Apple Podcast Link
This episode brings together Judith Sheft (NJ Commission on Science, Innovation & Technology), Medina Citi (Equal Space), and David Stengle (Startup Grind Princeton) to take stock of New Jersey’s rapidly maturing startup ecosystem—from non-dilutive R&D grants and growing innovation hubs to stronger statewide collaboration. They discuss wins (strategic innovation centers, AI momentum, policy tailwinds like tax credits), ongoing challenges (uneven access to capital, federal funding uncertainty), and 2026 predictions with Jim Barrood.
Judith Sheft: I'm the executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Science, innovation and Technology, and we are all about supporting early stage. Innovation intensive entrepreneurs with r and d grants, which is free money, non-dilutive cash to these companies to help them get their r and d started.
And then the other piece that I'm all about is trying to connect our great academic institutions in New Jersey to industry at all levels so that companies can find academic researchers for collaboration partners, technology to license, and facilities to use.
Jim Barrood: Thank you Medina.
Medina Citi: I think, I think for all of us, everyone's such a multihyphenate Jim, particularly you, but my contribution to the ecosystem is I'm the founder and CEO of Equal Space, which is the share space and incubator, proudly headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.
We've been operating in this amazing city for the last 11 years. Really. Fostering the tech ecosystem, allowing for startups who are either homegrown or choosing the great state of New Jersey to find a soft place to land. And we do so by creating a space that's not only state of the art with all of the amenities and bells and whistles that you deserve, but also bringing in a cultural celebratory atmosphere and so much that.
Everyone engaging tech at every level feels not only included, but celebrated for their unique founder journey. And that could incorporate my team, which typically is helping them fundraise or raising their visibility or putting them in touch with amazing individuals that are on this, this amazing podcast who can help usher them and connect them.
And I think that's the thing about Equal Space that makes it unique. Coworkings transactional. We truly share space, access and resources, and I get to do that work every day and I'm kind of blessed to do so, honestly, becauseI get to hang out with y'all.
Jim Barrood: Yay. So glad you're, you're leading New York. David, go ahead.
David Stengle: I'm the founder and chapter director of Startup Grime Princeton. We host events to inspire, educate, and connect the startup ecosystem. We had our hundred and 77th event last week, and we do several every month. We particularly focus on first time founders and getting them ready for professional investment and in the last two years.
We've done a lot more with the ways that early stage founding teams can leverage AI to do more because more is now expected of them.
Jim Barrood: Great. Excellent. And thank you for your leadership in, in Princeton and, and the whole state. And of course Judith. Thank you for your leadership. I should have said that first right after you spoke, but tell us, Judith, how did you get to your current position?
I have a feeling it. You know, it's been a, an amazing journey. So I have a degree in mathematics, and when I started my career, Jim, I started at Bell Labs in Chicago doing switching system systems, engineering work, really helping the telephone companies understand how to provision large telecommunications.
Judith Sheft: Switching systems and I had the opportunity to work internationally and come to the East coast and join the part of the business at the time was involved with the semiconductor part of the Western Electric business. So I got a chance to travel to Japan and China and Singapore and Thailand and really help at that time establish.
Some of the technology development projects with at and t. Then for those who might not know, at and t went through a series of breakups, trives, stature, divestiture, and part of that, I finally decided, you know what? It's time to probably leave. This large mabell enterprise and I went to New Jersey Institute of Technology to work with them on technology commercialization in their tech transfer office.
I worked in their business incubator. I had a chance to meet Medina probably 11 years ago when he was first getting started in Newark with some of the amazing things that he was looking to do. And then in 2020, I moved. To the state level at the Commission on Science Innovation Technology to really take what I had been doing at an NJIT level and really apply it across the state.
And just as a, as a stat last year, we gave out close to 120 awards, $5 million to to companies in in 2025
Jim Barrood: Medina. Go ahead.
Medina Citi: The career journey for me has been an interesting one. I, I actually came in tech technology very early when I first graduated, and Jim, that's how we met, right? I was then a student at Fairleigh Dickinson University pursuing my work at In Design and the cross sections between design and tech, which I always loved.
