metaverse, writes the Wall Street Journal.

  • There are already several ways to enter the metaverse: Facebook’s augmented- and virtual-reality headsets, Snap’s augmented-reality glasses for both consumers and businesses, and several gaming companies like Roblox.

  • The technology has so far provided immersive options to a host of entertainment experiences, from UFC games and front-row seats to concerts.

Now Microsoft is among the latest companies jumping onto the idea — but for your workplace. (Protocol)

  • The company describes its Mesh for Teams product as a tool to “make online meetings more personal, engaging and fun. It's also a gateway to the metaverse — a persistent digital world that is inhabited by digital twins of people, places and things.” Read the company’s full blog post about it here.

  • The product will first allow meeting participants to create digital versions of themselves to stand in for the days when they can’t turn on the camera, and eventually will help companies build metaverses so employees can "experience those serendipitous encounters that spark innovation."

Accenture is also dipping its toes in the metaverse waters by providing new hires with instructions for creating a digital avatar and accessing “One Accenture Park,” a virtual space that facilitates virtual onboarding.

  • Solutions for how remote tech workers work effectively — both individually and with their teams — has been at the top of companies’ priorities through the pandemic. So it’s no surprise the metaverse’s digital-forward nature promises a familiar and more engaging extension of the “new normal”.

What’s next: Even if we agree working in the metaverse is more fun and engaging, questions about the bottom line will quickly follow. There’s no real data yet on what they would mean for productivity. Just like every other workplace collaboration tool, the metaverse won’t be exempt from that scrutiny.

In other reading:

  • Why millions of job seekers aren’t getting hired in this hot job market (Washington Post)

  • The M1 Macs are the new software engineer status symbol (Protocol)

  • Block Renovation, a New York City-based home renovation digitization platform, raised $50 million in Series C funding. SoftBank led the round and was joined by Giant Ventures, NEA, Morningside Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Obvious Ventures, Rainfall Ventures, Firstminute Capital, BoxGroup and SV Angel. (TechCrunch)

  • Jackpocket, a New York City-based lottery company, raised $120 million in Series D funding. Left Lane Capital led the round and was joined by new backer Santa Barbara Venture Partners; existing investors Greenspring Associates, The Raine Group, Anchor Capital, Gaingels, Conductive Ventures and BlueRun Ventures; and individuals like Kevin Hart, Whitney Cummings, Mark Cuban and Manny Machado. (TechCrunch)

  • Meow, a New York City-based crypto corporate treasuries company, raised $5 million in seed funding. Coinbase Ventures. Gemini Frontier Fund, and Lux Capital co-led the round and were joined by Jump Capital, Slow Ventures, Shine Capital, Castle Island Ventures, and Acrylic. (FinSMEs)

  • Socure, a New York City-based platform for digital identity trust, raised $450 million in Series E funding at a $4.5 billion valuation. Bain Capital and Tiger Global co-led the round and were joined by Commerce Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, and Sorenson Ventures. (TechCrunch)

  • Talent Hack, a New York City-based company focused on fitness and wellness creators, raised $17 million in Series A funding. Emergence Capital led the round and was joined by Global Founders Capital. (TechCrunch)

  • November 10: In-person, 7pm: Tech Talks @ the Williamsburg Hotel, with Casper co-founder Neil Parikh and Wardrobe founder Adarsh Alphons. Register here.

  • November 10: In-person: 2021 Open Source Strategy Forum, with FDIC chief innovation officer Sultan Meghji, Goldman Sachs co-head of technology John Madsen, and others. Hosted by FINOS and the Linux Foundation. Register for discounted pricing using the code OSSF21NYEARLY here.

  • November 12: Virtual: Future of Work: Leading and the New Balance, with Kickstarter CEO Aziz Hasan and Edelman US CEO Lisa Osborne Ross. Hosted by the Washington Post. Register here.

  • November 16: Virtual: The Electrified Future, with Verizon senior vice president Elise Neel, Fermata Energy co-founder John Wheeler, and others. Hosted by Newlab. Register here.

  • November 18: Virtual: The Hunt for Talent Post-COVID, with Schmidt Futures head of talent Tony Woods, Eden Health chief people officer Chloe Drew, and The RealReal chief people officer Zaina Orbai. Hosted by Savills. Register here.

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