Tech:NYC Digest: October 1

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Friday, October 1, 2021

Happy Fall Friday! In today’s digest, NYC prepares to avoid a “twindemic” during flu season, Merck unveils promising COVID oral therapy results, and new research measures the pandemic’s toll on women in the workplace.

• 🏥  A special shoutout to AlleyCorp, founded and led by Tech:NYC board member Kevin Ryan, which has launched a new $100 million NYC-focused healthcare fund! Learn more here.

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By the numbers:

• New positive cases statewide: 4,744 (-393)

  • New positive cases, NYC: 1,366 (+55)

• Statewide Fatalities: 38 (-9)

• NYC Positivity Rate: 1.5 percent (-0.1 percent)

• Statewide Vaccine Progress:

  • Percentage of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 84.0 percent

  • Percentage of total population with at least one dose: 71.2 percent

*These numbers represent the latest available data, as of Sept. 30. Today’s data was not available by publication time.Today’s latest: 

• A little news you can use: NYC’s COVID-19 vaccine finder tool now has a second tab for also finding flu shots. Explore the update here. 

• There’s no sign of adverse effects in getting a flu shot and a COVID-19 shot at the same time, according to a new clinical trial. The findings support the advice of US health authorities and is also welcome news for the healthcare workforce as flu season hits. (New York Times)

• The drugmaker Merck plans to seek authorization for the first antiviral pill for COVID-19 after a clinical trial showed it cut the risk of hospitalization or death in half when given to high-risk people early in their infections. (New York Times)

  • The treatment could become the first in a wave of antiviral pill products that experts say will be much easier to distribute and prescribe than the antibody treatments being more commonly used in the US right now.

  • Two similar pills by other drugmakers are also expected within the next few months.

• The mandate requiring NYC public school teachers to be vaccinated goes into effect today, but a group of four public school employees have asked the Supreme Court to step in. (CNN) 

  • The mandate has seen previous legal challenges, and just four days ago, a federal appeals court said the mandate could move forward. (New York Times)

  • If the Supreme Court doesn’t take the case, any Dept. of Education staff still unvaccinated at the end of today will be replaced with substitutes or “alternative staff.” (CBS New York)

• New York City's iconic Halloween Parade will return on Oct. 31 this year! This year's theme is "Let's Play," a nod to the children of New York who didn't get to have a regular Halloween in 2020 because of the pandemic. (NBC New York)

In other reading:

• Why Has the Delta Variant Been This Bad in the U.S.? (New York Magazine)

• Covid-19 is sticking around. Time to stop pretending it’s not your problem. (Washington Post)

• Why people who don’t trust vaccines are embracing unproven drugs (Vox)

While women have made significant gains in workforce representation, especially senior leadership, the pandemic has been especially brutal for them, compounding gender gaps across the workforce at a time when more companies are trying to gain greater diversity on boards and in management. (Axios) 

• Women suffered a disproportionate number of layoffs, took on more home responsibilities and made more career sacrifices to manage the collapse of in-person learning and child-care arrangements throughout the pandemic. (Wall Street Journal)

So it’s understandable that many professional women are just spent. And a comprehensive new report from Lean In and McKinsey & Co. backs up that women are feeling exhaustion more acutely than men.

• About 42 percent said they felt burned out often or almost always, compared with 35 percent of men. More than half of female team managers described themselves as burned out, while 41 percent of their male peers did.

This disparity is driving more women to consider downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce altogether. (CNBC)

• The data found one in three women have considered changing or leaving their jobs in the past year, compared with one in four women who were surveyed in 2020.

Despite this added stress and exhaustion, women are also rising to the moment as stronger and more inclusive leaders. 

• Compared to men at the same level, women are doing more to support their teams and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. They are also more likely than men to practice allyship.

Get the full 2021 Women in the Workplace survey report here.

In other reading:

• The business processes that won't be changing back (Protocol)

• Going Remote? From Taxes to M&A, Here Are 3 Considerations Startups Need to Weigh (Crunchbase News)

• Say Goodbye to the Toddler Stars of the Pandemic Office Zoom (Bloomberg)

• A Profession Is Not a Personality (The Atlantic)

• AlleyCorp, a New York City-based venture fund and incubator, launched a $100 million healthcare fund with a focus on NYC-based early-stage digital health startups. The fund is chaired by AlleyCorp founder Kevin Ryan. (TechCrunch)

• Frontify, a New York City-based brand management platform, raised $50 million in Series C funding. Revaia (formerly known as Gaia Capital Partners) led the round and was joined by High Sage Ventures, as well as previous backers EQT Ventures, Blossom Capital, and Tenderloin Ventures. (TechCrunch) 

• Parade, a New York City-based designer and eco-friendly underwear brand, raised $20 million in Series B funding. Stripes led the round. (Bloomberg)

• Reachdesk, a New York City-based B2B gifting marketplace, raised $43 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Highland Europe and was joined by Highland Capital, HubSpot Ventures and RLC Ventures. (TechCrunch)

• Shapeways, a 3D printing marketplace, went public via SPAC. The company is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker $SHPW. (Shapeways)

• Visor, a New York City-based connected spreadsheet for internal app building, raised $5 million in seed funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by Bessemer Venture Partners, Converge Ventures, Craft, and M13. (Visor)

• October 6: In-person: 2021 Propelify Innovation Festival, with Tech:NYC founder and executive director Julie Samuels, Capsule founder and CEO Eric Kinariwala, Boxed CEO Chieh Huang, Bowery Farming founder and CEO Irving Fain, and others. Hosted by TechUnited:NJ. Register here.

• October 6: Virtual: What It’s Like to Exit: Getting Bought, with former Chartbeat and Scroll CEO and Betaworks CEO John Borthwick. Hosted by Betaworks. Register here.

• October 6: Virtual: The Future of New York City, with Brooklyn Borough President (and Democratic nominee for Mayor) Eric Adams. Hosted by Savills. Register here.

• October 7: Virtual: Industry Needs in Manhattan, with ABNY CEO Melva Miller, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce CEO Jessica Walker, and others. Hosted by NYCETC. Register here.

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