Adopting new technologies led me into the.com era. So I was working across like several divisions for what was then about.com and that's where I got my feet first into startup culture and technology. And I had the fortune of working under a really forward thinking creative director who gave me a chance.
That work led me to found my own agency after 15 years in the industry of, of marketing and strategy. And that agency then led me here to do work for then Mayor Booker now Senator Booker. And that was my introduction to Newark, to coming back to New Jersey from New York. And when I came to Newark, I realized what a beautiful city, what a rare opportunity to use technology and innovation.
And this was before the, the, the Newark fiber was live. This was, this was a very, this was 15 years ago. This was a very different Newark where all the potential was there, the educational institutions were there. What it lacked was space. And by accident I had really, for my agency, I think I took off more square footage than I needed, and I started to give it away for free.
Because there were so many entrepreneurs and techies, they had nowhere to go. There's no cafe back then, and I started giving space and accidentally fell into the fact that. People in Newark just needed a central space to work out of. And community sat at the kind of center of it. It wasn't just that the space was cool because everyone who comes to my offices know our offices are pretty cool.
But it was the fact that they felt. Welcomed and so Equal Space was born out of my agency and born out of this need that I didn't know I was stepping into. So I tell everybody, I'm like an accidental CEO. I had no idea this would be where it is. And now to be here at Equal Space, being 11 years old, and, and Judith knows, Judith was with me at the very beginning where it was just like.
Judith, I have this whole floor full of people and they need things and I was never shy about asking. Right. And Judith gave me one of my first largest stages to really formalize my practice in allowing me to have an invitation to TEDx NJIT at that point where I was able to really. Critically think about the journey and share the story and equal space really became a real deal force in the city.
Fast forward now, we're a state anchor and, and we are operating in partnership with the governor's office and with N-J-E-D-A and with the audibles of the ecosystem. It was, it's a journey unseen for me. Did not know this is where I'd be, but I'm so grateful to be here a hundred percent. My deal is I got into startups.
David Stengle: Very early in my career, way before the.com era, when people said, why couldn't you get a real job? What the hell are you doing? And have been through the.com cycle, the social media cycle, the mobile cycle, the blockchain cycle the AI cycle, and it's been just a wild ride. I've had a number of companies that have done just fine.
It's been good to me. In 2014, as I was getting ready to sell the, the startup I was in at the time, I'd been traveling to San Jose every month. The company was headquartered there. I was taking the train into the city. I was racking up a bunch of air miles and I realized I just didn't know anybody in New Jersey.
I, I was working around the globe, but I didn't know the people on, on my block, and I decided to get more local, and that's what brought me to. Starting the Startup Grind chapter. And I found in venture it can be just tremendously rewarding, but it's harder to get into the club than it needs to be.
And so most of the work that I do is around demystifying it and widening access to the whole ecosystem. And I think that entrepreneurs are everywhere. And we have a responsibility to make the local ecosystem work, and everyone on this call brings that every day. So I'm glad to be here.
Jim Barrood: Great. Thank you for that.
So where are we? Right? We, we just had, we've had some good momentum I think we can all agree on, and so w. I really want to get your perspectives on how you see things, you know, what's the state of the, the community, how was this past year? Maybe we can note some wins and challenges. And so let's start with Judith.
Judith Sheft: Well, I want to say for all the years that I've been involved with entrepreneurship in New Jersey, I really see us. Working more collectively together than I've ever seen in the past. And one example I want to give about, this is a project that involves the photonics industry. And within the state of New Jersey, we had a tremendous opportunity to apply for a federal grant from the National Science Foundation focused on photonics.
And no joke. We have over a hundred partners involved in this project. It's being led by Rowan and Princeton as the academic leads, but it's got NJIT Rutgers. The community colleges. It has pastor Keith Davis down in Camden who's working with youth on an educational program activity. It's got big companies like Nokia down to small startup companies such as coherent photonics.
And as I said, we've got the whole ecosystem. The venture people are involved, the educational people are involved, the government is involved. Not only. The Commission on Science, innovation and Technology, but the EDA, the Department of Labor Office, secretary of Higher Education. So we are bringing the ecosystem together to go after this massive federal opportunity.
