Tech:NYC Digest: October 22

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Friday, October 22, 2021

In today’s digest, CDC backs Moderna and J&J boosters, VP Harris comes to NYC, and how Google for Startups is supporting Black founders in New York and nationwide.

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By the numbers:

• New positive cases statewide: 3,594

  • New positive cases, NYC: 859

• Statewide Fatalities: 25 (-18)

• NYC Positivity Rate: 1.1 percent (-0.1 percent)

• Statewide Vaccine Progress:

  • Percentage of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 86.4 percent

  • Percentage of total population with at least one dose: 73.3 percent 

Today’s latest: 

• Following FDA recommendations, the CDC has endorsed booster shots of the Moderna and the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. Pfizer booster doses had already been approved by the agency last month. (New York Times) 

  • With the CDC decision, all eligible New Yorkers can now get the booster. Statewide eligibility details can be found here.

  • If you’re wondering if you’re eligible, here is an easy, interactive guide to help.

• Pfizer reported data that showed its COVID-19 vaccine had a 90.7 percent efficacy rate in preventing symptomatic coronavirus in children ages five to 11. The company submitted the information to the FDA, which was expected to release its own analysis of the data later in the day. (New York Times)

  • If the FDA and CDC authorize the vaccine for ages five to 11, it would help protect more than 28 million additional people in the US.

• VP Harris joined Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Hochul today to tout New York’s economic recovery and promote the pending infrastructure bill. She spoke to the administration’s “Build Back Better” goals including climate action and support for blue-collar families. (Patch NYC)

• A bill signed by Gov. Hochul this week is meant to propel the enrollment of private-sector workers in retirement savings plans if their employer doesn't already offer one. (NY State of Politics)

  • The measure triggers the implementation of a 2015 provision creating the retirement savings program and automatically enrolling workers without those plans into a payroll-deducted IRA. The plan is meant to be portable for workers who change jobs and they can opt-out of it at any time. 

• Early voting in NYC’s general election begins tomorrow. Here are a couple of things to know before you head to the polls:

  • Early voting sites aren’t necessarily the same as Election Day sites, and their hours change depending on the day. Confirm your site location and hours here.

  • Early voting runs through Sunday, Oct. 31, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2.

  • For more information, here’s Gothamist’s guide to what’s on the ballot.

In other reading:

• Governor Signs Bill Aiming To Reduce Noise Across Subway System Inspired By Coney Residents (Brooklyn Paper)

• Tap Water Taste Funny in NYC? There’s Nothing to Fear, But Blame Aging Infrastructure (Gothamist)

• Where to Go and What to Eat During Halloween Weekend (Eater NY)

Representation in tech isn’t a recent issue, but it has recently received a lot more deserved attention. Notable progress has been made, but there’s still plenty of room to do more.

• Despite being one of the fastest-growing entrepreneur groups around the world, Black founders received less than one percent of all venture capital globally in 2020.

That’s where Google for Startups comes in. Its Black Founders Fund was established in 2020, and now with its second cohort, has awarded $16 million toward making a resounding impact to help Black-led startups secure funding, strengthen communities, and create generational change. 

Tech:NYC recently hosted a welcome event for the new cohort, where we convened the New York-based recipients of the Fund and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

• “This is such a powerful moment. And so here's my calling to you. I want you to look at how we deliver goods and services in this city, and the unfairness of doing so, and help me reinvent and reimagine this city,” Adams said.

• “And if we do it in New York, it's going to cascade across America. The way goes New York, goes America, the way goes America, goes the entire globe. I cannot be more excited than where we are now.”

Read more of our conversations with this year’s Black Founders Fund cohort here.

• Candy Digital, a New York City-based digital collectible company, raised $100 million in Series A funding, valuing it at $1.5 billion. Insight Partners and Softbank Vision Fund 2 led the round and were joined by Connect Ventures, Will Ventures, Gaingels, Com2Us, and Athletes Syndicate in partnership with Chaos Ventures. (CNBC)

• Socratic, a New York City-based task management system startup, raised $3 million in seed funding. Investors included Unusual Ventures and Overtime.vc. (TechCrunch)

• Toolio, a New York City-based provider of merchandising and inventory planning software, raised $8 million in Series A funding. Jump Capital led the round and was joined by Rho Capital, as well as insiders Founder Collective, Notation Capital, and Max Ventures. (TechCrunch)

• October 28: In-person: NYC: Reborn Summit, with Tech:NYC executive director Julie Samuels, Common founder and CEO Brad Hargreaves, MTA acting chair and CEO Janno Lieber, and others. Hosted by the Manhattan Institute. Register here.

• November 4: Virtual: Frontier Tech Spotlight: Deep Tech Investment, with Seeqc CEO John Levy, Quantum Daily CEO Alex Challans, and Newlab chief product officer Satish Rao. Hosted by Newlab. Register here.

• November 8: In-person and virtual: TechDay Founders Summit, with The Fund general partner Jenny Fielding, Eniac Ventures co-founder Nihal Mehta, Republic head of venture growth Cheryl Campos, and others. Admission is by application only. Register here.

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