Tech:NYC Digest: September 9

Tech:NYC Digest: September 9

September 09, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Thursday, September 9, 2021

In today’s digest, Pres. Biden mandates employers require vaccines or regular testing for workforces of 100+, NYC public schools with kids 12 and up will have on-site vaccines, Brian Benjamin sworn in as Lieutenant Governor.

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By the numbers:

  • New positive cases statewide: 5,402 (+1,551)

    • New positive cases, NYC: 1,972 (+576)

  • Statewide Fatalities: 19 (-12)

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 2.3 percent (no change)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress:

    • Percentage of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 81.0 percent

    • Percentage of total population with at least one dose: 68.5 percent

Today’s latest:

  • In an address moments ago, Pres. Biden announced a new federal COVID-19 plan that focuses on workplace policies. (CNN) The Labor Dept. will release a rule requiring all businesses with 100 or more employees to ensure their workers are vaccinated or tested for COVID-19 weekly. 

    • All federal workers, federal contractors, healthcare workers at Medicare/Medicaid participating hospitals, and other health settings will be required to be vaccinated, with no testing alternative.

    • The plan also includes new steps to provide access to booster shots this fall, as well as an increased supply of at-home, rapid tests.

    • The full six-part plan is outlined here. More on it below.

  • Dr. Fauci said Americans are still getting infected at ten times the rate needed to declare an end to the pandemic. (Axios) The country is averaging more than 100,000 new infections a day, and we’ve “got to get well below 10,000 before you start feeling comfortable.” 

  • Brian Benjamin, the former state Senator representing Harlem and the Upper West Side, was sworn in today as the Lieutenant Governor of New York. (New York Magazine)

    • In his new role, Gov. Hochul has tasked him with taking the lead on promoting the vaccine in low vaccination rate areas, helping expedite emergency rent relief funds, and leading a NYCHA task force.

  • Mayor de Blasio announced that every NYC public school with students 12 and up — more than 700 schools  — will have a vaccination site set up when school begins next week. (NBC New York)

In other reading:

The number of companies mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for employees grows every day, but in the absence of a federal mandate, there’s a lot of variance in how companies are addressing vaccines and return-to-office plans.

But that’s about to change: In a speech delivered moments ago, Pres. Biden announced a new federal mandate that will require all employers with more than 100 workers to require the COVID-19 vaccine or weekly tests. (New York Times)

  • The new rule will affect as many as 100 million Americans — two-thirds of all workers.

The mandate also requires those employers to provide paid time off to employees to get vaccinated and/or to recover from side effects after vaccination.

  • Companies that don’t comply could face thousands of dollars of fines per employee.

The mandate could put some companies’ reopening plans back on track, like Twitter and Microsoft, who have pushed back plans indefinitely due to concerns over the Delta variant and a confusing patchwork of local and state guidance.

  • “I’m looking forward to the entire world overcoming this challenge, because until we do so any particular company, region thinking they’ve found the answer, I think will just be shortsighted,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

There are still plenty of questions. The leading factor for company decisions on internal policies has been plain old employee sentiment. (Axios)

  • "If you have a very low uptake of voluntary vaccination in your organization, the implications for mandating vaccines are very different" than for a higher-uptake group, said Lisa O’Connor, senior managing director in FTI Consulting's health solutions practice.

Our takeaway: With the new federal mandate, the vaccination quandary is largely answered for employers. Executives will now need to focus on all the other adjacent protocols — supplying and enforcing weekly tests for those who opt out, explaining indoor masks policies, creating long-term cleaning rules. It’s those little details that will go the farthest in making workers comfortable with returning to the office.

In other reading:

  • How Office Culture Changed in the Pandemic — From Workers Who Went Back Ages Ago (Wall Street Journal)

  • If You Never Met Your Co-Workers in Person, Did You Even Work There? (New York Times)

  • Zoom Call Gaffes Led to Someone Getting Axed, 1 in 4 Bosses Say (Bloomberg)

  • CookUnity, a Brooklyn-based chef-to-consumer meal subscription platform, raised $47 million in Series B funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by Endeavor Capital, IDCV, Fuel Ventures, and Gaingels. (TechCrunch)

  • Eden Network, a New York City-based maker of a network focused on protecting Ethereum traders, raised $17.4 million in seed funding. Multicoin Capital led the round and was joined by Jump Capital, Alameda Research, Wintermute, GSR, and Defiance Capital. (The Block)

  • Forum Brands, an e-commerce acquisition platform, raised $100 million in debt funding from TriplePoint Capital. (TechCrunch)

  • Jetty, a New York-based renter payment platform, raised $23 million in a new venture round. Citi and Flourish Ventures co-led the round and were joined by Credit Ease and K5. (TechCrunch)

  • Kalepa, a New York City-based commercial insurance startup, raised $14 million in Series A funding. Inspired Capital led the round and was joined by IA Ventures. (TechCrunch)

  • Vowel, a New York-based virtual meeting platform, raised $13.5 million in Series A funding. Lobby Capital led and was joined by insiders Amity Ventures and Box Group. (TechCrunch)

  • Zebedee, a New York-based developer of Bitcoin payment systems for games, raised $11.5 million in Series A funding. Lakestar led the round and was joined by Initial Capital, New Form Capital, and TVP. (VentureBeat)

  • September 14: In-Person: Operating and Raising as a Female Founder, with Smartrr CEO Gabriella Yitzhaek, Chill Pill CEO Hayley Caddes, Seven Starling CEO Tina Bellinson, and others. Hosted by Expa. Register here.

  • September 14: Virtual: Rebuilding New York Summit, with NYCEDC president Rachel Loeb, MTA chief diversity and inclusion officer Michael Garner, Revel co-founder Paul Suhey, and others. Hosted by City & State. Register here. 

  • September 15: Virtual: Creating the Right Culture for Hybrid Work, with Twitter chief human resources officer Jennifer Christie, Menlo Ventures partner Naomi Ionita, Trello co-founder Michael Pryor, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

  • September 15: Virtual: Bridging the Communication Gap Between Tech and Non-Tech Teams, with SoundCloud VP of Engineering Tiffany Conroy. Hosted by PowerToFly. Register here.

  • September 17: Virtual: Gen Z VC Summit, with Lerer Hippeau partner Andrea Hippeau, Cowboy Ventures Principal Jillian Williams, Acrew Capital investor John Smothers, and others. Hosted by Lerer Hippeau. Register here.

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