And in the past it would've been like, oh, this group is going after something and this group over here is going after something. But we have really come together to really leverage. All of the ecosystem to, you know, to, to move forward on the negative side. I think this last year has been challenging.
There's been some concerns about what the focus from the federal government was around technology, entrepreneurship, what kind of support they were going to make available for the tech companies. Use some of the federal programs such as the SBIR program, small Business Innovation Research Program. That program has not been funded since September, and so that's causing a lot of challenges for some of our startup companies who were looking to try to get federal money.
There's also been some concern about. What exactly was the focus in terms of what technology areas was the federal government interested in? We saw a big downsizing on wind technology, particularly in the clean tech space, you know, and then for drug companies, what exactly is the route that FDA is going for some of the approvals?
So it's been a little bit of a rocky ride for, you know, for startup companies over the last year.
Jim Barrood: Got it. Okay. Medina, how do you see things?
Medina Citi: So I think that Judith has just done such a beautiful job of talking about what the, the levels of support from like state to federal have been. And those shifts, those shifts really significantly impact how our ecosystem runs.
I think if I could do more of a broad stroke around where it is, is I think Judith had touched on it where the ecosystem. Is now so real in the state of New Jersey and it's maturing. I think New Jersey's historically has always been around our, you know, our healthcare tech. I think we've always been profoundly impactful in that space, but I'm seeing potential turn into more solid outcomes in so much as we now have innovation hubs that are kind of designated in conjunction with the NJ ADA's work to create real hubs and, you know.
Emerging technology like ai. I think, you know, Princeton and I'm, I'm sure David will go into that and I'm not going to steal anyone's thunder, but I'm loving that. I'm seeing developing clusters like Newark now has a hard tech in hacks. Yeah. And we're developing that entire pipeline. I think that's when I started to get excited was when I saw that the.
Density of founders were populating in different places in New Jersey and you think of like Home Dell and you think of, you know, bell Labs and all of that's happening there. They're happening in complement to each other, and that's where I see that there's intention and vision around New Jersey's place in the tech ecosystem.
Now, I'm not going to give all like. You, you know me, Jim. I'm going real talk. I'm not going to say it's all, you know, flowers. I'm going to say that the ecosystem's still uneven. Access to capital knowledge and networks is still not distributed as equally as I would like, particularly around founders of color and first time entrepreneurs.
I think that that what David has illustrated really brings that home for me is. There are still gaps where people feel placemaking. And that's where I, I believe tech hubs and these clusters that we're forming like in New Brunswick are going to be critical because physical access and proximity, just like with equal space, allow entrepreneurs and tech founders to find more opportunities.
So for me, I'm always focused on obviously right equal space is a physical space. So I'm always looking at our state and going, where physically can people go? I love that they're in proximity to education hubs. I love that we're looking at this, this intergenerational approach to tech. So I'm seeing younger people be involved, but I'm also seeing people who are in their second career doing phenomenally.
One of my fastest growing tech companies, Alpha Rock is, you know, led by these, these. Men of industry who have had careers prior and are now applying that knowledge base and they're growing. They're like one of the fastest growing spaces here at equals race. They command the most square footage right now.
So those are the things I'm seeing where we still need to work through is access to capital. And I think we could talk about that at length.
Judith Sheft: And let me just say about Alpha Rock. I funded them with one of my grants so that they are one of the companies I founded and they're one of their CEOs. I knew him when he was a faculty member.
At NJIT, Michael Che. So they've had quite a great career in terms of technology.
Jim Barrood: That's great. And, and Judith, how many grants did you give out in total? I mean, and you mentioned 120 last year, but since you've been at the head of
Judith Sheft: Oh, over, over 500.
Jim Barrood: Holy cow. That's amazing.
Judith Sheft: Yeah,
Jim Barrood: that
Judith Sheft: is, that's incredible.
About 32 million in in funding.
Jim Barrood: That is amazing. Okay, David, go ahead.
David Stengle: So I echo what what Citi said about the, the hubs around the state. The innovation centers have been really an important change for early stage founders, but I think there's activity beyond that. Thai, New Jersey has done some amazing work with an accelerator.
