November 2017 Newsletter: Showing Gratitude for the NYC Tech Community
This is the November 2017 edition of the Tech:NYC newsletter. If you're not already getting this in your inbox, sign up now.
This November, we took a moment to be grateful for all the things that make New York an incredible place to build a tech company: the diversity, the talent, the can-do attitude, and even the food. We are constantly inspired by our members and by the entrepreneurial spirit we see from every corner of this city.
What We're Up To
To give thanks to NYC and our community at large, we launched a social campaign during Thanksgiving week called #TechNYCThanks. Many of our members posted what they are thankful for, including Accenture, Intersection, Justworks, Metaprop, Minibar Delivery, MongoDB, Planted, Shutterstock, Silicon Harlem, Squarespace, and Yext.
We are also thankful for the ingenuity of our members. For this month’s companies to watch blog post, we featured five of our member companies that are rethinking how we interact with food. Check out our Q&As with Daily Harvest (pictured), Goldbely, Pilotworks, Truffle, and Wine n Dine.
Policy Developments
The battle to preserve net neutrality continues, with many of our member companies coming out strongly against the newest FCC proposal to roll back net neutrality. The FCC plans to vote on the proposal on December 14. If you want to be involved with fight to save net neutrality, check out Battle for the Net. Read our updated policy brief for more.
In mid-November, the New York City Council passed first-of-its-kind legislation in the state to facilitate the implementation of online voter registration. Currently, only NYC residents with a DMV driver's license, learner’s permit, or a non-driver ID can register to vote online. Once implemented, this legislation will allow those who don’t have one of these forms of ID to register online.
What Our Community Is Up To
WeWork acquired Meetup on Tuesday, bringing together two of our members for a significant deal that spotlights NYC tech.
Fortune’s list of the top 50 best workplaces for parents includes our members Accenture, Ernst & Young, SAP, and Squarespace.
The NYCEDC announced a plan that aims to turn NYC into the cybersecurity capital of the world by creating a new tech hub.
Hayley Barna and Rebecca Kaden join as the first female general partners of First Round Capital and Union Square Ventures, respectively.
Lyft opened its first permanent office in NYC.
Via was featured by the New York Times for its novel approach to expanding to new parts of NYC.
Shutterstock CEO and Tech:NYC Leadership Council member Jon Oringer sat down with CNBC to talk about the future of the company and mobile technology.
New York City created new guidelines to help bring more structure to coding schools. Our members Fullstack Academy, General Assembly, and the New York Code + Design Academy all have adopted the guidelines.
Several top startup programs for 2018 are still accepting applications, with deadlines closing soon. The FinTech Innovation Lab, open to all early-stage B2B tech companies, is accepting applications until December 1. Project Entrepreneur’s Venture Competition for women-led startups is also accepting applications until December 1. The New York Fashion Tech Lab, which is looking for women-founded, fashion-focused tech startups, is taking applications until December 4.
Community Events
December 13: Our member Fullstack Academy is hosting its Career Day, where companies can meet talented engineers graduating from Fullstack's NYC Web Dev Fellowship (WDF) program. NYC tech companies are invited to participate so they can find new hires. Sign up here.
December 14: Voyager Clubhouse will be hosting a fun holiday happy hour for travel entrepreneurs and enthusiasts. RSVP here.
Welcome to Tech:NYC
Say hello to some of our newest members!
Coworker: A global platform to advance change in the workplace.
Farmshelf: Smart indoor farms that make growing food easy.
Graph Commons: A collaborative platform for making, analyzing, and publishing network maps.
Hodi: A platform for same-day commerce.
Lilu: Tech-enabled products for the modern mom including the first pumping bra with automated compression.
Native: An on-demand service that tasks locals to collect data and analyze results in real time.
Paperspace: GPU accelerated cloud platform for individuals, startups, and the enterprise.
Propel: Building software for low-income Americans who are often overlooked by traditional tech innovation.
Relay: A technology platform that connects restaurants with couriers on demand.
The Pride: Empowers women to protect themselves using a Bluetooth token and app.
Women 2.0: Provides action-based, scalable solutions that close gender gaps in the tech industry, whether in the workplace, the startup space, or leadership.
Join Us
If you’ve been thinking about having your company join Tech:NYC as a member, now’s the time! Check out our membership page, and let's start the conversation.