Five New York Tech Companies to Watch (March 2018)
It’s Women’s History Month and while we’ve spent the month celebrating the accomplishments of women over time, we wanted to take a moment to spotlight five female founders building and growing companies that will empower, feed, and entertain us in the future.
Farmshelf
What does your company do?
Farmshelf co-founder Suma Reddy: We build smart indoor hydroponic farming systems that enable anyone to grow their own food. We want to make it possible for everyone to farm, starting with chefs and restaurants.
What originally brought you to New York?
SR: A job and a girl.
Why is New York the right place to build and grow Farmshelf?
SR: Andrew (our first founder) initially started the company on the West Coast. He was working in ad tech at Twitter and Pinterest at the time. He looked into growing his own food and realized no one else really made growing food easy. We moved to NYC to join a community of other growing hardware companies at New Lab (an amazing space for hardware startups) and because the hydroponics market is sizeable in the East Coast.
One piece of advice you’d give to a female founder starting an NYC company today?
SR: Be kind to yourself. In past companies I've founded, I never felt like I was doing enough, whether it was raising enough money, networking with the right folks or getting to market quickly enough. I beat myself up a lot. I eventually came to realize that building a company is a marathon, not a sprint so to survive you’ve got to treat yourself with some TLC.
What makes New York better than other cities for women founders?
SR: There's a great network of women founders, women-driven communities and events. Just last month, I went to an event held by BBG Ventures called Reset that featured founders from Rent the Runway, SoulCycle and theSkimm. It was really inspiring.
How can New York do a better job of fostering more inclusivity?
SR: Creating more opportunities, not only for women, but for minorities, LGBTQ populations, older folks, etc. When I first entered the tech world, I really valued the opportunities that I found by joining supportive communities like SheWorx (a network of female founders) and becoming a City Director of Lesbians Who Tech (queer women in tech).
What’s the best way to spend a spring day in NYC?
SR: Yoga, and then reading in Washington Square Park.
What’s the best place in New York for a coffee or lunch meeting?
SR: Our workplace in New Lab. Its bright, inviting, home to more than 100 inspiring hardware companies, and serves Brooklyn Roasting Company coffee too.
Le Cinema Club
What does your company do?
Le Cinema Club founder Marie-Louise Khondji: Le Cinema Club is a curated film streaming platform that presents one film every week for free. The site celebrates both emerging and established filmmakers. We also curate live screenings and film events.
Who are some of the coolest directors you’ve featured?
We have presented films by directors such as Barry Jenkins, Spike Jonze, Harmony Korine, Amy Seimetz, Gus Van Sant, and Agnès Varda, along with lists of film recommendations given to us by Wes Anderson, Luca Guadagnino, Léa Seydoux, and Robert Pattinson.
Why did you found it in New York?
MK: As both an incredible cultural capital and a media tech hub, New York was the perfect place to launch a new film platform.
One piece of advice you’d give to a female founder starting an NYC company today?
MK: Connect with all the other great women working in your industry, be confident, and keep at it.
What makes New York better than other cities for women founders?
MK: There are so many smart women and founders, in every industry, to look up to and be inspired from in the city. New York also has a great mix of industries—it has tech, but it also has the arts—which makes it unique and exciting.
How can New York do a better job of fostering more inclusivity?
MK: More affordable work spaces!
Did your company do anything to celebrate International Women’s Day?
MK: We presented a film by a woman director and celebrated some of our favorite women filmmakers on social media.
What’s the best way to spend a spring day in NYC?
MK: In this unusually cold weather, go to the movies! Otherwise walk around Central Park and pop by The Met.
What’s your favorite pizza slice?
MK: Arcade Bakery or John’s of Bleecker Street.
What’s your favorite neighborhood?
MK: The Lower East Side for The Metrograph, Dimes, and Kiki’s.
PowerToFly
What does your company do?
PowerToFly co-founders Milena Berry and Katharine Zaleski: We launched PowerToFly in 2014 to connect Fortune 500 companies and startups with women who are looking to work for companies that value gender diversity and inclusion. Our optimized search and sourcing tools, targeted job promotions, and employer branding services reduce the time to hire underrepresented female engineers at a lower cost.
Why did you found it in New York?
MB and KZ: New York is the center of the known universe. Qualified, innovative women from all over the world move here to tap into this city’s energy, and these are the kind of women that are attracted to the PowerToFly platform. New York accepts intellect as a top merit more than other locales, and is more accepting of it from women.
One piece of advice you’d give to a female founder starting an NYC company today?
MB and KZ: Starting your own business can be scary, but if you don’t take that leap, you will never know if you can succeed. Be confident, transparent, and persistent with your goals and message.
What makes New York better than other cities for women founders?
MB and KZ: The ability to connect with other business and thought leaders, female or otherwise, at dinners, meetups, events, or even just on the street. This city is teeming with inventive women.
How can New York do a better job of fostering more inclusivity?