Novella Center in Trenton doing urban development zone founding stuff. So the energy and the, the spaces, as Citi says, for, for getting together is happening. And a big part of how startup ecosystems mature is by getting collisions between different groups. And so everything we do is about getting different people in the room and talking to each other outside their regular orbit.
That's happening more. I've been working in particular with the New Jersey AI hub because the intersection of AI and founding teams is, is very interesting to me. And they're still early days, but that collaboration's very exciting to me. I also would give a shout out on some things the legislature did.
So the Angel tax credit change. We've seen more, more progress, I think, in the regulatory playing field in the last. 12 months, then maybe in a long time looking back. Although a lot of it happens under the covers, I'm sure, but some very, very real bright line achievements there. I also think capital is slowly returning AI's trading at a premium and you really need to have that as part of your story if you're going out for venture there's pretty good data on that.
I'd give a shout out to 1435 Capital. They've run a couple venture summits a year and really planted a flag in a way that is quite pronounced for Western New Jersey here. And, and they've been a great group to work with. So I'm, I'm excited. I, I do think that the it's still challenging to get capital and more is expected all the time.
What you can do. As a startup founder, even without a technical co-founder with the new vibe coding tools, you can go a lot farther. But the flip side of that is investors expect you to do a lot more to be ready for that first check.
Judith Sheft: And maybe to build on what David is saying is I think investors want to see real metrics.
They want to see traction. They're not going to be funding smoke and mirrors and hypes hype kind of stuff. They want to know that you are going to be able to get from point A to point B. And one of the things around talent that we've had within New Jersey, and I know NJIT is going to be running a startup, career fair for startup companies to get a chance to connect with students from the academic institutions who are interested in going to work right outta college in some of these startup companies, which I think is really a fabulous opportunity for those people who have ideas and need additional resources on their bench to move forward.
Medina Citi: If I could tag off of a plus one, Judith, just because that's, that's also a reality as we're, we're here fostering, you know, a fair amount of the audible backed startups as well. At Equal Spaces. We have something called VC Office Hours where we invite real talk venture groups into the space, and that's in partnership with Audible and an effort to really have our startups understand that the metrics have to be real.
And that the, it cannot be projections and hopefuls. You have to show real traction. And it's, these are the questions that are coming up more often than not. I think that's coming. And Jim, I'd love to hear, you know, feet talk back from you. I think it's coming because the industry, the tech industry is maturing.
Mm-hmm. And people have learned from past smoke and mirrors and now are looking for embeddable, bankable startups to back.
Jim Barrood: Yeah, I mean, I, I'd be curious to hear what David says, but I, I think you're right. It is definitely maturing, right? And we're benefiting from the, in the, the silver lining of the pandemic is that investors will, can invest from anywhere, right?
They're not, they don't need to be in the backyard as much anymore, so we're benefiting from that. If we have the talent, have the startups, the money will flow. That is for sure. Yeah. I can only use more VCs here, but or investors, but I think it's, we, we have at least twice as much as 10 years ago, so I, I think that's a good thing.
Right, Dave?
Judith Sheft: With some of the programs like the Angel Investor tax credit, you could be an investor any place in the globe and take advantage of some of the programs. Sorry to have stepped on you.
David Stengle: No, that's all good. The, the flip side of that is that there, there is no story of, I have an idea, but I'm looking for technology help.
You need to build it and deliver it and show a couple customers. To be credible at all. And the tools, the tools are there. You don't have to be a techie, you don't have to wear a white lab coat to make that happen, but you do need to to put in the work.
Jim Barrood: Yeah, for sure. And it's just the tools are just getting better and better.
David, as you, as you well know. And we're doing a, a, as, you know, a, a hackathon for students in, in a couple weeks the 24th of January. So that will be a way for people to sort of take these tools for a test ride and go through the entrepreneurial process in, in six hours. And so everything's collapsed.
And then you're right David, now, you have to show traction and there's no reason why you can't show traction because the costs are almost free. I mean, it's, mm-hmm. It's essentially that. And so we're in the golden age of, of. Leveraging tech to, to launch startups. So that's, that's super exciting. And it'll be fun to watch the, the, the coming years.
