Bloomberg At Techcrunch Disrupt

Hizzoner Michael Bloomberg came to the TechCrunch Disrupt conference and made a compelling case for the growing tech start-up scene in New York.  Along with the city’s cultural attractions he pointed out that New York is arguably the world’s leading financial, media, and fashion center.

Mayor Bloomberg stated that New York City’s venture investments grew 19% in the first quarter of 2010. I found this on Crain’s which clarifies his claim a bit:

Kira Bindrim, NY’s start-up funding rises as Silicon Valley’s falls

Metro-area venture-capital funding saw an uptick in dollars and deals for the second consecutive quarter, even as investments fell in Silicon Valley and nationally.

Funding for New York-area startup firms rose to $566 million in the first quarter, up 18.9% from the fourth quarter of 2009, and 32% year-over-year, according to a report released Friday by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. Some 75 companies received venture-capital in the first quarter, up 13.6% from the fourth quarter of 2009, and 11.9% year-over-year.

The Big Apple had a better quarter than rival Silicon Valley. Although the Valley still beat New York in dollars and deals—$1.5 billion in funding went to 202 companies there in the first quarter—funding fell 21.4% from the fourth quarter of 2009, and deal volume dropped 24.6%.

New York’s share of overall venture-capital dollars also increased in the first quarter, to 12%, from 9.2% in the fourth quarter of 2009. Silicon Valley accounted for 32.3% of all venture-capital dollars in the first quarter, down from 37.5% in the fourth quarter of last year.

So the growth is a comparison to the first quarter of 2009, not over the previous quarter.

Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city-sponsored NY Entrepreneurial Fund has invested in MyCityWay, the fund’s first investment. FirstMark Capital is collaborating with the New York City Economic Development Corporation to manage the fund, to which the city has contributed $3M, and the fund is dedicated to seed funding of NYC start-ups.

MyCityWay is building mobile apps, basically a collection of apps in a portal-like interface, so users can find information about landmarks, restaurants, and dozens of other specific sorts of local information. The company’s team is moving from NJ to NYC, and plans to have versions of their technology for as many 20 cities.

Perhaps the most interesting comment that Mayor Bloomberg made was a teaser: sometime later in the year the city will be announcing the creation of a ‘major’ media laboratory in collaboration with a New York City university, something along the lines of the MIT Media Lab. I am betting on New York University, but the Mayor is not talking.