It’s been a big month for our city — in no small part because the rest of the world descended on NYC for the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. With heads of state and other global leaders in town, we were excited to see that innovation was at the top of the agenda — there’s been lots of conversation about how tech can play a crucial role in solving many of the most pressing issues facing countries around the world.

This year, UNGA coincided with Climate Week NYC, and we were honored to kick off the week as a part of an event alongside Denmark’s Prime Minister, former Secretary Ban Ki-moon, Farmshelf CEO Andrew Shearer, and other leaders to discuss the ways government and industry can work more collaboratively to support forward-looking solutions to climate change and sustainability.

It’s no surprise that New York is where these connections are happening. If we have the right mix of stakeholders — tech startups, business leaders, institutions like the UN, universities, and community groups — and we make sure they’re all talking to each other, we can come up with bold ideas together better than we can alone. Our diversity of people and ideas is our strength, and New York tech stands ready to help.

Julie

P.S. Speaking of startups and universities, Cornell Tech continues to lead the way in supporting startups that have the very solutions to some of these global problems. We profiled five of those companies — hear more from them here.

COMPANIES TO WATCH

AIRBUD

What does your company do?
Airbud co-founder and CEO Israel Krush: Airbud creates plug and play conversational AI assistants by seamlessly ingesting the information on a website to allow users to interact with it using voice or chat simply and intuitively, thus increasing engagement and conversions. We focus on organizations in "information-heavy" verticals such as healthcare, travel or retail.

How has the support from Cornell Tech helped build your company?
IK: Cornell Tech is the place where met one of my co-founders, Rom Cohen, pitched Airbud before it was an actual company to dozens of potential investors and customers, got introduced to our first investors — ERA (Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator) — got an office space, and was exposed to the amazing NYC tech ecosystem. So all in all, they were very helpful.

FIND Genomics

What does your company do?
FIND Genomics CEO and co-founder Sophie Zaaijer: We are creating a bioinformatics software platform that anticipates a new era of medicine where patients are not receiving generic treatments, but personalized treatment plans. Patient cell tissue samples (or “cell lines”) take center stage in the rapidly growing field of personalized medicine and it is used with increasing frequency to help an ever-larger group of patients, so FIND develops software tools for the management of in vitro grown patient cell tissue, where cell lineage tracking is integrated with genetic analysis.

How has the support from Cornell Tech helped build your company?
SZ: Cornell Tech and the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute have been instrumental for FIND Genomics. They provide funding, time, and guidance to transform a scientist into an entrepreneur able to build a company from the ground up.

AUGGI

What does your company do?
auggi co-founder and CEO David Hachuel: auggi is an intelligent gut health companion for patients who suffer from chronic gut conditions like irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn’s disease. You can think of auggi as a guided scientific journey that equips patients with the right software and data tools to better understand the uniqueness of your gut as well as get expert guidance from specialized dietitians. A key aspect of our technology is smart symptom tracking via our computer vision technology which allows anyone with a smartphone to automatically extract clinical data from a stool image.

How has the support from Cornell Tech helped build your company?
DH: Cornell Tech’s unique approach to graduate education gave me the technical as well as entrepreneurial tools and skills necessary to gain courage and decide to take auggi to market. Both faculty and the studio staff, in particular, Deborah Estrin and David Tisch, were not only supportive but also gave me the confidence to try and try harder. It all culminated with the winning of the $100K Startup Award which removed any financial obstacles in the short term and provided a place to work next to other startups. We are deeply thankful for all the support we’ve received from Cornell Tech.

ONETHREE BIOTECH

What does your company do?
OneThree Biotech co-founder and CEO Neel S. Madhukar: At OneThree Biotech we’re redesigning drug discovery through biology-driven AI. By combining machine learning/AI with new experimental techniques, it’s now possible to identify scientific insights that otherwise may have been missed and therefore identify new potential medicines more accurately and efficiently than previously was possible.

How has the support from Cornell Tech helped build your company?
NM: I can’t say how valuable it’s been to have Cornell Tech believe in OneThree when it was barely just an idea. When I first joined, I was immediately part of a community that understood the challenges of building a business and were willing to roll up the sleeves and help. The startup scene in NYC has seen tremendous growth over the last few years, and Cornell Tech was a huge help in helping OneThree get more ingrained into it.

PILOTA

What does your company do?
Pilota co-founder and CEO Saniya Shah: We protect travelers against flight disruptions. With our machine learning algorithms, we predict flight delays and cancellations ahead of time. Using this data, we help travelers avoid these disruptions by proactively rebooking them on a new flight to their destination for free.

How has the support from Cornell Tech helped build your company?
SS: Cornell Tech’s startup studio program helped us better understand how to build our company. They have helped us connect with the greater NYC startup and venture community and have even brought in experienced startup founders and VCs to share their past experiences with us. They continue to support us each day as we develop and grow our company.

