Tech:NYC Digest: September 13

Tech:NYC Digest: September 13

September 13, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

In today’s digest, fresh booster shots arrive in NYC, New York Fashion Week looks take over the city, and how the first graduates of the Bitcoin Academy plan to use their new digital wallets.

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  • Reformulated booster shots that target the two most widespread forms of COVID-19 are now becoming available in New York. (Bloomberg) 

    • The general public can now get the shots at several NYC public hospitals via walk-in or appointment.

    • Find all vaccination sites administering the Pfizer and Moderna booster shots here.

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul declined to renew her emergency powers related to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of which expired at midnight Tuesday. This comes after she has already scaled back many requirements related to the pandemic, but no decision has been made on a rule guiding rules for healthcare workers. (Gothamist)

  • The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission is proposing an increase in the surcharge added to every yellow or green cab ride in an effort to help it fund accessibility upgrades. (THE CITY)

  • Lastly, here’s a fun story highlighting the best street style during this week’s New York Fashion Week.

In other reading:

  • Are We Really Getting COVID Boosters Every Year Forever? (The Atlantic)

  • New Yorkers No Longer Want Their Pet Guinea Pigs (Curbed)

  • 15 uniquely New York habits people pick up after living here (TimeOut)

Earlier this summer, Jay-Z and Block CEO Jack Dorsey teamed up to launch The Bitcoin Academy, a free 12-week educational initiative using cryptocurrency to teach financial inclusion at the Marcy Houses, a public housing complex in Brooklyn where Jay-Z was raised.

  • The program covered the fundamentals — covering topics like what is money, how to avoid scams, and understanding the different types of digital wallets.

  • Since the program kicked off, more than 325 Marcy House residents have signed up for the Academy, and organizers distributed more than 100 MiFi hotspot devices and smartphones to help participants participate.  

"A lot of times, information doesn't get to our community,” Lamar Wilson, an instructor in the Academy, told Business Insider. “Not because people are being intentionally discriminatory, it's because they're not being intentional about getting the information there. And so somebody has to pick up the mantle and do it.”

Fast forward to today: The program’s first participants are now their first graduates, and to celebrate the completion of the inaugural cohort, each student had the opportunity to accept a $1,000 USD grant of bitcoin from funding provided personally by Dorsey and Jay-Z.

  • “I am so grateful to the community that came together to make this happen, and especially to all the class participants who are now more empowered to make their own financial decisions with greater knowledge,” Gloria Carter, Jay-Z’s mother and the president and co-founder of The Shawn Carter Foundation told Insider.

In other reading:

  • Quiet Quitting Is About Bad Bosses, Not Bad Employees (Harvard Business Review)

  • Work sucks when you’re the only one left (Vox)

  • What people don’t understand about being at CTO (Protocol)

  • Bikky, a NYC-based guest data platform for restaurants, raised $5.25 million in seed funding. Equal Ventures, Gutter Capital, and Version One Ventures co-led the round and were joined by ERA’s Remarkable Ventures Fund. (Newswire)

  • Joonko, a NYC-based job sourcing platform focused on underrepresented candidates, raised $25 million in Series B funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by Target Global, as well as insiders Kapor Capital and Vertex Ventures. (TechCrunch)

  • PolyAI, a NYC-based platform for fielding contact center calls automatically, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Georgian led the round and was joined by Twilio Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Point72 Ventures, and Amadeus Capital Partners. (TechCrunch)

  • Redesign Health, a NYC-based health care company incubator, raised $65 million in Series C funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by CVS, UPMC, Eden Global Partners, Euclidean Capital, Samsung Next, TriplePoint Capital, and Declaration Partners. (Fast Company)

  • September 14: In-person and virtual: How I Raised my Seed, with Guava founder and CEO Kelly Ifill and Peat co-founder and CEO Wilson Wong. Hosted by Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. Register here.

  • September 15: In-person: The Future of Work Summit, with NYC Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Sheena Wright, NYC Council Member and Technology Committee Chair Amanda Farías, Shiftsmart CEO Aakash Kumar, and others. Hosted by City & State. Register here.

  • September 21 – 24: In-person and virtual: Unfinished Live 2022, with Circle chief strategy officer Dante Disparte, Future\Perfect Ventures managing partner Jalak Jobanputra, Protocol Labs general counsel Marta Belcher, and others. Register here.

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