NJEDA Invests $16.5M to Support 8 Innovative NJ Startups

NJ Innovation Evergreen Fund continues to support cutting-edge businesses in health care, biotechnology, and life sciences

TRENTON, N.J. (October 16, 2026) – Since February, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) approved a total of $16.5 million to support eight cutting-edge businesses through the New Jersey Innovation Evergreen Fund (NJIEF). The startups are working on pushing forward new technologies in various sectors including health care, biotechnology, and life sciences. The NJIEF is a unique tool to increase access to strategic resources and venture capital in New Jersey, with the State as an equity investor in early-stage companies, deploying up to $600 million alongside venture capital firms. 

“My Administration is committed to making New Jersey the best place to do business. By supporting these innovative companies, we are seeding new and important technologies, attracting incremental capital to New Jersey, and building a dynamic start-up ecosystem,” said Governor Mikie Sherrill. “These investments will strengthen our economy, create new opportunities, and cement New Jersey’s position as a leader in innovation.”

“The NJIEF’s success is measure not just in dollars invested, but in the transformative impact it has had on New Jersey businesses,” said NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Evan Weiss. “This cutting-edge initiative fuels innovation, creates jobs, and positions our state as a global center for technological discovery. Through strategic partnerships and targeted investments, Governor Mikie Sherrill and the NJEDA are helping the next generation of companies thrive, reinforcing New Jersey’s reputation as a leader in innovation and opportunity.” 

From advanced materials and clean technology to life sciences, technology, and other emerging sectors, these eight startups showcase the breadth of New Jersey’s innovation economy. The companies are helping build industries of the future by developing advanced solutions, attracting investment, creating high-quality jobs, and scaling their business all right here in New Jersey.  

“Investments through the NJIEF underscore our state’s unwavering commitment to supporting innovative businesses and entrepreneurs,” said NJEDA Chief Economic Transformation Officer Kathleen Coviello. “By delivering a robust roster of venture capital firms to cutting-edge startups, the NJIEF is fueling job creation and driving economic development across the state. The NJIEF is empowering the next generation of transformative companies, strengthening New Jersey’s position as a leader in technological discovery and creative enterprise.”

The following companies received investment funding through the NJIEF: 

• Princeton Critical Minerals, Inc. (PCM)  – Newark 
  PCM, which emerged from Princeton University, has developed a technology for boosting mineral production from evaporation ponds, which could revolutionize the conventional approach to critical minerals extraction. The company provides an integrated suite of products, all dedicated to bridging the lithium supply-demand gap through efficient, scalable, and sustainable extraction methods. PCM was approved for an NJIEF investment of $4 million by matching SOSV, a global multi-stage venture capital firm based in Princeton. 

In 2021, SOSV formed HAX, LLC, the firm’s Newark-based hard tech accelerator, in partnership with the NJEDA. The firm has invested in over 50 Newark-based businesses through the HAX Strategic Innovation Center (SIC) program, and in 2025 the NJEDA announced that it will also partner with SOSV along with the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory to create an SIC in the Princeton area.  

• Cranium AI, Inc. – Short Hills 

Founded in 2023 as a spin-out from KPMG’s startup incubator, Cranium AI provides organizations with tools to map, monitor, test, and govern their machine learning and Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems against adversarial threats and compliance risks, including systems from third-party vendors.  

“As AI moves into the core of how businesses and governments operate, securing and governing it has become essential,” said Jonathan Dambrot, CEO of Cranium AI. “We’re grateful to the NJEDA and SYN Ventures for backing Cranium, and proud to build a category-defining AI security company in New Jersey.”

Cranium AI is widely seen as a standout innovator in the quickly growing field of AI security, and boasts a strong company roster, with clients such as Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan Chase, KPMG, FIS, and Pfizer. Cranium AI was approved for an NJIEF investment of $5 million through matching SYN Ventures, a specialized cybersecurity-focused venture capital firm, with a focus on key areas within modern cybersecurity, including AI security, enterprise cybersecurity tools, risk management, infrastructure security, and third-party and supply chain security. 

• Urologic Health – Jersey City 

Urologic Health is a medical device company developing the first fully non-invasive urodynamic diagnostic system for bladder function assessment. Urologic Health is addressing a significant problem in urology diagnostics, where the current test requires catheterization. Urologic’s system eliminates the need for catheters entirely while providing the diagnostic data necessary for both men and women. The company was incubated in the MEDX Xelerator in Israel and is now located at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. Urologic was approved for an NJIEF investment of $1.25 million by matching Edge Medical Ventures, an early-stage investment firm with offices in Jersey City and Israel.  

EdgeMed is committed to advancing healthcare by identifying and nurturing innovative companies that address significant unmet clinical needs with substantial market potential. EdgeMed previously co-invested in Synchrony Medical through the NJIEF. 

• Elligint Health, Inc. – Edison 

Elligint Health provides a health care management platform for health insurance companies, specifically focusing on care and disease management for high-risk patients. The company’s main product is Helios, a cloud-based platform that provides care managers with a single system to access patient information and automatically prioritizes tasks and generates care plans, helping increase productivity. Elligint Health was approved for an NJIEF investment of $1.5 million by matching HLM Investment Partners, a venture firm focused on investments in health care services, health care technology, and health care innovation companies. 