So, Judith, what about the outlook? Talk to us about how you see things this year and, and into next year. I know we have these challenges with the federal government right. And the funding, and we can keep our fingers crossed and pray. Yes. But any insights or any thoughts.
Judith Sheft: Well, I think that AI is going to be, continue to be important, but particularly like AI in biotech and how do I use it to enhance drug development?
How do I do some of the other deep tech things that, you know, Medina talked about, you know, in in Newark at the HAX facility with some of the clean tech things. So I think we're going to see a really. Intersection of technologies across different disciplines. Clearly, you know, deep tech is going to continue to be important along with biotech, which is really a strong, you know, strong, strong area and ai.
So I think those are going to be the areas that we are going to continue to see. I think we're going to end up probably seeing larger deals. Being done, you know, so that it's going to be important, you know, we talked earlier on this call, it's going to be important for people to really demonstrate that traction so that they can get the attention of the investors.
Jim Barrood: And what about the SICs, the Strategic Innovation centers, Judith?
Judith Sheft: Yes.
Jim Barrood: We just launched, you know, I think a couple a dozen in the past year and a half or two years. Give us your hopes and dreams?
Judith Sheft: Well, the strategic innovation centers are maturing, you know, certainly a couple of them. NJ Fast up at Stevens is now up to cohort four of their program hacks has had continuous companies, you know, running through their program.
And again, some of the companies. Who've been in hacks. In fact, one of them recently the CEO was listed as one of the Forbes 30 under 30. So again, we've seen a lot of really great success from companies. Some of the other SICs are just getting started. You know, David talked about, you know, the AI hub and Princeton.
I think they just opened up there. You know, applications for participation? Yes. And the cohort, the med tech one down at at Rowan, as well as the maternal and infant health is also just going to be opening up those applications. And then there's the fusion. Activity, you know, with Princeton Plasma physics lab.
So we're seeing just a lot of excitement. I think, you know, they're all at a little bit, you know, different stages. NJII has their facility as well. So things are really, really starting to burn.
Jim Barrood: David, how do you see it?
David Stengle: So, I, I think that AI companies are being invested at a premium. There's good, good data on that.
There's, at a personal level, the, the knowledge necessary is changing so rapidly and the half life of your learning is so short that anybody can get in. And it's just how hard are you leaning into it? And so I, at the sessions I run, I tell everybody the story about the two campers in the bear. One of them starts putting on their running shoes and.
The other one says, you can't outrun the bear. And it's, I don't have to outrun the bear, I have to outrun. So just be, be hustling, be leaning into it, everyone. I have a good friend who leaned hard into AI three years ago, and I sat down with him in December and went through his desktop and I was just humbled.
I mean, I just walked out of it like, oh my God, I have not been doing enough. So there is always more that can be done, but I think cultivate the mindset of. What does it mean going forward to be AI native? What, how do I look at a problem and say, what must people do? Because people are part of the loop.
The world is for people, but, but you need to have a lens where you're really thinking about the new possibilities that are here. And that's true for, for, for every business. So very exciting time, but a turbulent time. And you know, I'll get. The other thing I'd say is that there are a lot of firms, pro services firms, law firms, accounting firms, consulting firms that are built around a really senior person building for, you know, a hundred billion dollars, right?
And, and then having a bunch of junior people at a lower rate. And all those models are blowing up. The entry level job market is different, and what they're hiring for is different. And the career ladder is different. And so there's an enormous amount of turbulence in what that career path forward is and just press through the uncertainty because there's opportunity there.
Jim Barrood: Yeah, for sure. Medina, do you want to add anything? I.
Medina Citi: They covered so much of, of what's I think emerging and, and I would say if anything I was going to add is that the need for flexible infrastructure is something that we're going to continue to see growing and emerging in New Jersey. I think that's why the hubs and the innovation centers were such as strategic like stroke of brilliance because there's so much more, and I think we acknowledge it here in New Jersey more than other spaces.
Because I played visitor to a, a lot of different. Tech ecosystems. We had the Italian delegation come in from tech last month in partnership with Choose New Jersey and Audible. And so there's support needed that New Jersey's giving beyond capital. There's brand clarity and strategy that's needed.
