TRENTON (August 13, 2015) – The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) today continues its series highlighting how New Jersey investors and entrepreneurs are making a difference to the Garden State’s technology community.
 
As an innovator, serial entrepreneur, investor and mentor, Krishnamurty “KK” Kambhampati, of Holmdel, has spent the last 25 years helping to shape New Jersey’s technology ecosystem.
 
“KK Kambhampati is the embodiment of the entrepreneurial spirit that fuels New Jersey’s technology leadership,” said EDA Chief Executive Officer Melissa Orsen.  “He not only develops and invests in New Jersey companies, but also generously gives his time to ensure that the next generation of New Jersey entrepreneurs has a strong foundation for growth.”
 
After spending the first eight years of his career in technical and managerial positions at AT&T in Holmdel, Kambhampati left the telecommunications giant in 1998 to become a co-founder of uReach Technologies, also in Holmdel. The company was a leading provider of advanced communications technologies, platforms and services for small businesses. uReach was able to take advantage of the State’s Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer (NOL) Program. Kambhampati and co-founder David Ittner grew uReach into an enterprise that generated millions of dollars in revenue annually, before selling it to GENBAND last year.
 
Throughout his extensive career, Kambhampati has dedicated much of his focus on mentoring emerging companies, including several New Jersey businesses. For nearly a decade, Kambhampati was an advisor to, and a seed investor in, Corente, an East Brunswick company that provided secure, cost-effective, global delivery software over the internet. The EDA provided a $1 million Edison Innovation Fund loan to Corente to be used as working capital to expand the company’s North American customer base and expand sales operations in North America and Europe. Corente also benefited the State’s NOL program. The company was sold to Oracle last year.

Kambhampati is currently taking a break between startups and is using this time to serve as a hands-on mentor and advisor to such businesses as FUSAR Technologies, located in Jersey City. FUSAR, which creates wearable technology to make action sports safer, participated in the State’s inaugural Founders & Funders event last year. An avid mountain biker, Kambhampati began advising FUSAR Technologies through his role as a mentor at TechLaunch, a New Jersey technology accelerator in which the EDA previously invested. Kambhampati has also been an advisor to telecommunications company Kirusa, based in New Providence.
 
Kambhampati earned a Masters Degree in Computer Science from Cornell University and a Masters of Science degree in Mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
 
@NJEDATech spoke with Kambhampati about his experience as an entrepreneur and mentor in New Jersey:
 
What attracted you to New Jersey as a place to grow your businesses?
I was working at AT&T/Bell Labs in New Jersey. Given that Bell Labs, Lucent, Telcordia, Verizon, Vonage and other tech companies were in the area, we had access to a very relevant talent pool in New Jersey.
After starting UReach, we were able to take advantage of several incentive programs offered by the state, including the NOL program. In fact, we were fond of recommending that program to others in the state. I am happy to say that my investments have also benefited from the NOL program.
 
I have to admit there were many reasons to think about moving to Silicon Valley, but it is hard to top the quality of life, the arts, the greenery in New Jersey and I really love having all four seasons.
 
What advice do you give budding entrepreneurs just starting out?
It is a great time to be an entrepreneur. There is a lot of access to capital and the cost of starting a business is very low. Having said that, too many entrepreneurs are influenced by what plan they think will get funded right now rather than focusing on the fundamentals of the company they want to build. While the latter is harder, it is the better longer-term path for them and their investors. There is too much fixating on the style of the pitch and managing the message to please investors and not enough on the business model and business growth. 
 
Growing a company is really hard work and rewarding at the same time, but it can become an extremely painful nightmare if one does not believe in the mission.
 
So, my advice for entrepreneurs is to be skeptical of business assumptions and make sure they think longer term and not fall in love with the latest shiny buzzwords. After that, they should be prepared to execute as quickly as they can and be prepared to course-correct as needed.
 
