As NYC Tech Continues to Grow, These Are 21 Companies You Need to Know

New York has long since shed the label of a “burgeoning” tech hub. 

The city is a tech powerhouse and has been for some time now, and that has created a problem of sorts. You see, it’s a bit difficult to keep track of all the companies that are coming to New York and being founded here. For example, do you know that the San Francisco-headquartered design darling Figma has had a hub in Union Square since 2021? Or that one of the biggest names in the cannabis industry, LeafLink, which has raised almost half a billion dollars, was founded in the city in 2016?

Companies like these have helped lay the groundwork for future growth and ensured that big-name Bay Area companies and ambitious founders will continue to flock to the city and grow its tech scene. Continue reading to learn about more tech companies — many of which are hiring — that call New York home and are helping propel its growth.

 

 

What Figma does: Microsoft, Google and Slack are just a few of the companies that use Figma’s collaborative product design platform.

 

 

A commitment to women: Back in March, Built In NYC spoke with Megg Meneguzzi, a member of the strategic finance team and a leader of the Womxn@Figma employee resource group. Meneguzzi shared how Womxn@Figma and the company supported employees who identify as women in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 2022.

“The morning of the court decision, Womxn@Figma hosted companywide listening sessions,” Meneguzzi said. “For many Figmates, a critical question was, ‘What will Figma do?’ Guided by our commitment to community, Figma rolled out relocation assistance to any U.S. employee threatened by new legislation in their state of residence. Our policy provides assistance to anyone impacted by a range of state legislative changes, including reduced access to reproductive, abortion and transgender healthcare.”

 

 

What Dotdash does: Dotdash Meredith is an online and print publisher whose sites and magazines include Investopedia, Entertainment Weekly and InStyle.

 

 

Stoking creativity: Dotdash Meredith has a plethora of open roles on its engineering and data teams, and CTO Nabil Ahmad let Built In NYC know how the company encourages creativity on its tech teams.

“We do quite a few things to encourage creativity like hackathons, design sprints and ‘unconferences,’” Ahmad said. “That said, I think the most meaningful thing we do is to encourage teams to be autonomous. Having control and ownership over their respective applications gives our team members the freedom to explore ideas to solve their own problems.”

 

 

What Click Therapeutics does: Click Therapeutics is a healthtech company that develops prescription software to help patients with unmet medical needs, like smoking cessation and treating migraines and insomnia.

 

 

On trial: In May, Click Therapeutics announced that its app for treating schizophrenia will undergo a clinical trial in the United States. The randomized trial will be conducted in partnership with drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim and will last four months, during which time patients will be treated with Click Therapeutics’ smartphone app and drug therapies.

 

 

What Cityblock Health does: Cityblock Health is a value-based  provider focused on community-based primary care, behavioral healthcare and social services for Medicaid and dually eligible beneficiaries.

 

 

Walking the walk: As illustrated in its inaugural Equity in Action Report, Cityblock Health has made a commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. That commitment is represented across all levels in the company, with teams maintaining above-parity and above-industry levels of diversity across gender and race representation. Importantly, this includes the leadership of the organization, where representation of women and people of color in their executive leadership team are both three times higher than industry levels. Currently, women of color hold the roles of CEO, chief health officer, and chief nursing officer. In addition, Cityblock also has employee resource groups dedicated to supporting underrepresented groups in healthcare tech, including ERGs for women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community and Asian Americans.

 

 

 

 

What Caesars Sportsbook does: Caesars Sportsbook operates online betting and gaming sites as well as a sports betting app.

 

 

Support for women in tech: Caesars Sportsbook is a relative newcomer to the tech industry, but the company has wasted no time in spinning up initiatives to support women in tech. Built In NYC recently spoke with Elly Reed, VP and product lead, about how the company uplifts its women employees.

“Our Savvy group, a key employee resource group, organizes special programming for women both on-property and virtually,” Reed said. “Additionally, last year the Caesars Foundation donated more than $221,000 to women-focused organizations across the United States. We also partner and promote events with industry groups like Global Gaming Women to help our team members network and advance their careers in gaming and sports leadership.”

 

 

What DigitalOcean does: DigitalOcean helps small-to-midsize businesses more easily build websites and apps in the cloud by providing all of the backend infrastructure needed.

 

 

Looking ahead: Technology companies often talk about their potential for impact in abstract terms, but DigitalOcean CEO Yancey Spruill spoke in specifics when he described the opportunity in front of the company to Built In NYC.

