It’s been one of the hottest summers on record in New York City, with temperatures in the low 100s prompting extreme heat warnings and extended pool hours.
But the pavement and leather car interiors aren’t the only things heating up this summer — so too are some of New York City’s top tech companies. They’re contributing to societal change, hosting community-minded events, expanding their global presence and rebranding with big visions.
Find out what six New York City tech companies featured this month have been up to — and what they have to offer for the future.
What they do: Schrödinger powers a computational platform for drug discovery and material research. The team’s data scientists and engineers work to develop solutions for predictive modeling, data analytics and research collaboration to accelerate scientific exploration.
Take the time you need: With at least 20 days of vacation time and 56 hours of sick time annually, employees don’t need to decide between taking time to mend from an illness or going on that planned trip to the beach. Additionally, the company takes the last week of December off to rest and reset for the year ahead.
Giving back: In June, the company hosted its second annual Educator’s Day, during which university and K-12 educators worldwide discussed opportunities to bring computational tools into the classroom. “Educators are increasingly being challenged to equip students with the skill sets needed to thrive in science careers,” Ramy Farid, Ph.D., chief executive officer at Schrödinger, stated in a press release. “We believe hands-on learning is critically important to help empower the next generation of scientists to solve the world’s biggest challenges.”
What they do: IPONWEB leverages AI and data science to power programmatic and real-time media trading platforms. The team is focused on research and development to uniquely configure each project’s framework, working directly with clients as a strategic and consultative partner.
A road to follow: The management team works with employees to identify internal pathways for career development and is able to uniquely understand common engineering roadblocks and how to overcome them. In fact, 80 percent of the company’s managers and executives have a technical background.
A global footprint: Established in the UK in 2001, IPONWEB has expanded to global offices in the United States, Tokyo, Switzerland, Berlin and Cyprus. “The intelligence, respect and leadership of everyone at IPONWEB provides a fundamental foundation of core attributes of what it means to be a global leader in this space,” said Aaron Curran, technical account manager.
What they do: Nylas unlocks communications data through its API platform, empowering brands to improve their workflows and drive customer engagement. Revolutionizing business communications, the team works toward this vision together while prioritizing each person’s safety, comfort and well-being.
Come as you are: Diversity is embraced at Nylas and prioritizes inclusion and engagement through its hiring process, leadership and thoughtfully created ERGs. “Our goal is to nurture diversity and inclusion and support one another as we navigate the tech industry,” said Eliza Dust, senior account executive.
New look: Coinciding with the company’s announcement in June that it entered a new phase of growth, it unveiled a new logo and mission to “turn communication into inspiration.” In a press release about the announcement, Gleb Polyakov, co-founder and CEO of Nylas, said, “Our new brand reflects the innovation, creativity and boldness that Nylas instills in our customers and their developers.”
What they do: Opy US is a global fintech company that helps customers establish interest-free payment plans for veterinary bills. The team is customer-focused, working toward expanding into new categories such as education and optometry expenses.
Creating relationships: The team takes opportunities to learn from each other, with specific initiatives outlined in the company’s DEI program. Not only do they hear from external speakers and meet in peer coaching circles, team members who want to participate in an internal podcast are able to share their stories with their colleagues.
Sharing support: The company finds ways to contribute to organizations with aligning priorities, such as nonprofits that promote technology careers for women. And after the destructive wildfires in Australia in 2019 and 2020, they donated $100,000 to Wildlife Victoria.
What they do: Howl connects creators and brands. Creators secure better rates and receive payment for their work, and brands tap into the power of creators to help sell their products. Real-time sales data leads to easy reporting and attribution on the platform created by Howl’s fully remote team.
Diversity-driven: Helping to make the world a more equitable place, the company offers a 200 percent match on charitable donations that support the Black Lives Matter movement or organizations with missions to fight racial injustices. Internally, leadership has a pledge to maintain diverse hiring practices.
Time to celebrate: Despite being fully remote, the team still finds time to get together. This summer, team members met in upstate New York to connect with one another, build meaningful relationships and celebrate the launch of the brand.
What they do: Pulse Analytics develops data insights solutions that enable market access teams to form customer engagement strategies for the oncology and specialty therapeutics areas. The engineering team stays ahead of industry trends to ensure clients have the most accurate information to reach their goals.
A focus on connectedness: Staying in the loop of industry updates externally is just as important as remaining connected internally. “We encourage conversations as often as possible,” said Jillian Carey, technical talent manager. “Switching to a remote-centric work style has transitioned the way we communicate, but the open communication we have has remained. Someone is always in a Slack huddle or a channel is buzzing with the latest update.”
Encouraging innovation: The company hosts dedicated “hack” days so that teams can pause their work to explore new ideas that interest them, then share those ideas with their peers. Hack days allow team members to be creative in their push toward new solutions.
