Tech:NYC Digest: October 6

Tech:NYC Digest: October 6

October 06, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Thursday, October 6, 2022

In today’s digest, NYC expands monkeypox vaccine eligibility, New York’s gun laws go back to the courts, and why New York wants to be the first-choice buyer for minority- and women-led startups.

  • Last chance: tomorrow we’re celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with Inicio Ventures, Mastercard, and Google for Startups. We’ll hear pitches from (and award cash prizes!) to five Latinx-led startups and then stick around for drinks and networking. RSVP here. 

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  • More than 30,000 new monkeypox vaccine appointments went live online this afternoon in NYC. (CBS New York)

    • The city’s Dept. of Health has also expanded eligibility to New Yorkers of any sexual orientation or gender identity who are at risk or suspect they were exposed to monkeypox. Get the latest info here.

  • A federal judge has blocked large portions of New York’s new gun law after the US Supreme Court struck down the state’s previous gun law, finding that provisions barring the carrying of guns in “sensitive places” like Times Square, the subway, libraries, and other public spaces was “impermissible.” (New York Times)

  • Pres. Biden made a visit to New York today to tour IBM’s facility in Poughkeepsie and celebrate the company’s plan to invest $20 billion to boost semiconductor manufacturing and quantum computing technologies from the campus. (The Hill)

  • Of the nearly 24 million adults in the US who currently have long COVID, more than 80% are having some trouble carrying out daily activities, according to new data from the CDC. (Axios)

  • And lastly, to state the obvious: you can’t see all of NYC in 36 hours, but this itinerary has some fun recommendations to get you started (even if you’re a New Yorker who’s been around for a lot longer than 36 hours).

In other reading:

  • I Brought a Medium to Gracie Mansion (Curbed)

  • The project bringing counselors and violence interrupters to 100 NYC schools (Gothamist)

  • Michelin Just Named These 18 Restaurants the Best Affordable Eats in NYC (Thrillist)

Ask almost any business owner, they’ll tell you the process for closing contracts with government agencies or other municipal entities is overly cumbersome — especially for startups and small businesses with limited resources to navigate the process. The city and state Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) programs are efforts to alleviate some of the roadblocks.

  • MWBE certifications were created to address disparities in City contracting and provide BIPOC-led businesses — some of the country’s fastest-growing entrepreneur groups — more opportunities to do business with the City.

What’s new: Under a new law signed today by Gov. Kathy Hochul, NYC will be able to award contracts up to $1 million to MWBEs without a formal competitive bidding process. (The previous threshold was $500,000.) 

  • “By raising the discretionary threshold on city contracts for M/WBEs to $1 million, we are leveling the playing field for New Yorkers from diverse backgrounds — allowing us to build towards a more just and equitable future," said Mayor Eric Adams.

Dollaride, a Brooklyn-based startup building technology platforms to serve communities in transit deserts, is one of those MWBE-certified companies. Founder and CEO Su Sanni says it makes it easier for him to offer his tools to local government:

  • “This is the type of legislation that can make an enormous impact on startups and small, minority-owned businesses. Clearly, our State leaders understand startups and Main Street are an important segment of the economy.”

  • “Government agencies should be giving them every opportunity to provide valuable products and services to the public sector. For my startup Dollaride, this bill would make growing and doing business with local government extremely attractive” Sanni said.

Groups like the MWBE GovTek Connect coalition are also working with both the government and IT industry sides to streamline the processes that help more founders of color win new business opportunities. 

In other reading:

  • Hybrid careers are the next workforce transformation (and that doesn’t mean remote work) (Fast Company)

  • What cybersecurity executives would do with a blank check (Protocol)

  • How to Effectively Build Pre-Work into Meetings (Harvard Business Review)

  • Alkymi, a NYC-based business data automation platform, raised $21 million in Series A funding. Intel Capital led the round and was joined by insiders Canaan, Work-Bench, and SimCorp. (TechCrunch)

  • Easop, a NYC-based equity provider company to international hires, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. Partech and Boldstart Ventures co-led the round and were joined by Kima Ventures and a group of angels. (TechCrunch)

  • October 7: In-person: Latinx in Tech: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, with pitches from Laxtinx-led startups Splyt, Carefully, Maxwell, Nopalera, and Keep Company. Hosted by Tech:NYC, Mastercard, Google for Startups, and Inicio Ventures. Register here.

  • October 10 – 16: Virtual & in-person: New York Tech Week, featuring events across the city hosted by General Catalyst, EmpireDAO, Brex, Carta, Innovatemap, Techstars, and more. See the full agenda and register here.

  • October 11: Virtual: Building Information Security Teams and Practices for Growth-Stage Startups, with Two Sigma vice president of information security Grace Ward, DigitalOcean vice president of security Tyler Healy, and Honeycomb lead security engineer Jam Leomi. Hosted by Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. Register here.

  • October 13: In-person: How to Survive and Thrive as a Startup, with Techstars managing director Jordan Fliegel and others. Hosted by La French Tech New York. Register here.

  • October 22: In-person: Newlab Annual Open House Party, featuring member open studios, art and tech installations, food stands, open bar, and live performances. Register here.

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