A legal literacy, which was mentioned by David, like legal literacy is huge. There's also sustainability of the entire experience for founders and who and their teams. And I think that's weird because I'm seeing like Newark answer the softer side of Sears, which is like, what does live, work and play look like in this city?
But other parts of New Jersey are also having to answer that. And I'm kind of happy because New Jersey's rising to the occasion. I'm seeing us really realize our brand. And it's, it's showing up in different cross sections. If you even think about like FIFA coming in New Jersey's, really putting its stamp on that.
And back in the day, we might not have. So if I could add anything, it's like all of the infrastructure that are needed by startup ecosystems and their founders and their teammates are being realized. And I think that's why we're seeing a lot of incentives there, even for small business to come in and supplement.
I'm seeing that in, I know it's kind of adjacent, Jim, but I'm seeing that even as lines gate. Is announced here in, in, in Newark and coming to the South Ward that there is a huge community benefits agreement just to add more incentives around the small businesses that Lionsgate is going to need. And that's when I made the parallel, when you sent the questions.
I'm like, oh, wait, New Jersey is not just thinking about the startups. They're also thinking about what do startups really need surrounding what are the wraparound services? And I'm seeing them evolve and that's, that's great. As a New Jersey resident, mm.
Jim Barrood: A hundred percent. It, it really is. And, and things will just keep getting better and better, I think from all, you know, as these programs mature and I just read a stat where the SICs will have a $17 billion impact and will create 28,000 jobs. I mean, if they, if, if half of that is. True. That is amazing. Hopefully we will do even more. But even, you know, it, it's really the pieces have been put into place. And you know, as community leaders and organizers, we have to sort of stitch everything together and keep things going.
And that's exciting to do because there are some good things happening and there's some good momentum. So I'm really excited. This has been a great conversation. We usually do a just one thing. So let's get some predictions out of the way folks. Share just, just one prediction for 2026 for the entrepreneurial, the startup ecosystem.
Truth. Ladies, first.
Judith Sheft: So I think my prediction is just. We're going to see a lot more focus, I think, on defense tech, hard tech activities. So kind of keep your eyes on that on that element of, of some of the market activities and see how do you play into those areas.
Jim Barrood: Got it. Medina?
Medina Citi: I would say that it's the continued investment in infrastructure support.
And the economic development that we're going to see in the state is going to be really heralded by tech from what Judith said, soft tech, hard tech. I think we have all the clusters in place for us to really become a force to be reckoned with in the tech world.
Jim Barrood: Great. David?
David Stengle: I think one of the ways to win in 2026 is to rethink what you're hiring for and curiosity and system thinking.
And hustle are more important than they've ever been. And the firms that really lean into how the nature of work is changing are going to do well.
Jim Barrood: Got it. This has been great. I. We usually end though, with a quote or a saying or a poem. So let's do that now. Judith. Ladies first. Go ahead.
Judith Sheft: Sure. Okay. So my favorite quote is, if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.
So I think collaboration is kind of a watch word of what I like to do, and I think it's important for entrepreneurs to figure out how do they collaborate with others, how do they ask for help and information?
Jim Barrood: Got it. Great. Medina.
Medina Citi: This was the easier one because, you know, I'm an arts and culture guy. So it's actually a very short poem by Langston Hughes called Dreams and it goes hold fast to dreams for if dreams die.
Life is a broken wing bird that cannot fly hold fast to dreams for when dreams go life is a barren field frozen with snow.
Jim Barrood: Very nice, very nice. David. Go ahead.
David Stengle: Wow, that's tough to follow. I'm going to go with one of my favorite management sayings from President Eisenhower. And it's, I think, particularly important in, in times of great uncertainty.
And I think we're in one of those times, but it's, the plan is nothing. Planning is everything. So you need to prepare for the future, but you can't get locked into this is how it's going to go. But, but that doesn't mean because you don't know what's going to happen, you shouldn't be preparing. So just lean into the uncertainty, make your plans, change your plans when, when things change.
Jim Barrood: That's a great way to end. So thanks again folks.
