Tuesday, April 8, 2025

April 08, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Tuesday, April 8, 2025 

In today’s digest, the return of seal season, the rise of organ donations, and the steady future outlook of tech jobs. 🏢

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  • E-bike riders will now be able to charge their wheels on NYC sidewalks. The “Charge Safe, Ride Safe” initiative is designed to reduce apartment fires by moving battery charging and storage out of apartments and onto FDNY-approved public e-bike charging stations. 🚲 (amNY)

  • Organ donations have nearly doubled in NYC since 2021, thanks in part to new strategies by nonprofit LiveOn New York and tech advancements in the industry. (Crain’s New York Business)

    • The nonprofit has refocused efforts on getting family consent at the bedside of dying loved ones, and using so-called perfusion machines that keep organs viable outside the body for longer. 🫀

  • Seal season in NYC is back. While the seals might be incredibly cute, wildlife officials insist you admire them on local shores from afar. Despite their friendly appearance, the seals have sharp teeth that can injure humans and spread disease. 🦭 (Gothamist)

    • Plus, it’s illegal to touch, feed, or disturb wildlife — violators can face up to one year in jail and fines up to $20,000. 

In other reading:

  • Cherry blossoms tracker at Brooklyn Botanic Gardens (BBG)

  • Pigeon impersonation pageant: Call for contestants (The High Line)

  • Brooklyn’s Marine Park planting ‘non-flammable’ vegetation after fires destroy unprecedented acreage (NY Post)

➕ Time’s running out to apply for Cohort 3 of Decoded Futures at the Tech:NYC Foundation — our no-cost, seven-week program designed for NYC nonprofits looking to use AI to scale their impact.

Increasing uncertainty may have caused tech employment to slide this month, but future hiring outlook remains steady. 

What’s 🆕: The U.S. tech industry hiring lost momentum in March, as employers scaled back amid economic uncertainty, according to CompTIA’s latest Tech Jobs Report. But the NYC tech ecosystem provided a reason for optimism.

The not-so-good news:

  • 📉 Tech employment across the country declined by 29,000, with the unemployment rate moving to 3.1%.

  • Yes, but: The tech unemployment rate is a full percentage point behind that of the national rate.

The better news:

  • 📈 New employee job postings for tech increased to 213,000, totaling 478,000 active tech job postings throughout the country.

  • 🧠 Top in-demand roles: Software developers, tech support specialists, systems engineers and architects, and cybersecurity engineers and analysts.

  • 🤖 Positions in AI or that require AI skills accounted for 21% of all active tech postings.

NYC shoutout:

  • NYC had the highest number of tech job postings in the U.S. in March with 12,853, ~850 more than the next closest city.

  • Did you know? Tech:NYC has a jobs board, powered by Getro, with over 7,000 (!) open tech roles just a click away. 🖱️

  • Explore the jobs board here.

The bottom line: While hiring cooled, it's not all doom and gloom:

“With many employers in wait-and-see mode, the jobs data is about in line with expectations for the month," said Tim Herbert, Chief Research Officer at CompTIA.

In other reading:

  • What all leaders can learn from Taylor Swift (HBR)

  • This device translates thoughts into real-time speech (404 Media)

  • The 'world's most advanced microchip' has been unveiled (Science Alert)

  • Blackbird Labs, a blockchain-enabled payment option for restaurants, raised $50 million in Series B funding. Spark Capital led, joined by Coinbase Ventures, Amex Ventures, and a16z.

  • Fauna Robotics, an NYC-based hardware, software, and AI platform to power general purpose robots, raised $30 million in seed funding backed by Kleiner Perkins, Lux Capital, and Quiet Capital.

  • Qevlar AI, an NYC-based autonomous AI security operations center analysts developer, raised $10 million in funding. EQT Ventures and Forgepoint Capital International led the round and were joined by others.

  • Tracera, an NYC-based platform that automates the collection, verification and auditing of sustainability data, raised $12 million in Series A funding. Foundry led, joined by Rho Ignition, Tola Capital, and Contour Venture Partners.

  • April 27: hackNY Spring, a one-day conference for early- to mid-career developers who want to level up in tech. Register with promo code techNYC here.

  • May 6-7: AI Agent Conference, for leaders driving the next era of autonomous artificial intelligence, featuring 300+ world-class AI leaders, senior execs and top founders. Register with promo code TECHNYC15AI here.

  • April 10: GenAI Collective Demo Night, where eight startups will showcase their products. Register here. 

  • April 16: VC Best Practices: How VC Firms Hire and Scale Talent, an educational series for new investors who want to be exposed to venture and startup thinking. Register here. 

  • April 16: FirstGen Founders Powering the Care Economy, a panel conversation and networking event featuring immigrant and first-generation founders building innovative solutions across the care continuum. Register here.

  • April 17: Neighborhood VC Coffee Meet-Ups, to connect with local VCs and founders in NYC. Register here.

  • April 23: Attention in the Age of AI with Gary Vaynerchuk, a discussion and Q&A on marketing oneself in the age of AI. Register here. 

  • April 28-29: Momentum AI New York 2024, to connect with people who are pioneering global AI transformation. Register here.

  • April 29: Latest & Greatest from Jonathan Frankle, an AI Review talk from the Chief AI Scientist at Databricks on his latest research on the newest AI methods. Register here. 

  • April 30: Empower & Elevate Your Workforce Talent Mixer, for employers seeking to connect with the brightest emerging talent in social media marketing, Python, IT, data, and cybersecurity. Register here.

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