What recommendations do you have for other serial entrepreneurs thinking about giving back to the emerging entrepreneurs?  
I think about what I do as not just giving back; I get a lot in return.
 
I had great help when I started out and I know how critical it was for me. I think the DNA of a company is formed early on and some decisions can have long-term implications. I am happy to be a sounding board to entrepreneurs. I spend quality time with founders on a weekly basis so that I can help real-time with decisions. My goal is to help them with problem solving and not try to solve problems for them.
 
My recommendation to others who want to help is not to underestimate what you will learn in return from this younger generation of entrepreneurs. They have mastered the art of the sharing economy and there are many things that come so naturally to them. So I recommend going into mentorship with an open mind and a willingness to learn and to question your own long-held beliefs. You will be rewarded by that experience many times over.
 
I am learning as much as I am giving, if not more, and enjoying every moment of it.
 
For more information about resources available to support New Jersey’s technology industry, visit https://www.njeda.gov/tls and follow @NJEDATech on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority's next public Board Meeting will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 11, 2015 at Commercialization Center for Innovative Technologies, 675 US Highway One, North Brunswick, NJ. A copy of the proposed agenda can be found prior to the meeting at https://www.njeda.gov/eda_board_information/agenda. Following the Board Meeting, minutes and the full agenda will also be available at https://www.njeda.gov/eda_board_information/agenda.

TRENTON (August 6, 2015) – The New Jersey Economic Development Authority today continues its series highlighting how New Jersey investors and entrepreneurs are making a difference  in the Garden State’s technology community.

After decades building two technology companies, innovator and investor Derek Lidow now devotes his time to coaching emerging entrepreneurs. A strong believer in the motto “anyone can start a business, but only leaders will succeed,” Lidow currently teaches budding entrepreneurs at Princeton University how to build successful enterprises. Having earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the New Jersey Ivy League school, Lidow is passionate about nurturing New Jersey’s technology ecosystem.

“Entrepreneurial leadership definitely can be learned,” Lidow explained. “It boils down to some fundamental skills – ones you don’t necessarily have to be born with. They are things that everyone can learn with attention and practice.”

Lidow also serves on the Board of United Silicon Carbide, Inc. (USCi), a company in which he invests. South Brunswick-based USCi, which creates technology designed to replace silicon in semiconductor applications to increase performance and improve efficiency, has benefited from several State resources, including the Angel Investor Tax Credit Program and a $2 million Edison Innovation Green Growth Fund (EIGGF) loan. Funded by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU), the EIGGF program offers growth capital loans to assist New Jersey clean technology companies in advancing energy efficient and renewable energy products in the State. 

After graduating with a PhD in Applied Physics from Stanford University, Lidow worked his way from being a product engineer at International Rectifier Corp. (IRC) to the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In 1999, he left IRC and spent nearly a dozen years founding and building iSuppli, an electronics technology research and advisory services company in California, considered to be the largest of its kind in the world. Lidow sold the company to IHS in 2010. 

As an innovator, Lidow has made several contributions to the electronics industry, including widely implemented best practices in project management, quality management, and critical insights into the operations of large complex value chains. Technology-giants Sony, Samsung, Philips, and IBM, all of which have a footprint in New Jersey, have benefited from Lidow’s innovations.

In addition to teaching and innovating, Lidow has written articles that have been published in such high profile publications as The Wall Street Journal and the Harvard Business Review, and is the author of “Startup Leadership: How Savvy Entrepreneurs Turn Their Ideas Into Successful Enterprises,” which was published last year. He regularly travels around the country advising audiences on how to build successful companies.
@NJEDATech spoke to Lidow about his experience in New Jersey and the advice that he has for emerging entrepreneurs:

To what State resources do you point emerging entrepreneurs in New Jersey?
Since New Jersey has such a diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem, it depends upon what type of entrepreneur I am talking to.  For example, if I am speaking to someone who wants to grow an agriculture company, I would point them towards the exciting and potentially impactful agricultural startups around Princeton. Depending upon the field of interest, I usually ask entrepreneurs who they know at the great universities in the state. Entrepreneurs are always better off with great advisors and mentors, and NJ has a wealth of savvy, experienced, and well-connected experts waiting to help entrepreneurs, not just students, at its world class universities.