GET INVOLVED

Applications are open for women interested in data science to join the Data Science For All: Women’s Summit. The summit combines advanced data science training, mentor-mentee matching, professional development, and a fast-track to data science jobs with some of the city's most prestigious employers. Get more details and apply to participate here.

Applications are open for the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) Winter 2020 cohort. Selected companies participate in the four-month program will receive a $100,000 investment and the potential for follow-on funding from ERA’s Fund. Get more details and apply here by October 28.

Applications are open for Cyber NYC Inventors to Founders Startup Accelerator! Cyber startups receive capital, mentorship, and access to Columbia, Cornell Tech, NYU, CUNY & NYCEDC networks. University startups (students, faculty, alumni) are eligible. Cyber NYC is a $100M public-private partnership focused on cyber entrepreneurship in NYC. Click here to apply by November 3.

Applications are open to women entrepreneurs for the Tory Burch Foundation’s 5th annual Fellows Program! Selected entrepreneurs participate in the year-long program, visit the Tory Burch office in New York for a five-day workshop, receive $5,000 grant for business education, and have the chance to be selected to pitch their business to investors and industry leaders. Find more details and apply by November 19 here.

Applications are now open for the next cohort of Living Lab startups. With the program, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership partners with tech companies to pilot products in real world situations. Using DBP-operated public spaces as a testing ground for smart city technologies, participating groups share their data and findings with DBP for future planning purposes. Get more details here.

NYC Tech Community Events

October 10: Silicon Valley Bank, together with Tech:NYC, RaisedBy.Us, Ro, and others, presents the 5th Annual Tech Gives Back Day, a day for tech employees to give back the city we call home. Join 1000 other volunteers at service projects across the city here. To find more details on opportunities and to sign up, click here.

October 10: Join Stacklist for a conversation with talent and people executives to discuss strategies on equity and compensation for early-stage startup employees, featuring insights from Lyft, Jetty, and others. See more details and get tickets here.

October 15: Tech:NYC presents the next installment of the Functions.NYC roundtable series, featuring former City Council Member James Vacca to discuss city government and the next election cycle. If you’re an employee at a Tech:NYC member company, sign up to receive an invite here.

October 16: Advancing Women in Product is hosting the launch event for their NYC chapter! They will discuss the variability in product management and leadership between Silicon Valley and NYC with a panel of product leaders from Sidewalk Labs, Frank, IOpipe, and New Enterprise Associates (NEA). All are welcome! Use promo code TECHNYC to get discounted tickets here.

October 19: Join New Lab for its annual Open House Party, a fun-filled evening of member open studios, art and tech installations, food, drinks, and live music open to the public. RSVP here.

October 23: Join The Vinetta Project for a pitch and showcase night with female founders of Seed to Series A companies, featuring executives from Able Partners, Lilu, and more. Find more details and gets tickets here.

October 29: Tech:NYC presents the next installment of the Functions.NYC roundtable series, featuring Housing Rights Initiative’s Aaron Carr and ANHD’s Benjamin Dulchin to discuss all things NYC housing and rent. If you’re an employee at a Tech:NYC member company, sign up to receive an invite here.

October 30: Join the smartest minds in tech and investing at Bloomberg's annual tech summit, Sooner Than You Think, to discuss the path forward for tech with executives from Foursquare, Compass, DuPont, Goldman Sachs, and more. Use code TECHNYC to secure your discounted ticket at our partner rate by clicking here.

October 31: Tech:NYC and Crain’s present the Future of NYC Summit on all things tech and transit, featuring Via CEO Daniel Ramot, Transfix CTO Jonathan Salama, Numina CEO Tara Pham, and more. Use code TECH for $10 tickets when you register here.

Welcome to Tech:NYC

A warm welcome to our newest members:

Axon Vibe Inc.: Location-based contextual platform that detects and predicts real-world human behaviour
Cloud Native Computing Foundation: Builds sustainable ecosystems and fosters communities to support the growth and health of cloud native open source software.
CMDTY: Use technology and data science to create efficiencies in the trading and logistics of physical commodities.
Flatiron Health: Healthcare technology and services company focused on accelerating cancer research and improving patient care.
Guesty: Property management platform for short-term and vacation rentals
Music Traveler: Discover & book the perfect space to make music.

JOIN US

Tech:NYC is looking for a Communications and Marketing Director and for a Policy and Communications Associate to join our team. Apply now or share the listings with someone you know!

If you’ve been thinking about joining Tech:NYC as a member, now’s the time. Check out our membership page, and let us know if you have any questions.

Author and Editor: Kelly Zegers
All illustrations by Elly Rodgers

New York, NY USA by lev radiShutterstock.com

September Newsletter: A tech hub built for an international city