• TangGene, Inc. – New Brunswick 

TangGene is a biotechnology company developing an injectable drug to cure autoimmune diseases that currently have no cure, starting with Multiple Sclerosis. The company’s technology helps retrain the immune system to target the cells causing the disease while leaving the rest of the immune system intact. TangGene was approved for an NJIEF investment of up to $1.5 million through an application submitted by Oak BioCapital, a venture firm focused on investments in life sciences and biotech companies that are pioneering transformative technologies in healthcare, therapeutics, medical devices, and diagnostics. 

• AstraNu, Inc. – Murray Hill 

Founded in 2025, AstraNu is a Nokia Bell Labs spin-out developing low-cost medical imaging technology for eye care and diagnostics. AstraNu’s strategy focuses on commercializing an integrated Optical Coherence Tomography “engine module” that medical device manufacturers can plug directly into their products. This module combines all the necessary parts into a single computer chip that is 10x smaller and cheaper than traditional components. AstraNu was approved for an NJIEF investment of up to $1.5 million by matching Celesta Capital, a venture capital firm that focuses on investing in deep tech, data infrastructure, next-generation enterprise applications, and services. Celesta Capital and Nokia have a long-term strategic partnership to accelerate the commercialization of deep technologies incubated within Nokia Bell Labs. AstraNu is the first venture from this collaboration. 

• ChorusRx – Mount Laurel 

ChorusRx (formally GalenusCare) is a next-generation pharmacy and medication-risk management company purpose-built for high-risk, high-acuity populations, such as hospice and chronic-care patients. At the core of its offering is APPRAISE, an exclusive, AI-enabled medication-optimization platform leveraging pharmacogenics and regimen-level risk scoring. ChorusRx was approved for an NJIEF investment of almost $1 million through by matching Rittenhouse Ventures, which focuses on early-growth B2B software investments, and aims to provide venture capital returns with a risk profile similar to private equity or growth equity funds. The co-investment into ChorusRx represents the second investment made by Rittenhouse Ventures under the Evergreen program. The NJEDA previously approved a co-investment into New Jersey-based transcendAP in November 2025.  

• Sena Health – Mickleton 

Sena Health is an AI‑enabled healthcare access and care coordination company that blends contextual AI agents with clinically trained human coordinators to reduce administrative burden for medical groups, health systems, and employers. Sena Health replaces fragmented call centers, scheduling tools, and back-office processes with a single operating foundation. Its flagship offering – the Access Command Center – provides 24/7/365 front‑ and back-office support, including patient scheduling, triage, care navigation, referral management, revenue cycle operations, and high acuity care coordination. Sena Health was approved for an NJIEF investment of $750,000 by matching Rittenhouse Ventures, making it the third investment made by this venture capital group under the Evergreen program over the recent two years.  

“Through the NJ Innovation Evergreen Fund and our partnership with NJEDA, we are proud to support category-defining healthcare companies in South Jersey like ChorusRx and Sena Health, and put more capital behind New Jersey innovators who are transforming patient outcomes,” said Saul Richter, Founder & Managing Partner of Rittenhouse Ventures. 

All companies approved for investment under the NJIEF will benefit from the strategic commitments made by the NJIEF tax credit purchasers. These purchases, which fund investments made by Qualified Venture Firms (QVFs), are made in tandem with commitments to provide strategic support to strengthen the State’s innovation ecosystem. Commitments include financial support for university partners, nonprofits, and Strategic Innovation Centers for innovation-related programming in New Jersey, mentoring, educational opportunities, and more, and are a scored component of the tax credit purchaser’s bids. 

The Evergreen Fund currently has approximately $46 million in unallocated capital available and is expected to use this to fund initial investments into additional high-growth businesses in New Jersey. Last year, the NJEDA auctioned $85 million in tax credits to raise additional capital, which has been available for investment throughout 2026. The NJIEF platform currently has 37 approved venture capital firms actively seeking investment opportunities in New Jersey-based companies and the program has supported 20 unique innovative business through direct investments to date. 

Applications for venture firms seeking to qualify as a QVF can be found here and are being accepted on a rolling basis. The firms approved to date represent diversity in terms of investment strategy, industry, and stage. Additionally, there continues to be a strong momentum from interested managers. The roster of the current approved managers can be found here. 

Applications for approved QVFs to apply for Qualified Investments into high-growth, innovative businesses based in New Jersey are also open and can be found here.  

About the NJEDA

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) serves as the State’s principal agency for driving economic growth. The NJEDA is committed to making New Jersey a national model for inclusive and sustainable economic development by focusing on key strategies to help build strong and dynamic communities, create good jobs for New Jersey residents, and provide pathways to a stronger and fairer economy. Through partnerships with a diverse range of stakeholders, the NJEDA creates and implements initiatives to enhance the economic vitality and quality of life in the State and strengthen New Jersey’s long-term economic competitiveness.

To learn more about NJEDA resources for businesses, call NJEDA Customer Care at 844-965-1125 or visit https://www.njeda.gov and follow @NewJerseyEDA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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