What is the first piece of advice you give budding innovators?
"Understand why you're doing this!" Starting a company is hard work that requires huge sacrifices and changes. Furthermore, if you're aspiring to be your own boss, you will want to steer a very different course than if you are looking to make the most money. If you can understand why you really want to start your company, you can avoid countless heartbreaking crises down the road. 

What do you tell your students makes a company marketable in today’s world?
The most valuable companies make their customers and clients the happiest. This applies for business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer companies. Many entrepreneurs lose sight of the fact that the happier you make someone (or maybe a group of executives in case you're selling to a company), the more money they are willing to give you in return. 

For more information about resources available to support New Jersey’s technology industry, visit https://www.njeda.gov/tls and follow @NJEDATech on Twitter and LinkedIn.

TRENTON (July 30, 2015) – The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) continues its series highlighting how entrepreneurs and investors are helping to build New Jersey’s technology ecosystem.
 
Serial entrepreneur Dr. David Fischell, of Fair Haven, has founded and led more than a dozen medical device companies to success in the last 20 years. To Fischell, developing medical devices is a family affair. David, along with his father Dr. Robert Fischell, a physicist, and his brother Dr. Tim Fischell, a cardiologist, started New Providence-based Svelte Medical Systems in 2007. The company produces a cost-effective expandable coronary stent system featuring the smallest diameter in the industry. This stent has led to a new standard of care in treating the buildup of plaque in the coronary arteries feeding blood to the heart, known as atherosclerosis.  Svelte's legacy follows the Fischells' work on stent design begun in late 1993, that ultimately led to David's design of the Cordis Cypher^TM stent, the world's first drug eluting stent sold by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and implanted in more than five million patients.
 
David Fischell holds 140 issued US patents, and in total, the Fischell family has more than 250 patents to its name. Their medical device inventions run the gamut from implantable devices that detect and treat epileptic seizures to catheters used to cure high blood pressure.
 
“Serial entrepreneurs like Dr. Fischell enjoy the challenge of identifying unmet needs and finding ways to use technology to address those challenges,” EDA CEO Melissa Orsen said. “This fosters a spirit of innovation that fuels New Jersey’s technology ecosystem by creating jobs, and reinforcing the State’s image as a place for technology businesses to grow and thrive.”
 
Fischell currently serves as the CEO of Angel Medical Systems, a medical device company in Shrewsbury that he founded with his father and brother, in 2001.  Angel Medical is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval for its implantable Guardian^TM System, designed to detect and alert patients to the onset of a heart attack, allowing them to seek immediate help.
 
Both Svelte Medical Systems and Angel Medical Systems have taken advantage of State resources including the Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer (NOL) Program. Svelte Medical Systems also raised $4.8 million last year from David and Robert Fischell and other investors who were able to benefit from the State’s Angel Investor Tax Credit Program.
 
After completing a PhD in Applied Physics at Cornell University in 1979, Fischell moved to New Jersey and took a job at Bell Laboratories' largest facility in Holmdel, where he spent his time performing and then directing research and development projects. He left Bell Laboratories in 1991 to focus on creating medical devices. 
 
Like many New Jersey entrepreneurs, Fischell is active in several organizations that encourage collaboration within the entrepreneurial community. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, headquartered in Piscataway, whose core mission is to foster innovation and excellence. He’s also a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and a Trustee of Cornell University, his alma mater.
 
