Tech:NYC President & CEO Julie Samuels released this statement on the proposed increase in the payroll mobility tax:

Today, we’re releasing new data, in partnership with StreetEasy, that finds tech workers in NYC could afford about one in three (35%) rentals on the market in 2023.

We’re thrilled to announce Startup:NYC, a community for New York’s next superstar founders. 

This week, we kicked off the third Tech:NYC Founder House, our quarterly initiative to bring the most promising early-stage founders together with investors, industry experts, and – most importantly – each other all under one roof for a day of collaboration.

This was a special edition of the House: This time, we partnered with the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) to support its 2024 Founder Fellowship, a cohort of 60 diverse-led startups contributing to a more inclusive tech ecosystem in New York. Meet them all here.

As we close out Black History Month, we asked leading New York VCs in our network to nominate the Black-led startups they’re most excited to support in 2024. Here’s what they reported back: For this special edition of our Companies to Watch series, meet Hopscotch, Guaranteed, Singuli, and Spry.

Each year, Tech:NYC leads a delegation of startup founders and other tech leaders to join elected leaders for the New York State Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislators’ annual conference – “Caucus Weekend,” as it’s coloquially called. This year’s conference was all about AI, and we wanted to ensure the legislators had access to the founders building the next generation of AI tools:

• Sunrise AI CEO Deepak Shrivastava is using AI to revolutionize credits assessments and expand financial health outcomes for those with thin or no credit histories.     

• COI Energy CEO SaLisa Berrien is deploying AI to identify and eliminate energy waste in buildings and repurpose it for good.

• Plural CEO Damola Ogundipe is leveraging AI to make public policy data easily discoverable, interpretable, and collaborative.

Today, we’re excited to announce three new hires have joined the Tech:NYC team: former New York City Council Member Marjorie Velázquez as the organization’s Vice President of Policy, former Adams Administration Senior Policy Advisor Lisi McCall as Chief of Staff, and Bryan Lozano, formerly of Empire State Development, as Director of the Tech:NYC Foundation. Sarah Brown, the organization’s founding Chief of Staff, will be moving into the role of Chief Strategy Officer. 

Tech:NYC issued the following statement in response to today’s 2024 State of the State address by Governor Kathy Hochul: