Tech:NYC Digest: September 26

Tech:NYC Digest: September 26

September 26, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Monday, September 26, 2022

Welcome back, and Shana tova and a sweet new year to all those celebrating! In today’s digest, how to get the bivalent booster, new rent regulations going into effect, and how companies are assessing productivity in a hybrid workplace.

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  • Here's your reminder that the new bivalent COVID-19 booster is available to everyone 12 and older (as long as you received your most recent vaccine dose at least two months ago).

    • More than 550 pharmacies in the city are now offering the bivalent dose. Search locations here.

    • Several public hospitals are offering the bivalent dose via walk-in appointments on weekdays. Learn more.

  • A new report from the US Army of Engineers details a $52 billion plan to protect NYC from storm surges and coastal flooding, including a 14-year construction plan to build a dozen storm gates across some of the city’s largest waterways. (Gothamist)

  • A newly-created Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture will oversee efforts to support the city’s community gardens and urban farms. (amNewYork)

  • And sorry to break the bad news, but your rent might be going up this week.

In other reading:

  • The pre-COVID activities Americans are (and are not) resuming (Washington Post)

  • NYC’s economy is growing. So why is it bracing for a fiscal crisis? (Gothamist)

  • Ghosts of New York’s Glamorous Past Haunt This Empty Pub (New York Times)

Are you missing summer Fridays yet? Is having five weekdays back on the clock making you feel more productive?

A handful of companies in the UK (as well as a few here in NYC, like Kickstarter), have been experimenting with a four-day workweek, and most reported that the abbreviated schedule didn’t reduce productivity. (New York Times)

  • Among the 41 companies participating in the trial, 35 said they’re likely to keep the four-day schedule once the trial officially ends in November.

  • Just two said productivity has dropped, while six said it actually improved, perhaps due to an increase in employee morale.

But reality and perception may not be lining up just yet: a new Microsoft Work Trend report found that remote work has led to a huge gap in perception when it comes to worker productivity.

  • While 87% of employees say they’re productive at work, nearly as many leaders (85%) say they’ve found it challenging to be confident workers are indeed being productive. 

Microsoft calls this divergence “productivity paranoia,” and the report warns that it could jeopardize the long-term sustainability of hybrid work models.

  • The report concludes: “Leaders need to pivot from worrying about whether their people are working enough to helping them focus on the work that’s most important.”

In other reading:

  • AccessFintech, a NYC, London, and Tel Aviv-based risk management startup for banks and buyside firms, raised $60 million in Series C funding. WestCap led the round and was joined by BNY Mellon and Bank of America, as well as insiders Dawn Capital, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup. (Businesswire)

  • Bitgreen, a New York-based climate-investment blockchain platform, raised $5 million in funding through the crowdfunding platform Republic. (Startups Magazine)

  • Carats & Cake, a New York-based financial operating system for the events industry, raised $10.6m in Series A funding. 1Sharpe Ventures led the round and was joined by Founders Fund, Acrew Capital, Moore Specialty Credit, Correlation Ventures, GMO VenturePartners, Argosy Capital, and SilverCircle. (FinSMEs)

  • Deep Instinct, a New York-based deep learning cybersecurity company, raised $62.5 million in funding. BlackRock led the round and was joined by Chrysalis Investments, Millennium, and Unbound. (CTech)

  • Skip Protocol, a New York-based “miner extractable value” infrastructure provider, raised $6.5 million in seed funding. Bain Capital Crypto led the round and was joined by Jump Crypto, Galaxy, Robot Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, IEX Group, Informal Systems, and other angels. (Businesswire)

  • Untitled, a New York-based music creation and collaboration platform, raised $4.6 million in seed funding. Participating investors include General Catalyst, Looking Glass Capital, Shine Capital, Not Boring Capital, and other angels. (Axios)

  • September 28: Virtual: M&A in Today’s Market, with Forerunner Ventures founder and managing partner Kristen Green, Citi Global M&A vice chair Christina Mohr, and others. Hosted by Axios. Register here.

  • September 29: Virtual: UNGA 2022 and the climate tech forecast, with Google chief sustainability officer Kate Brandt, BlocPower founder and CEO Donnel Baird, Atlassian head of sustainability Jessica Hyman, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

  • October 3: In-person: Accelerating Equity: Universities Sparking Systems Change, with Cornell Tech dean and vice provost Greg Morrisett, Break Through Tech founder Judith Spitz, The New School provost Renée T. White, and others. Hosted by Cornell Tech. Register here.

  • October 4: Virtual: The Future of How and Where We Work, with NYC Deputy Mayor for Economic & Workforce Development Maria Torres-Springer, Daybase CEO Joel Steinhaus, and others. Hosted by Savills. Register here.

  • October 7: In-person: Latinx in Tech: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, with Tech:NYC, Mastercard, Google for Startups, and Inicio Ventures. Register here.

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