At the turn of the twentieth century, the swelling populations of newly arrived immigrants in New York City’s Lower East Side reached a boiling point, forcing the City to pass the 1901 Tenement House Act. Recalling this legislation, New York City’s Mayor’s Office recently responded to its own modern housing crisis by enabling developers for the […]
UrbanTech
Smart Cities New York Explores The Circular Economy
At the recent Smart Cities Conference in NYC, individuals and organizations that are spearheading the Smart Cities movement discussed the circular economy. The circular economy aims to minimize waste and make the most of resources. In other words, the circular economy represents everything that your disposable coffee cup does not. The individuals that led this […]
Where We Are Investing Now: Vertical SaaS
The primary focus for all of our funds has moved forcefully toward health and happiness. But we will always invest where we see strong opportunity. One of the areas where that is definitely true this year is Vertical SaaS. Vertical SaaS platforms are uniquely focused enterprise software systems that provide solutions tailored for a specific […]
5 Exciting Technologies That Need Your Execution Help
As a business advisor and technologist, I often think about the large array of opportunities for entrepreneurs as technology seems to be evolving faster and faster. Yet I still too often hear the question, “Can you give me a really sure-fire idea for starting my own business?” My standard answer is that ideas are a […]
Amazon Bolts New York City To Keep Truckin’
My throat is sore from touting New York’s tech prowess, which I realize has been for naught. Almost as quickly as the balloons from the Mayor’s celebration lost their air did Amazon announce it was leaving the Big Apple. The blow to our local venture community is like a sucker punch to the gut. While […]
Machines That Smell Trouble
Abruptly, I enter the cab escaping the arctic weather to confront something worse than freezing rain – body odor. Luckily, another taxi pulled to the curb and I continued my journey to last Tuesday’s RobotLab forum on Cybersecurity & Machines. Moderating a panel at the new Global Cyber Center, with John Frankel of ffVC and Guy Franklin of SOSA, I […]
This App Fixes One of the Worst Issues That NYC Taxi Drivers Face Every Day
There are more than 100K taxis and black cars in NYC, but despite this huge number, professional drivers have to wait up to an hour before they can get out on the road and to begin their shifts. But technological platform Lacus fixes this through its mobile app that gives drivers access to nearby taxis […]
The End Of Parking As We Know It
A day before snow decapacitated New York commuters, researchers at the University of Iowa and Princeton demurred the growth of urbanization as the leading cause for catastrophic storm damage. Wednesday’s report stated that the $128 billion wake of Hurricane Harvey was 21 times greater due to the population density of Houston, one of America’s fastest growing cities. […]
This Airport Car Service Just Launched in NYC to Make Sure a Child’s Safety is Never Compromised
Millions of people use car services, taxis, and ride-sharing apps to get to the airport, and many of these people are parents traveling with kids who need to be in car seats by law. Unless the parent is lugging around a car seat, this poses a specific problem when hopping into the usual car service. […]
This NYC Startup Just Raised $2.4M to Bring a Grading System to NYC Apartments
People finding rodents and insects in their apartments – especially their first apartment in NYC- is not uncommon or shocking. But what is shocking is that a service like Rentlogic does not already exist. This startup was built on a simple idea: grade apartment buildings the same way that the city grades restaurants based on […]
Motivate, the Company Behind Citi Bike, Acquired by Lyft for a Rumored $250M
The urban mobility space is absolutely on fire with recent transactions like Uber’s acquisition of JUMP Bikes, Bird’s $300M recent funding, and Lime’s recent $250M funding. Lyft is now making its foray into the market with its acquisition of Motivate, the company that operates Citi Bike in NYC and bike-sharing services in 7 other markets […]