Newark, NJ (July 16, 2019) - Newark Venture Partners (NVP) biannual Demo Day featured all 9 tech startups from its Spring 2019 cohort at Audible’s new Innovation Cathedral, showcasing the city’s growing global footprint with founders representing the UK, Netherlands, France, India, China, Nigeria, the Carribean, and American innovation hubs from Brooklyn and Atlanta, to Chicago and Sacramento. The event featured pitch presentations from each of the companies graduating from the 3-month bridge-to-Seed program: Augmented Review, EVŌ, PeduL, Riskcast, SensorTransport, SIRL, TalentWall, Time Study, and Vectorly.
Together, the cohort represents the industries of HRTech, InsurTech, Video Compression, HealthTech, Supply Chain Tech, Marketplaces, Augmented Reality, and Wayfinding. They were screened from over 2,100 companies, resulting in a selection rate of less than 1 percent.
“This cohort shows Newark’s capacity to nurture founders and companies from all over the world, in a range of different industries,” said Dan Borok, Managing Partner of NVP. “Whether you are reinventing how video files are shared, or addressing the student debt crisis - there is no place better for a startup to put down roots than Newark, New Jersey.”
“This cohort is proof that Newark can and should be New Jersey’s gateway to global innovation,” said Tom Wisniewski, Managing Partner of NVP. “NVP Labs is now operating with an acceptance rate of less than 1 percent. Theses startups are top of the line and could have chosen accelerator programs anywhere in the world- and they chose Newark. That speaks volumes about the program we are growing, and the city we are thriving in.”
Founding teams from this cohort participated in a rigorous curriculum to fine tune their go-to-market and sales strategies, and their marketing plans. Weekly roundtables on issues like product development, design, recruiting, finance, UX/UI, data science, and more, featured experts from across the NVP network of over 500 professional mentors, offering one-on-one assistance and group discussions. At the close of the program, each company was handed an individualized playbook, written and compiled by NVP’s in-house growth team.
This cohort was also the first to have access to NVP’s new BDR intern program. The interns, all New Jersey college students, joined startup teams to grow sales pipelines and augment business development efforts. As of Demo Day, three interns have landed ongoing, part-time positions with startups Riskcast, Augmented Review and Sensor Transport, and two of the remaining interns have become founders themselves.
“NVP Labs strives to offer our companies the best accelerator experience on the east coast, and that means providing real hands-on execution support that actually moves the needle, in addition to resources, mentorship, and introductions,” said NVP Labs Director Allison Williams. “Our new and growing BDR intern program is one way we help our founders move faster, while opening our doors to New Jersey’s vast talent pool.”
The Demo Day program included a panel discussion around women leadership in Newark’s business community featuring Anne Erni, Audible’s Chief People Officer; Lauren Sallata, CMO of Panasonic; Jen Valez, Executive VP of Community & Health at RWJBarnabas Health; and Shadae McDaniels, City Leader for the AllStars Project.
Anne Erni, Audible’s Chief People Officer said, "We, at Audible, are really proud to be the founding corporate partner of Newark Venture Partners. We believe deeply in Newark's potential to be a diverse, global tech hub, and our investment in NVP is helping to catalyze that vision. Today's panel is a reminder that Newark is open for business, and that we are thriving thanks to bold, innovative leadership."
As Newark’s reputation as a hub for east coast technology grows, NVP, its corporate partners and its community of founders are leading the charge to recast the city as home for innovators. For the first time, Demo Day was held in Audible’s Innovation Cathedral (formerly the Second Presbyterian Church) just 1 block from NVP’s coworking space. The Innovation Cathedral, which opened in May 2019, represents Newark’s transformation and renewal. The event was followed by networking and refreshments, and showcased local Newark businesses The NORK Project, All Points Distillery, DreamPlayTV, and Anhelado
###
About Newark Venture Partners
Newark Venture Partners is a leading early stage venture capital firm with a Limited Partner base that includes top corporate investors Audible (an Amazon Company), Dun & Bradstreet, Fidelco Realty Group, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Prudential Financial, RWJBarnabas, TD Bank, and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. Our full time sales, strategy and development teams help innovative entrepreneurs build distinctive B2B technology companies while catalyzing growth in the City of Newark. Newark Venture Partners includes a direct investment arm, investing up to $1 million in Seed and Series A companies, and our bridge-to-seed accelerator arm, NVP Labs, which invests in up to 10 companies twice a year. For more information visit Newark.VC
2021 © Copyright - Newark Venture Partners