“DigitalOcean is in a unique position as the entry point to the internet for 500,000 customers today, and with the potential to reach many millions more over time,” Spruill said. “We have an incredible opportunity to help the world’s developers and entrepreneurs test their ideas, build their businesses and realize their dreams.”

 

 

What EnergyHub does: EnergyHub provides utility companies with a distributed energy resources management system, or DERMs, that enables their customers to feed unused power back into the grid.

 

 

A mili: In April, EnergyHub announced it became the first DERMs provider to have more than 1,000,000 distributed energy resources under management. That’s more than a million smart thermostats, electric cars, energy storage systems and more that can deliver a combined 1.35 gigawatts of power back to the North America grid. “One million devices represents a key achievement in our mission to empower utilities and their customers to create a carbon-free, distributed energy future,” said CEO Seth Frader-Thompson in a press release.

 

 

What Axio does: Companies use Axio’s platform to better understand their cybersecurity vulnerabilities and quantify them in dollars and cents.

 

 

In the lab: In March, Lloyd’s — also known as Lloyd’s of London — announced that Axio was one of 13 insurtech companies accepted into the 10th cohort of Lloyd’s Lab. Lloyd’s is a global insurance marketplace, and more than 200 countries applied to its accelerator program, which lasts 10 weeks and focuses on how participants’ products can support the markets Lloyd’s is in.

“We are honored to be included in the Lloyd’s Lab Cohort 10,” CEO Scott Kannry said in a press release. “Our participation in the program is a strong sign of Lloyd’s market commitment to developing cutting-edge cyber risk solutions, especially for more challenging exposure types.”

 

 

What Beam does: Beam’s technology enables mission-driven e-commerce companies to offer consumers the ability to donate a portion of their purchase to a nonprofit.

 

 

Forbes-approved founders: Alex Sadhu and Viveka Hulyalkar founded Beam in 2017, and four years later the pair was named to Forbes’ 2021 30 Under 30 in the social impact section. Less than a year after landing on the list, the pair closed a $13.3 million Series A, pushing the company’s funding total to $15.4 million per Crunchbase data.

 

 

What LeafLink does: LeafLink’s B2B platform connects cannabis brands, distributors and retailers, enabling them to do business together completely online.

 

 

Round D: LeafLink announced a $100 million Series D earlier this year led by CPMG, L2 Ventures and Nosara Capital. The round was a signal of the company’s growing dominance in its space. According to LeafLink, it processes around $5 billion worth of transactions annually, good for nearly 50 percent of transactions in the wholesale market. According to Crunchbase data, the round pushes the company’s funding total to $479 million.

 

 

What Hiro Systems does: Hiro builds developer tools for Stacks to make it easier to build apps and smart contracts on Bitcoin.

 

 

To the moon: In March, Hiro announced it’s partnering with digital asset exchange Lunarcrush, space robotics company Lunar Outpost and animation studio Golden Wolf on an NFT treasure hunt on the moon. Yes, you read that right, the four companies have put Bitcoin, NFTs and other cryptoassets into a digital wallet and are etching that wallet’s key onto a lunar rover. The rover will land on the moon near the end of 2023, and once there the first person to reach it gets to claim the digital assets and cash within.

 

 

What Bluecore does: Marketers at CVS, Under Armour, Neiman Marcus and more use Bluecore’s platform to more quickly and easily launch personalized marketing campaigns.

 

 

Meet the new CMO: In May, Bluecore announced that Jason Grunberg was joining the company as its new chief marketing officer. Grunberg brings high-level marketing leadership experience to his new role, having served as CMO and VP of marketing at previous companies. CEO Fayez Mohamood expressed his excitement at Grunberg’s arrival in a press release.

“Jason has been at the helm of other high-growth companies as they scale their go-to-market efforts to match their ambitions,” Mohamood said. “We’re confident in his ability to further expand adoption of our technology by major retailers.” 

 

 

What Jackpocket does: The Jackpocket app enables users to order state lottery tickets from their phones.

 

 

A commitment to DEI: Built In NYC recently spoke with Nicole Gendusa, director of HR, about how employees help keep Jackpocket’s culture strong, and she shared details of the company’s ERGs and the impact they make.

“Employees are encouraged to form and lead ERGs,” Gendusa said. “Our leadership is passionate about supporting ERGs, making sure to allocate the necessary resources to ensure success. We currently have four employee-led ERGs ranging from groups of similar interests to groups of self-identity. Sharing our employees’ individual cultures is what makes our company culture what it is today.” 

 

 

 

What Chainanalysis does: Companies, banks and governments use Chainalysis’ tools and data to manage risk, maintain compliance and investigate criminal activity.

