NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - New Jersey’s effort to strengthen the connective tissue between research, entrepreneurship, capital and industry took a significant step forward this week with the formal grand opening of the New Jersey Innovation Hub at HELIX in downtown New Brunswick.
Nearly 200 entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, corporate executives, health care leaders, academic officials and government representatives gathered Oct. 6 for the ribbon cutting of the New Jersey Innovation Hub, Powered by Portal Innovations. The 30,000-square-foot facility sits within H-1, the first building of the larger HELIX innovation district being developed by the New Brunswick Development Corporation.
But the bigger story may be what is already happening inside.
The Hub now has 21 member companies, up from 16 when its founding cohort was announced in July. That initial group was already the largest pre-opening cohort in Portal Innovations’ national network, suggesting strong demand for an environment designed specifically for young science and technology companies.
The facility combines flexible offices and coworking areas with wet and dry laboratories, more than 140 lab benches, more than 80 desks and over $2 million in shared scientific equipment. Rather than requiring a young biotech company to spend heavily building its own laboratory infrastructure, companies can move into an environment where much of that infrastructure is already available.
Portal Innovations adds another important ingredient.
The Chicago-based venture development organization combines specialized lab space with early-stage capital, operational resources, mentorship and connections to investors and pharmaceutical partners. Portal says it has supported more than 90 startups nationally.
John Flavin, founder and CEO, Portal Innovations remarked, “We’re the Stone Pony of biotech.” He noted that the Hub can be the small venue where emerging biotech entrepreneurs develop before becoming globally recognized companies.
That combination could be particularly important in New Jersey, where world-class pharmaceutical companies, universities, research institutions and health systems have long existed in close proximity, but early-stage founders have not always had an obvious central gathering place connecting those assets.
HELIX is attempting to change that.
The broader 1.6-million-square-foot district is being built around the idea that universities, health systems, corporations, researchers and entrepreneurs should not simply occupy nearby buildings, but actively collaborate. The Innovation Hub provides the startup component of that equation.
Johnson & Johnson has also put its name behind the effort. The Johnson & Johnson Exchange, located within the Innovation Hub, is designed as a central gathering point where founders, investors, academic leaders and industry executives can meet, exchange ideas and develop partnerships. Johnson & Johnson, headquartered just blocks away, announced the partnership earlier this year.
Joaquin Duato, chairman and CEO, Johnson & Johnson, noted that New Jersey has been Johnson & Johnson’s home for 140 years and he emphasized the Hub's potential to bring scientists, entrepreneurs and industry together and build upon New Jersey's health care innovation heritage.
Capital is beginning to follow the infrastructure.
In August, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority approved a commitment of up to $5 million to a Portal-managed investment fund for life sciences companies at the Hub. RWJBarnabas Health agreed to match that commitment with up to another $5 million, potentially creating a $10 million pool of startup capital focused on drug discovery and translational medicine.
The Hub’s founding companies reflect a broad definition of life sciences innovation. They include ventures developing cancer and autoimmune therapies, precision medicine, artificial intelligence-enabled health platforms, genomics, medical technology, advanced materials and research services. Several trace their roots to New Jersey universities, while others have been attracted to the state from elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad.
The grand opening brought together many of the institutions critical to making that model work, including Portal Innovations, DEVCO, Johnson & Johnson, Rutgers University, NJEDA, RWJBarnabas Health, Hackensack Meridian Health, Middlesex County and BioNJ, along with startup founders and investors.
For New Jersey, the opportunity is larger than filling laboratories.
The state already has extraordinary scientific talent, global pharmaceutical companies, research universities, health systems and access to capital. The challenge has been creating more places where those pieces collide with entrepreneurs early enough to turn promising research into companies that start, scale and remain in New Jersey.
The New Jersey Innovation Hub is a significant bet that putting those pieces under one roof, and surrounding founders with capital, infrastructure and relationships, can help produce the next generation of Garden State companies.
And with 21 companies already calling the Hub home, that experiment is no longer theoretical.