@NJEDATech spoke with Fischell about his experience growing companies in New Jersey:
 
What attracted you to New Jersey as the place to grow your medical device companies?
There are two key reasons why Svelte and Angel Medical are located in New Jersey instead of the more dense centers of medical device manufacturing such as Minneapolis or the Bay area in California. First is the wonderful environment for life and raising a family that my wife Sarah, a former Bell Labs engineer and department head, and I found in Monmouth County. Bell got us here, but the great schools, proximity to New York City and coastal environment have kept us here.
 
The second, and just as important, reason is the availability of the right talent for staffing our companies. Svelte has many former J&J employees, as New Jersey had been a center for stent development in the 1990s. The availability of lots of talent with drug development and manufacturing capability was also helpful as Svelte's top-of-the-line product is a drug eluting stent that prevents regrowth of tissue inside of the stent (called “restenosis”). For Angel Medical, whose product is primarily software, the leadership and much of the technical staff were also ex-Bell Labs employees.  While it might seem strange to be using telecommunications engineers to develop medical technology, it should be remembered that among other things, Bell Labs pioneered the process of designing software that never breaks or crashes.
 
You’ve been quite successful in leveraging State resources to help grow your company. Can you please describe how these companies benefited from the Angel Tax Credit and the NOL program?
It is perhaps the NOL program that has been the most beneficial to both Svelte and Angel Medical, bringing in millions of dollars over a ten-year period that is non-dilutive to shareholders.  It has really helped during recent years as the venture capital industry has moved away from funding medical device ventures because of the time and cost for return on investment. As a result, angel investments have become a much more important part of funding, with programs like the Angel Tax Credit being helpful in motivating such investment.
 
What piece of advice do you have for budding entrepreneurs just starting out?
It is all about the right starting team. Your initial group needs to be able to go from work as individual contributors when you begin, to managers of a group or department as the venture grows.  Such were the four people that formed, with me, the starting team at Angel Medical. My starting team of Jonathan Harwood, Steve Johnson, Dave Keenan and Rich Bantel were each critical to our success.  All having roots from Bell Labs, they eventually became Chief Technology Officer, Vice President of Research Development, Vice President – Clinical and Regulatory, and Director of Software Development as the company grew.
 
For more information about resources available to support New Jersey’s technology industry, visit https://www.njeda.gov/tls and follow @NJEDATech on Twitter and LinkedIn.

TRENTON (July 23, 2015) – The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) continues its series highlighting how entrepreneurs and investors are helping to build New Jersey’s technology ecosystem.

In 1999, scientist-turned-entrepreneur Navneet Puri earned his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Rutgers University and went on to found InnoPharma, Inc. in Piscataway just four years later. The research and development pharmaceutical company, focused on developing complex generic and innovative specialty products in injectable and ophthalmic dosage forms,   was ultimately acquired by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer last year. Under Puri’s leadership, InnoPharma had more than 30 products in various stages of development, including 10 generic products that had received Food and Drug Administration approval.

Puri, a resident of Lebanon, Hunterdon County, currently serves as Vice President of Worldwide Research & Development at Pfizer, a position he plans to leave at the end of the month to start a new company.  

As a graduate of a New Jersey-based university and an active entrepreneur, Puri understands the importance of nurturing and leveraging New Jersey’s technology ecosystem. “New Jersey offers an abundance of professional talent, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector. With numerous major pharmaceutical companies locating and expanding in the State, as well as a top-notch network of colleges and universities, the talent pool in New Jersey is second-to-none.”

In addition to sharing his knowledge with CEOs of New Jersey startup companies, including participating in events hosted at the EDA’s Commercialization Center for Innovative Technologies (CCIT), Puri is a charter member of the New Jersey-Philadelphia chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), a not-for-profit networking organization that aims to foster entrepreneurship through mentoring, education, incubating and funding. He also lends his expertise to Vistage, a peer-advisor group that hosts once-a-month, day-long events to enhance career development. This year Puri also volunteered his time as a judge at the New Jersey Tech Council’s Venture Conference, a program that showcases more than three dozen entrepreneurs and their businesses.

