Tech:NYC Digest: October 11

Tech:NYC Digest: October 11

October 11, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

We just wrapped a full day of conversations with 100 tech entrepreneurs and civic leaders at our 2023 New York Tech Summit (more on that below). 🚀 

  • In today’s digest, mandatory trash bins go residential, how NYC business districts reached full recovery, and our new research on the tech skills at most in demand this year.  

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  • A new mandate announced today will require all buildings with nine or fewer units — which make up 95% of residential properties across the city — to containerize their trash beginning the fall of 2024. (Gothamist)

    • The new rule is an expansion of a copycat rule announced in September requiring businesses to obtain closed bins for their trash.

  • Times Square is so back: The 180th business just opened in the entertainment district, surpassing the 179 closures that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic in the same area. (Wall Street Journal)  

In other reading:

  • The Small Building Owners Joining NYC’s War on Trash (Curbed)

  • The 11 New Restaurants Up for Michelin Awards in New York (Eater NY)

  • 10 of the coolest places that will open to the public for Open House New York Weekend (Gothamist)

We just wrapped our 2023 Tech Summit, a daylong event of conversations with the founders and investors we think are shaping the future of New York tech. 

  • Caryn Seidman Becker talked about CLEAR’s vision for the future of digital identity, Seonghoon Woo shared how Amogy is colliding hardware and software to solve the climate crisis, Wemimo Abbey unveiled how Esusu is creating creditworthiness for renters, and Evan Smith mapped how Altana is using AI to verify global supply chains.

During the summit, Tech:NYC also released brand new research on the tech talent and hiring needs of 350 executives in NYC across 11 industries. The full report is now live here. 

  • This is the fourth edition of this survey we’ve conducted in partnership with Accenture, and as our president Julie Samuels mentioned at the summit this afternoon, confidence in local talent only keeps increasing.

  • This year, it was near unanimous — 99% of respondents said they felt able to secure the tech talent they needed from the city’s existing talent pool. That’s up from 87% in last year’s report.

In other reading:

  • Proptech can bolster housing affordability in the city, MetaProp investor Zak Schwarzman says (Crain’s New York Business)

  • How AI helped me see the faces of the people I love for the first time (Slate)

  • The future of work is optimization (Fast Company)

  • Fantix, a NYC-based platform that provides data for companies to train AI models and personalize user experiences, raised $1.6 million in funding from Gaingels, Notion Capital, Founders Factory, Fastweb, Connect Ventures, and others.

  • FemHealth Ventures, a NYC-based VC firm focused on women's health, raised $32 million for its debut fund.

  • Pair Eyewear, a New York-based provider of customizable eyewear for kids and adults, raised $75m in Series C funding. Prysm Capital led the round and was joined by NEA, Javelin Venture Partners, and others.

  • October 12: In-person: Booking Holdings + GlobalWIN: A Fireside Chat on Innovation in Travel Tech, featuring Booking Holdings senior vice president Phyllis Wallitt and Booking.com director of communications Angela Cavis. Register here.

  • October 12: In-person: Innovation and Collaboration in New York’s Government, with MTA CEO Janno Lieber, NYC Chief Efficiency Officer Denise Clay, LinkNYC Chief Administrative Officer Margaux Knee, and others. Hosted by City & State. Use code TECHNYC23 for 50% off tickets by registering here.

  • October 18: In-person: NY Enterprise Tech Meetup, with Grafana Labs COO Doug Hanna, Vercel VP of Product Jared Palmer, and Apollo senior director of develop experience Peggy Rayzis. Hosted by Work-Bench. Register here.

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