Tech:NYC Digest: November 9

Tech:NYC Digest: November 9

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Greetings from Puerto Rico! We just wrapped our session at the 2023 SOMOS conference in San Juan (get a short recap below). 🌴 The Tech:NYC team will be here through the weekend, so we’ll be back in your inbox on Monday!

  • In today’s digest, doing more to support Latinx founders, Fifth Avenue’s no-cars-allowed calendar, and the Manhattan commercial office market sees a strong October.

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

  • The city is easing into the holiday season with the classic Rockefeller Center ice rink and the Bryant Park Winter Village opening up, and this year, an even-larger stretch of Fifth Avenue will be closed to car traffic next month. (Time Out)

    • The pedestrian-only zone will stretch from 48th to 59th Street the first three Sundays in December. Areas around Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall will also be car free. 

    • The initiative is part of the Open Streets program, which proved last year to be good for business, driving $3 million in new spending to the area. 

  • Despite a lot of uncertainty about Manhattan’s return to office, the real estate market for the commercial spaces saw a fairly strong October. (Crain’s New York)

    • Last month, 2.6 million square feet of office space was leased – a 57.8% increase from September and 63.2% jump year over year.

    • That includes LinkedIn’s expanded footprint at the Empire State Building, as well as major new leases from tech companies like Ramp, Ro, Shopify, and ICONIQ Capital, to name a few.

In other reading:

  • Universal composting in NYC? Not so fast, say some Queens and Brooklyn landlords (Gothamist)

  • A Dozen NYC Restaurants Celebrating Diwali (Eater NY)

Latinos start businesses at higher rates than other groups in the US, but less than 1% of funding from large venture capital and private equity firms is allocated to Latinx entrepreneurs.

Today's Tech:NYC itinerary: At the first full day of #Somos2023 in San Juan, Tech:NYC was on the ground to convene a group of Latino founders and elected officials across New York State to discuss how the industry can better support a diverse tech sector.

  • It’s especially difficult for Latina founders to fundraise. Women of color are particularly overlooked in the venture capital space, accounting for less than 2% of all funding.

  • The disparity is not credited to a lack of talent – and many of the founders shaping the future of the tech industry are right here in New York. 

At our panel today, Luis Barrera, the founder and CEO of Splyt, said it’s no secret that “the bar is higher for underrepresented founders — to raise money or gain credibility.”

  • Tech:NYC’s session, which was facilitated in partnership with New York State Assembly Members Eddie Gibbs, Latrice Walker, and Maritza Davila, also featured Carefully founder and CEO Leslie Borrell and Mavity co-founder and CEO Tomás Uribe, along with the head of Lyft’s Latino ERG Larry Gallegos.

The push for change: There’s still a long way to go, but efforts to diversify the tech sector are underway. In July, Google for Startups announced a $5 million commitment for its inaugural Latino Founders Fund. 

  • Fifty startups were selected nationwide to receive the funding, and 12 of them were from New York. The fund provided $100,000 in non-dilutive cash awards and other business support services to each of the winning founders.

  • There are also VC firms making diversity part of their core mission. SomosVC, a group of experienced investors, focuses on growing and supporting the Latinx venture capital ecosystem. (By the way: Here’s a list of seven more VCs and organizations investing in Latinx entrepreneurs.)

"As an industry, we also need to look at our hiring practices. We need to examine the cultural bias that keeps qualified people from getting jobs – and from adding diverse perspectives to tech companies’ teams,” Carefully founder and CEO Leslie Borrell said today in San Juan. “And that’s up to the industry to fix.”

In other reading:

  • Arch, a NYC-based management platform for private market investments, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Menlo Ventures led the round and was joined by Craft Ventures, Quiet Capital, Carta, City Ventures, GPS Investment Partners, and Focus Financial Partners.

  • Davinci Micro Fulfillment, a NYC-based provider of e-commerce merchandising and one to two-day parcel delivery services, raised $3 million in seed funding. Participating investors include Las Olas Venture Capital, Venture 53 Fund and Accelerator, and Silicon Road Ventures.

  • Forum, a NYC-based peer support marketplace, raised $5.3 million in seed funding. NextView Ventures led the round and was joined by MBX Capital, Cue Ball Capital, and City Light Capital.

  • Snaptrude, a NYC-based construction design startup, raised $14 million in Series A Funding. Fundamental and Accel co-led the round.

  • November 14: In-person: New York Enterprise Tech Meetup, with BetterCloud founder David Politis and Work-Bench general partner Jessica Lin. Hosted by Work-Bench. Register here.

  • November 14 – 15: In-person: 2023 Urban Tech Summit, with NYC chief climate officer Rit Aggarwala, Kelvin CEO Marshall Cox, Brooklyn Navy Yard CEO Lindsay Greene, Near Space Labs CEO Rema Matevosyan, and others. Hosted by Cornell Tech. Register here.

  • November 15: Virtual: State of Fundraising Briefing, with AlleyCorp general partner Marshall Porter, Stellation Capital managing partner Peter Boyce II, Carta head head VC and accelerator business development Ryan O’Conor, and Tech:NYC president Julie Samuels. Hosted by Tech:NYC. Register here. 

  • November 20: In-person: Cornell Tech @ Bloomberg speaker series, featuring Rho co-founder and CEO Everett Cook. Hosted by Tech:NYC, Bloomberg, and Cornell Tech. Register here.

  • December 8: In-person: Nonprofit TechCon, with BetaNYC executive director Noel Hidalgo, Queens Deputy Borough President Ebony Young, and others. Hosted by City & State. Use code TECH23 for 50% off tickets 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.