Prior to being sold to Pfizer, InnoPharma also took advantage of various State programs, including the popular Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer (NOL) Program, which enables qualified, unprofitable New Jersey-based technology or biotechnology companies to sell a percentage of net operating losses and research and development tax credits to unrelated profitable corporations.

“Navneet not only grew a startup company into a multi-million dollar enterprise, he has also devoted his time and energy to cultivating the next generation of entrepreneurs,” EDA Chief Executive Officer Melissa Orsen said.
 
@NJEDATech spoke with Puri about his experience in New Jersey and the advice that he has for emerging entrepreneurs.

While growing InnoPharma, you tapped into State resources such as the NOL program.  How did the company benefit from this program?  

The NOL program is very beneficial to R&D based companies like InnoPharma. During growth years, R&D based companies are required to infuse a lot of cash into development of products, while not leading to immediate revenue accretion. This happens at a time when, as an entrepreneur, you are confounded with inherent risks to success. NOL brings in much-needed, non-dilutive cash influx, where companies can sell their net operating losses to the state. However, companies should be careful in their corporate entity structure to take full advantage of this program, and should consult with their tax accountants and attorneys, as well as engage with the EDA.

What advice do you give budding entrepreneurs just starting out?

Budding entrepreneurs enter into this mysterious world of entrepreneurship with mixed emotions, including uncertainty, fear, excitement, ambition, anxiety and numerous other feelings. All these feelings are natural and should be embraced, as they can lead to higher self-awareness as well as empathy toward the ecosystem around us. Both of these aspects are crucial; the former to assure true motivation to start a new venture is crystal clear, leading to self-sustainable entrepreneurial mindset, and the latter to assure unmet market needs are well understood, analyzed, paving the way to form a well thought out business model.  

It is imperative for entrepreneurs to write a detailed business model, and have it vetted by others who have experience in relevant areas of expertise. This will assure that possible weaknesses in the model are highlighted, all the assumptions challenged. Every business model needs a reality check.

A new entrant in the journey of entrepreneurship should assure he/she has appropriate family and professional support, and should surround himself/herself with an experienced team of professionals, consultants and advisors.

There are various forums in New Jersey where relevant advice, guidance and mentorship can be provided to new entrepreneurs, and one must reach out to seek advice. Successful entrepreneurs are (or should be) happy and keen to share their experiences; some of them can be extremely beneficial and relevant during growth years of a new venture.

What recommendations do you have for other serial entrepreneurs thinking about giving back to emerging entrepreneurs?

I cannot speak enough about the importance of giving back to the community, society and emerging entrepreneurs. This leads to a cascading effect of growth and improvement in our overall economy and ecosystem — more than we can ever imagine.

The most important asset of serial entrepreneurs is their wealth of knowledge accrued from years of experiences in the real world.  Sharing these experiences with emerging entrepreneurs can often shave off years of time spent going down the wrong path.  A new entrepreneur is wise to learn from the mistakes of his mentors. The spirit and practice of entrepreneurship is industry-agnostic, making it easy for entrepreneurs in all stages to find common ground.  

Serial entrepreneurs should seek out forums where they can engage with emerging entrepreneurs, provide them with guidance and advice, and where appropriate, investment and referrals.  

For more information about resources available to support New Jersey’s technology industry, visit https://www.njeda.gov/tls and follow @NJEDATech on Twitter and LinkedIn.  

A meeting of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) Board has been scheduled for Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at 7:00 pm at the FMERA Office, 502 Brewer Avenue, Oceanport, NJ. Formal action may be taken at this meeting.
 
A copy of the proposed agenda can be found 48 hours prior to the meeting at the websites of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority: www.fortmonmouthnj.com

Bolstering New Jersey’s already vibrant technology ecosystem, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) recently welcomed emerging nutraceutical company Pre-D Partners as the newest tenant at the Commercialization Center for Innovative Technologies (CCIT). The EDA also renewed the lease of biotechnology business BioAegis Therapeutics at the life sciences incubator in North Brunswick.
 