 

 

Investigating evasion: In May, the Internal Revenue Service announced it was partnering with Chainalysis to provide training for Ukrainian law enforcement agencies on the company’s cryptocurrency investigation software. Chainalysis’ technology — which is being supplied free of charge — will be used by law enforcement officials in Ukraine to investigate sanctioned Russian officials who may be using cryptocurrency networks to circumvent financial sanctions.

 

 

What Hivebrite does: Companies, nonprofits and universities use Hivebrite’s platform to build communities that engage alumni, connect supporters and provide networking opportunities.

 

 

Recognizing and celebrating wins: At Hivebrite, good work doesn’t go unnoticed, with Ahmed Gewiley-Elbakly, a customer success manager, telling Built In NYC that there’s “no shortage of recognition” from his colleagues.

“We’re always celebrating each other’s successes, both in and out of the workplace, which for someone like me who requires constant validation is incredibly valuable,” Gewiley-Elbakly. “Whether it’s a successful client meeting or finding a quick workaround, I can always count on my team to lift me.” 

 

 

What Contentsquare does: Contentsquare helps companies optimize their user experience by explaining the impact of their analytics data in plain English — and in dollars and cents.

 

 

Taking the pledge: In March, Contentsquare announced it had signed The Climate Pledge, an initiative launched by Amazon in 2019 that commits companies to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 or sooner. Prior to signing The Climate Pledge, the company said it was already optimizing its products to reduce energy consumption, shifting to renewable energy and limiting business travel. 

“As we have scaled and developed our product and market leadership, we have also embraced our responsibility to lower our environmental impact as much as possible,” CEO Jonathan Cherki said in a press release. “We are committed to leveraging our position to promote a more sustainable web, and The Climate Pledge offers a unique opportunity to fuel collective action.” 

 

 

What Denim does: Denim helps freight brokers grow their businesses by automating time-consuming back-office tasks like invoicing, collections and payments.

 

 

Level-up your ops career: Denim is currently seeking a VP of operations, a role requiring strong people management skills, a history of scaling businesses or divisions in fast-paced environments and experience making critical risk-related decisions pertaining to underwriting, credit and the servicing of financial products. The role is fully remote and compensation ranges from $190,000 to $230,000.

 

 

 

What IEX does: IEX operates a stock exchange focused on transparency and has also developed a financial data platform and Web3-focused marketing solution.

 

 

Who IEX looks for: IEX is currently hiring, and co-founder and CTO Rob Park told Built In NYC how candidates can separate themselves from the pack and get noticed during the application process.

“At IEX, we’re looking for motivated people who want to use their skills and expertise to build a more fair and transparent market for stocks,” Park said. “No matter their role, people who do well here believe in our mission and are driven to challenge the status quo.” 

 

 

What Pulse Analytics does: Pharmaceutical companies use Pulse Analytics business intelligence tools to craft more targeted customer engagement strategies.

 

 

Enlisting bootcamp grads: Matt Van Dyke was a teacher and writer before he attended the New York coding bootcamp App Academy. Pulse Analytics hired Van Dyke out of bootcamp, and he told Built In NYC how the company helped him develop as a developer and leader.

“I joined Pulse in a frontend-focused engineering role,” Van Dyke said. “Due to great mentorship and trust from the team, I was able to transition to a more back-end, data-oriented position more closely aligned with my interests. Now, as a senior full-stack engineer I’m leading our back-end engineering team!” 

 

 

What CertifyOS does: Digital health companies, insurers and health systems use CertifyOS’ API platform for real-time patient plan enrollment and healthcare provider licensing and verification.

 

 

How they lead: Back in December, Built In NYC chatted with Jameson Baughman, head of people operations, about how CertifyOS fosters a people-first culture. According to Baughman, it all starts with the company’s leaders.

“We define and instill a management style in our leaders that is humble, ready to learn, ready to teach, respectful and empathetic,” Baughman said. “Our CEO, Anshul, leads with compassion and puts people first. He’s always telling me, ’I want anyone who comes to CertifyOS to leave as a more knowledgeable person.’” 

 

 

What EquityZen does: EquityZen is a marketplace for investing in or selling shares of pre-IPO companies.

 

 

An analytical approach: EquityZen encourages its team members to approach their work with an analytical mindset. This also plays a role in their professional development as Roy Kasten, investments director, explained to Built In.

“Coming from a client-facing background at a large company, tools like SQL were things I never touched or knew about,” Kasten said. “At EquityZen, we’re empowered and encouraged to look at that data to make quantitative decisions.”