March Newsletter: The future of tech is female
This is the March 2019 edition of the Tech:NYC newsletter. If you're not already getting this in your inbox, sign up now.
As we close out Women’s History Month, we can’t help but feel good about some big milestones we’ve seen NYC hit recently: at the same time the City is making new investments in women entrepreneurs, New York’s two newest unicorns are both female-founded businesses. We’re also encouraged by the record numbers of women who are launching their own startups, like the five we profiled earlier this month for our Companies to Watch feature.
This is the good news, but there’s no question we still have lots of work to do—even as women are launching new startups at a faster rate than their male peers, they received just 2 percent of the $130 billion invested by venture capitalists last year.
But with resources like the WiTNY initiative, groups like Mothercoders, and funders like BBG Ventures, we’re moving closer than ever to closing the gender gap in tech. Case in point: in the past year, 42 percent of all NYC students who took an AP computer science course were girls, compared with just 28 percent nationwide. With the right support, these girls will go on to found the next generation of great tech companies, and we’re grateful to be in a city where the tech sector and government are committed to working together to support them.
Julie
WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO
ICYMI: for Women’s History Month, we profiled five female-led companies to watch! Read more about their startups—and their thoughts on being women in tech—by clicking here.
It was a pleasure to have breakfast with Rep. Carolyn Maloney last week. We discussed what’s next for financial services innovation, and we’re looking forward to supporting everything she’s doing to ensure New York remains an innovation-friendly city!
Last week, we caught up with NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer at Knotel HQ. We discussed everything from computer science education to transportation to affordable housing and how the tech community can support his efforts.
For the latest in the Cornell Tech @ Bloomberg series, we spoke with SoulCycle CEO Melanie Whelan about how she runs a tech-powered, customer-first business. Stay tuned for a podcast of the conversation.
GET INVOLVED
DOROT, an NYC social services agency, is recruiting volunteer coaches for their new Technology Coaching Program to help older adults learn computer, tablet, or smartphone skills. For more details and to get involved, click here.
Mothercoders, the initiative working to help moms break into tech, is seeking tech professionals and career coaches who specialize in tech to work to serve as guest speakers for their inaugural class of NYC moms. For more details and to sign up, click here.
URBAN-X, an accelerator for startups reimagining city life is now accepting applications for its sixth cohort 06 — $100K/20 weeks and 1000 hours of world-class product development, engineering and design, all in preparation for fundraising. Learn more and apply here by April 1.
Applications are open for NEW INC, the New Museum’s incubator for individuals, collectives, and startups working at the intersection of art, design and technology. Get more details and apply by April 2 here.
NYC TECH COMMUNITY EVENTS
April 5: The Columbia Law Review, with Columbia’s Data Science Institute, hosts a conference on common law in the age of AI. Find more details and register here.
April 8: Join Reuters for a conversation with Raquel Urtasun, Chief Scientist & Head of Advanced Technologies Group at Uber, on how self-driving technology holds the promise of dramatically reducing traffic-related deaths and injuries, while extending transportation options to a broader audience. Register here.
April 12-13: The inaugural Black in Tech conference will provide the opportunity for black and minority tech professional to connect over two days of fireside chats, startup competitions, workshops, hackathons, and more. Get early bird tickets here.
April 17: Products that Count, which presents a monthly speaker series for product leaders, hosts a conversation on product careers for the non-technical product manager with Slack Product Lead Jaime DeLanghe. Get tickets here.
April 24: Join Company in conversation with Dan Barasch, the co-founder and executive director of the Lowline, on how technology and design can reclaiming and transforming abandoned spaces. Get tickets here.
April 30: The Lead Developer, an international conference for engineering managers, VPs of engineering, and CTOs, comes to New York. See more details and get tickets here.
May 1: The 4th Annual Diversity in Tech (DIV) Awards gathers 400+ tech professionals working to address the diversity gap in the technology industry. Hosted by Glitch CEO Anil Dash, all proceeds will benefit Mouse’s educational programs. Get tickets here.
May 10-17: CoinDesk and New York City Economic Development Corporation are partnering on the second annual Blockchain Week NYC. A week of conferences, events, meetups, and gatherings — anchored by the Consensus and Construct conferences — will bring together thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, traders, developers, academics, students, and crypto and blockchain enthusiasts from over 100 countries. Get more details here.
May 17: The Disrupt Food Summit brings together food industry leaders, media, investors, entrepreneurs and consumers to showcase what’s next in the future of food. Get more details and tickets here.
May 23: Machines + Media, NYC Media Lab's annual data-driven conference, returns to Bloomberg, featuring conversations on AI in a global economy; R&D priorities for media; and how technology experts are teaching computers to see, listen, speak, and interpret emotions. Get more details and apply to attend here.
May 23: City & State presents its 2019 Digital New York Summit, a day-long convening of technology and information leaders from government and industry to discuss innovative ideas being used to improve the delivery of services to both citizens and government agencies. Use discount code Tech:NYC to get 20% off early bird tickets today.
WELCOME TO TECH:NYC
A warm welcome to our newest members:
AbsoluteRelo, Inc: online "Pay-As-You-Go" personal relocation service platform and mobile web app.
Atakama: combines unbeatable ease of use with advanced threshold cryptography to give your files the protection they need.
Blingby: makes digital content from video, live stream, ad tech, and more interactives, increasing engagement through a sense of discovery.
Frequency: creative at scale for audio advertising.
HelloAva: tech-enabled personalization beauty experience combining AI and expert dermatology expertise.
Hopscotch: kids programming app where you can design, code, and share your own art and games.
HowGood: uniquely comprehensive data library on food sustainability.
Industrial/Organic: derives organic chemicals and ingredients from food waste, while providing the infrastructure demanded by cities for their waste management needs.
Oculogica: non-invasive, baseline-free aid in diagnosis of concussion with FDA authorization.
VentureFizz: source for tech and startup jobs, news, and insights in the NYC tech ecosystem.
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startup business by fotoinfot/Shutterstock.com