“The incubator’s centralized location along New Jersey’s Route 1 research corridor, coupled with the numerous resources available to tenants, makes CCIT an ideal spot for emerging technology companies to grow their businesses,” EDA CEO Melissa Orsen said. “We look forward to watching Pre-D Partners and BioAegis Therapeutics thrive in the years ahead.”
 
Pre-D Partners recently signed a one-year lease for office space at CCIT. Pre-D Partners develops and distributes dietary supplements, sold under the brand mitoManage®, targeted to individuals with metabolic disorders, such as pre-diabetes.
 
CCIT offers tenant companies such as Pre-D Partners affordable lab and office space, as well as a broad array of services and programs. Tenants have access to educational and support programs such as a Lunch and Learn series, during which local enterprises speak about best practices in their industry; and the new Executive-in-Residence Program, which offers mentoring and advice to tenants from high-level life sciences executives in transition.   
 
CCIT has welcomed 35 new tenants since 2010. When @NJEDATech asked Pre-D Partners Chief Operating Officer Gary Minkoff why he chose to join the 23 other emerging companies in growing their businesses at CCIT, he responded, “We knew the opportunity to be part of this remarkable entrepreneurial ecosystem would provide us with access to a unique set of peers, resources, support and advocacy that would be vital in helping us achieve our vision as innovators and leaders in providing science-based dietary supplements."
 
Earlier this month, clinical-stage biotechnology company BioAegis Therapeutics renewed its lease at the incubator. Since arriving at CCIT, BioAegis Therapeutics, which is developing groundbreaking discoveries in inflammation and infection, has taken advantage of several programs at the life sciences incubator.
 
BioAegis participated in New Jersey’s Founders & Funders event in March. The program was created to directly connect companies with angel and venture capital investors. During events in 2014 and 2015, more than 90 entrepreneurs and startups met with investors, paving the way for these companies to attain the funding they need to grow in the State. The next Founder & Funders event is scheduled for October 27. 
 
BioAegis also benefitted from CCIT’s Executive-in-Residence Program and took advantage of CCIT’s first-ever vendor fair, which exposed them to service and equipment providers that can also help their business flourish.
 
@NJEDATech spoke to BioAegis Therapeutics Founder and CEO Susan Levinson about the company’s experience at CCIT:
 
Why did you choose to grow BioAegis in New Jersey? 
Our company founders are from four nearby states. We analyzed the costs, resources, incentives and workforce across all four states and chose NJ primarily because of its experienced, high quality workforce and incubator facilities. 
 
What have you found most helpful during your time at CCIT? 
The helpful staff has been very supportive to our team and access to other young companies to share equipment has been very valuable.
 
What is BioAegis’ biggest success to date? 
Our team is extremely fortunate to be working on a human protein with a wealth of research in support of the therapeutic rationale, as well as a benign safety profile. Working with a world renowned team of clinicians, we have generated human biomarker data in our targeted indication (Severe Community Acquired Pneumonia) which will allow us to minimize trial cost and risk in our Phase 2 studies.
 
What’s on the horizon for BioAegis? 
BioAegis plans to initiate our next biomarker-driven Phase 2 trials in severe Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) in the European Union in early 2016. The objective will be to demonstrate that the repletion of pGSN can prevent the uncontrolled spread of inflammation without compromising immune function in critically ill patients.
 
Severe Community Acquired Pneumonia is a leading cause of death in the US and around the world.  Patients typically proceed to Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome (MODS), morbidity and mortality which generates enormous cost to the health care system. As a result of organ damage, survivors often require ongoing care after being discharged from the ICU due to lingering neurocognitive and functional disabilities. This puts an enormous incremental strain on the health care system.
 
For more information about the resources that CCIT offers, visit https://www.njeda.gov/ccit and follow @NJEDATech on Twitter and LinkedIn.