Tech:NYC Digest: September 6

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Tuesday, September 6, 2022 

Welcome back! We hope you enjoyed the holiday break. In today’s digest, we’re catching you up on what the fall season has in store for updated COVID boosters, your company’s RTO plans (yes, for real this time), and the NYC restaurant reopenings you can’t miss.

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Today we’re catching you up on the news you may have missed during the digest’s summer break last week:

• Experts say a fall surge in cases is unlikely this year, especially since Pfizer’s and Moderna’s updated COVID-19 boosters have been authorized by the FDA and recommended by the CDC. The boosters, which were reformulated to target the latest Omicron subvariants, will be available as early as this week. (Washington Post)

  • The Pfizer booster has been authorized for everyone 12 and older, and the Moderna booster has been authorized for everyone 18 and older, but given limited supply to begin with, eligibility to receive a second booster is still limited to those 50 and older and those 12 and older who are immunocompromised.

  • People who recently received their initial vaccine or first booster should wait at least two months before getting the updated booster.

  • Here’s a good FAQ of other things to know about boosters and surge projections this fall.

• The state Department of Taxation and Finance has confirmed that New York State will not be taxing the up-to-$20,000 in forgiven student loans federal borrowers can receive under the Biden administration’s recently announced plan. (Gothamist)

• New York’s recently passed law implementing more extensive requirements to legally carry a gun in public took effect last week. (Gothamist) 

  • The law defines a long list of “sensitive places” where firearms will be banned, including parks, libraries, schools, public transit, polling places, places of worship, and the entirety of Times Square (which, because of the law, was officially defined by the city for the first time).

• And Happy Broadway Week! Until Sept. 25, you can get 2-for-1 tickets to more than 20 shows currently running. Learn more here (but check the masking policy before you go!)

In other reading:

• 29 Reasons to Make a Date With a New York Restaurant (New York Times)

• Of Course There’s Now a Dimes Square Reality Show (The Cut)

• You’ve Seen a Bodega Cat. How About a Barber Shop Rooster? (New York Times)

Did you get that all-company email giving you notice that, after Labor Day, it was time to come back to the office? You’re not the only one, and this time, employers say it’s time to stick to the plan. (Wall Street Journal)

• Many executives say the long Labor Day weekend marks “the line in the corporate sand” and gives them the best chance of putting employees on a more consistent in-person schedule before the fall and winter holidays.

• FWIW: the full Tech:NYC team came into the office today, and we have to say, it was great to be together all day!

The anything-goes era of flexibility may be over: Companies feel encouraged to take a firmer stance on just how they’ll define their hybrid models.

• Many have actually returned to the office for part of the week before now, but they’ve been allowed to pick which days. Managers now say they’ll enforce rules that expect teams in the office on particular days so they’re together all at the same time.

• Apple set a Sept. 5 deadline for corporate employees to be in the office at least three days a week.

• Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are lifting remaining COVID protocols that have kept some workers away and will join JPMorgan in pushing employees to begin returning to the office five days a week.

But employees won’t go down without a fight: Indeed vice president for corporate communications Scott Dobroksi said workers still have the upper hand. (Washington Post)

• “This demand for flexibility among employees, no longer just a request, will likely have a direct impact on their hiring and retention efforts, which also directly impact a company’s bottom line.”

• In a June Gallup survey among fully remote workers, 60 percent said they would be “extremely likely” to look for other opportunities if their employer decided not to offer remote work at least some of the time.

Our takeaway: When it comes to in-office work, the last 2.5 years have been defined by preference. We’re now moving into a phase of enforcement, but what that means for the phase after that — actual compliance — remains an open question.

In other reading:

• Why More Companies Are Putting Lego Bricks in the Office (Wall Street Journal)

• Penn Station Plan Makes a High-Stakes Bet on the Future of Office Work (New York Times)

• The Slow Death of the Traditional Business Card (Wall Street Journal)

• Alloy, a NYC-based identity operating system for the financial sector, raised $52 million in new venture funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners and Avenir Growth co-led the round and were joined by insiders Canapi Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Avid Ventures, and Felicis Ventures. (TechCrunch)

• Alma, a NYC-based membership network for therapists to build their practices, raised $130 million in Series D funding. Thoma Bravo led the round and was joined by Cigna Ventures, as well as insiders Insight Partners, Optum Ventures, Tusk Venture Partners, Primary Venture Partners, and Sound Ventures. (Newswire)

• Kasisto, a NYC-based digital assistant for the financial services industry, raised $15.5 million in Series C extension funding. Fidelity and Westpac co-led the round and were joined by BankSouth. (Newswire)

• Landa, a NYC-based real estate investing company, raised $25 million in Series A funding. NFX, 83North, and Viola Ventures co-led the round. (TechCrunch)

• Nitra, a NYC-based supply chain and financial solutions provider to practitioners and physicians in the healthcare industry, raised $62 million in seed funding. Participating investors include Andreessen Horowitz, New Enterprise Associates, Pantera Capital, KB Financial Group, Jerry Yang/AME Cloud Ventures, Dreamers VC, and others. (Axios)

• Thirdweb, a NYC and San Francisco-based web3 project building platform, raised $24 million in Series A funding. Haun Ventures led the round and was joined by Coinbase Ventures, Shopify, Protocol Labs, Polygon, Shrug VC, and others. (TechCrunch)

• September 12: In-person: Entrepreneurs Roundtable 169, with Primary Venture Partners partner Cassie Young. Hosted by ERA. Register here. 

• September 13: In-person: 2022 Conference of New York State’s Incubators and Accelerators, with Tech:NYC executive director Jason Myles Clark, Greycroft co-founder Alan Patricof, FinTech Innovation Lab co-head Yasmin Lalani, and others. Hosted by the Business Incubator Association of New York State. Register here.

• 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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