MB and KZ: Male leaders can no longer use the excuse that there aren’t enough qualified women candidates for a job. We regularly have hundreds of qualified women register for our events. We know the candidates are there, they just need help getting their foot in the door from people who can champion them.
Did your company do anything to celebrate International Women’s Day?
MB and KZ: Every day is International Women’s Day at PowerToFly.
What’s your favorite pizza slice?
MB and KZ: Di Fara in Brooklyn serves the best pizza in the city. Very old school. The owner grows basil in the front window and hand-makes every pizza himself. It’s worth the wait.
What’s your favorite bagel?
MB and KZ: An everything bagel from Ess-A-Bagel in Midtown or Shelsky’s in Brooklyn. Bagels and lox are the greatest food created, and for that, Sadelle's in Soho is the place to go.
What’s the craziest thing that’s happened to you in NYC?
MB and KZ: Every day brings a new definition of craziness, but what comes to mind is an MTA conductor rapping about every station stop on the 6 train, downtown to uptown. Everyone on the train was smiling and that's hard to do!
Pymetrics
What does your company do?
Pymetrics founder and CEO Frida Polli: Using neuroscience games and AI, Pymetrics matches candidates to jobs and companies where they are most likely to succeed, while also removing bias from the hiring process. With more than 50 enterprise clients and offices in NYC, London, and Singapore, Pymetrics is powering the future of hiring.
Why did you found it in New York?
FP: My co-founder and I were in Boston when Pymetrics was born, and we were constantly on the Bolt Bus to New York. Everything you need to get a business off the ground is in here: clients, investors, and the best food.
What’s the best place in New York for a coffee or lunch meeting?
FP: I love Birch Coffee shops. There’s one right by our office that I frequent. They have a great vibe and even better coffee.
One piece of advice you’d give to a female founder starting an NYC company today?
FP: Embrace what you have. I don't fit the typical tech startup CEO mold. I am female and I am not an engineer. When I started Pymetrics, I was in my late thirties and a single parent. However, I focused on what I had: several advanced degrees, domain expertise, and lots of passion for the area I was starting a company in.
What makes New York better than other cities for women founders?
FP: New York is a vibrant, eccentric city, where women encourage and empower one another. It also has one of the highest percentages of women founders, so it’s an amazing place to build a community and network of women who can work together.
How can New York do a better job of fostering more inclusivity?
FP: New York is the home of some of the largest employers in the country, and all of them should be using fair hiring practices and building more inclusive work environments.
Did your company do anything to celebrate International Women’s Day?
FP: We took the day to celebrate how lucky we are to work with such a diverse and inspiring group of people. We also do a monthly ladies lunch. It’s important to celebrate the women we work with more than once a year!
What’s the best way to spend a spring day in NYC?
FP: A stroll in Washington Square Park with my two daughters.
ScreenPrism
What does your company do?
ScreenPrism co-founders Debra Minoff and Susannah McCullough: ScreenPrism creates high-quality videos that analyze visual culture, including popular and classic movies, TV shows, and entertainment content. Our content keeps viewers engaged in a world of increasingly fragmented attention. We’re the take that you’re looking for when watching your favorite movie or show.
Why did you found it in New York?
DM and SM: This is a city that's rich in diversity, talent, and visual culture, so it's a great place to build a team. It’s also a magnet for thoughtful people, full of culture and conversation. So it naturally drew us in. New York doesn't make things easy, but it energizes you to make things happen.
One piece of advice you’d give to a female founder starting an NYC company today?
DM and SM: Pay attention to what about your business that’s capturing a genuine response. Rather than holding onto a fixed idea, you need to be willing to regroup and follow what is engaging people about your product. Also be mindful of “group think.” Just because the founder you met last night at that trendy startup event raised capital from some top VCs doesn’t mean raising institutional money is right for your business.
What makes New York better than other cities for women founders?
DM and SM: People here respect drive, talent, and dedication. This leads to less emphasis on gender and more on ability. That’s not to say that New York is gender-blind. Gender still plays a role in fundraising, onboarding strategic advisors, and many other facets of startup life, but New York is ahead of the curve compared to many other cities.
How can New York do a better job of fostering more inclusivity?
DM and SM: Opening up closed-door meetings and cocktail parties to a more diverse and inclusive guest list. Offer more resources that support women’s issues, including maternity leave, and making paternity leave a more socially accepted thing. On the diversity front, create better funding opportunities and training programs so people from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds can get more internships and entry-level positions.
Did your company do anything to celebrate International Women’s Day or Women’s History Month?
DM and SM: On International Women's Day, we released a video about filmmaker Ava Duvernay. As a black female director working in an industry where shockingly few films are directed by women, Ms. Duvernay is a role model to many.
What’s the best way to spend a spring day in NYC?
DM and SM: Outside! There's nothing better than walking or cycling along the Hudson River—we love wine tasting on the Hudson or catching an outdoor film screening.