Tech:NYC Digest: September 8

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Thursday, September 8, 2022  

Editor's note: Due to technology problems, many of you didn't receive yesterday's digest. Apologies! We've re-included some of those updates today so you don't miss anything important.

In today’s digest, NYC Transit's new mask policy is “you do you,” prepping for the first day of school in NYC, and how Ansa’s debut fund is carrying NYC tech through a period of uncertainty.

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• Nearly one million NYC students returned to classes in the nation’s largest school district today. The new school year will be the closest to normalcy since the pandemic was declared more than two years ago. (Gothamist) Here’s what’s new for this year:

  • The city has canceled snow days, where students will hunker down in front of their screens to attend class remotely instead of enjoying a day sledding in the park. (New York Post)

  • The city will bring in roughly 850 new school safety agents this year as part of a larger plan to keep kids safe as they return to class. This comes alongside expanded active shooter trainings for city principals, a new messaging system to alert families about emergencies faster, and using “violence interrupters” to mediate conflicts. (New York Daily News)

• After 28 months, transit riders will no longer be required to wear masks on NYC subways, buses, and commuter rail lines, as well as rideshare vehicles and airports, bringing an end to one of the region’s last surviving mask mandates in public places. While now optional, signage throughout the system will remind New Yorkers masks are still "encouraged." (Gothamist) Masks remain required in healthcare settings. 

• COVID-19 vaccines will largely become an annual vaccination akin to the flu shot, President Joe Biden said, as his administration urged Americans to seek out newly authorized booster shots tailored to fight the Omicron subvariants that are now dominant. (Bloomberg)

• NYC ranked number one for the “most stressful” commutes among US cities, according to a new study by resume.io. (NYC Patch) But could the way we get around the city be about to change?

• Uber has started offering taxi rides in New York, a long-awaited effort to help ease a driver shortage and pressure on fares. The rollout will continue in the coming weeks and months. (Bloomberg)

• Lastly, here’s how to watch BBC News Live (for obvious reasons).

In other reading:

• What Urban Planners Can Learn From This Idealistic Gowanus Coffee Shop (New York Times)

• We’ll Miss You, MetroCard Machine (Curbed)

• Is it time to upgrade your iPhone? This quiz can help you decide. (Washington Post)

Headlines sounding the alarm about the slowdown in tech have been too many to count. (Fortune)  

But Marco DeMeireles and Allan Jean-Baptiste, co-founders and general partners at Ansa Capital, still see opportunity. 

• “The VC market is cyclical, and after an extended period of growth, we’re seeing a rationale reset. Ultimately, this remains a great time to build a company,” said Jean-Baptiste.

Ansa launched in NYC earlier this year with a $100 million initial close of its debut fund and will focus on emerging growth-stage companies. (Bloomberg) DeMeireles and Jean-Baptiste, formerly investors at TCG and KKR Growth respectively, have had front row seats to the development of the NYC tech ecosystem with their support of many of the city’s top startups, including Peloton, Dadi (and its acquisition by Ro), Policygenius, Kindbody, Slice, and Zola.

• “As these companies have matured, they’ve introduced a new generation of talent, founders and investors to create a self-reinforcing cycle.” 

We spoke with DeMeireles and Jean-Baptiste about the firm’s plans and what they see as New York’s unique advantages in scaling new companies:

• “New York is unique in its concentration of leading corporations across sectors like finance, healthcare, media, telecom and insurance — many of the same Fortune 1000 that venture-backed companies aspire for as customers.”

• “New York’s tech industry is successful because it mirrors the city’s culture: hardworking, diverse, and unabashedly ambitious. Founders here benefit from the compounding communities that help them grow their circle of support at critical early stages of business.”

Ansa joins a a number of established VC firms — Sequoia, Index Ventures, a16z, among them — who have planted a flag in NYC this year, and DeMeireles says it’s a sign of the VC community’s confidence in New York as hub for startup activity through the current market “correction:”

• “While the venture environment is fast-changing, we believe there is still fundamental value in our support for companies across people, capital, and operations. We’re in a strong position to scale through 2022 and beyond.”

• The firm has already hired onits investment team and announced their first public investment in Merkle Manufactory, the makers of Farcaster, a decentralized social network.

How New York continues to lead, they say, is to prioritize community-building above all, so that the early-career tech workers of today can become the founders of tomorrow:

• Ansa Network is an effort to do just that — the firm set up a community of top functional leaders that don’t appear in traditional VC ecosystems and bring valuable, recent operational experience to the companies Ansa backs. These leaders also happen to be majority women and majority people of color.

So with a founder-centric approach, we had to ask: If you were meeting a founder who you were trying to impress, where would you take them in the city?

• “For dinner, we’d go to Silver Apricot or Nura, but ultimately, we personalize it based on the founder’s interest. Our office is based in the Meatpacking District, so for lunch, we may head over to Banter, or for coffee, Kobrick. 

• “That said, we prefer getting to know founders and their teams wherever they feel most comfortable, whether a casual BBQ spot, park walk, or museum exhibit.”

Learn more about Ansa Capital and its operational scaling tips and other experiences through its “Growing Pains” series here.

In other reading:

• Sorry I Missed Your Text: Messaging Is the New Email (Wall Street Journal)

• Can't stop fighting with your co-founder? Try couples therapy (Protocol)

• Can new technology tell if you’re lying on LinkedIn? (Fast Company)

• Biotia, a NYC-based provider of AI solutions to diagnose infectious diseases, raised $8 million in Series A funding. OCA Ventures led the round and was joined by Continuum Health Ventures, Phoenix Venture Partners, SeedtoB Capital, SK Square Americas, Digital-Dx Ventures, and others. (Accesswire)

• CertifyOS, a NYC-based health care provider intelligence platform, raised $14.5 million in Series A funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by Upfront Ventures, Max Ventures, and Arkitekt Ventures. (Newswire)

• Mesh Payments, a NYC-based corporate financial management startup, raised $60m in Series C funding. Alpha Wave led the round and was joined by insiders Tiger Global, TLV Partners, Entrée Capital, and Meron Capital. (TechCrunch)

• FX HedgePool, a NYC and London-based peer-to-peer matching platform for foreign exchange transactions, raised $8 million in Series A funding. Information Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Fidelity International Strategic Ventures and NAventures. (Insider)

• SeatGeek, a NYC-based ticketing and live events platform, raised $238 million in Series E funding. Accel led the round and was joined by Wellington Management, Arctos Sports Partners, and Qualtrics founder Ryan Smith. (TechCrunch)

• Sei, a NYC-based layer 1 blockchain for DeFi, raised $5 million in new funding. Multicoin Capital led the round and was joined by Coinbase Ventures, Delphi Digital, Hudson River Trading, GSR, Hypersphere, Flow Traders, Kronos Research, and other angels. (Newswire)

• Tarci (fka Leadgence), a NYC-based AI platform for sourcing SMB sales leads, raised $17 million in Series A funding. Sound Ventures led the round and were joined by Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and others. (TechCrunch)

• VTS, a NYC-based leasing and asset management tech provider, raised $125 million in Series E funding. CBRE Group led the round and was joined by BentallGreenOak, AmTrust, Brookfield Ventures, and Insight Venture Partners. (The Real Deal)

WeWork has teamed up with Tech:NYC and leading cities around the globe to expand its initiative helping NYC businesses design their RTO plans and foster a flexible return to work. The program offers discounted, flexible office space options, including 50% off All Access and private office memberships for at least 3 months using code FLEXWORK50. Learn more here and apply here.Newlab, in partnership with Globant, is accepting applications for its Ethical AI Studio. Early-stage companies looking to test new products and solutions that promote wellbeing and restore public trust in emerging tech are invited to apply. Benefits include access to a $100K grant funding pool, access to an angel investors network, as well Newlab space, industry experts, and prototyping resources. Learn more and apply by Sept. 21 here.Hack.Diversity, an initiative founded in Boston with a commitment to advancing Black and Latine/x professionals in tech, is expanding to New York and accepting applications for its inaugural NYC fellowship program. The nine-month program is seeking early-career software engineers interested in accelerating their careers in tech and building a diverse network. To get involved, reach out here. Learn more and apply by Oct. 1 here.Primary Venture Partners is accepting applications for its sixth NYC Founders Fellowship cohort. Early-stage entrepreneurs building a data startup are eligible to apply for the six-month, part-time, no-equity immersion program. Learn more and apply by Oct. 3 here.Urban-X, is accepting applications for its next accelerator cohort. Founders building businesses that solve cities’ thought challenges in areas such as transit and mobility; built environment and real estate; food, waste, and water; and energy and grid are eligible to apply. Learn more and apply on a rolling basis here.

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