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New Jersey start-up funding continues to drop

2010 Tesla Roadster Sport

New Jersey start-up funding continues to drop

APRIL 19, 2014    LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY ANDREW WYRICH
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

* Nationwide flow of venture capital isn’t washing ashore here

A new report on Friday said funding for start-ups in New Jersey dropped sharply in the first quarter, falling 78 percent from the period a year ago and continuing a trend that began in the second quarter last year.

In contrast, funding for start-ups nationally reached levels not seen since 2001.

According to a MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, investors funneled $19.6 million in funding to five New Jersey companies in the first three months of this year, down from more than $80.2 million that went to eight companies in the 2013 quarter.

Two North Jersey companies were among the five that received funding. The Clifton-based software maker Caktus Inc., which designs software that tracks a person’s water intake, received seed funding. LiveU Ltd. of Hackensack, which develops technology for live broadcasting, received later-stage funding. The amount invested into both companies was not disclosed in the report.

“The $19.6 million invested is the lowest quarter in MoneyTree Report history, and the funding in New Jersey continues to trend downward in recent quarters,” Brett Harrington, a senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers Emerging Companies Services, said in a statement. “Hopefully, the overall increase that has been seen nationally will positively impact New Jersey in Q2.”

Yearlong slide

The money venture capitalists invested in New Jersey-based start-ups and the number of companies that got funding have declined steadily since the second quarter of 2013. In the third quarter last year, the roughly $20 million invested in 11 companies was the lowest amount invested in New Jersey in 15 years, according to the report.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/tight-state-for-start-ups-1.999421#sthash.pQvL7Ybe.dpuf

One thought on “New Jersey start-up funding continues to drop

  1. Does this surprise anyone when the state values auto dealers more than new investment by Tesla ? Or where Port Authority manager Joann Papageorgis figured out how to raise the existing Bayonne Bridge span in stages (instead of building a new bridge) in order to admit the new generation of taller container ships to Newark Harbor. Jobs linked to the port will evaporate if the bridge isn’t modernized, and yet the project has been mired in environmental-impact studies since 2009, needing 47 permits from 19 different governmental agencies ! The PA was required to waste time on a historical survey of every building within a two-mile radius of the bridge, even though no buildings will be affected by the construction. Work finally started this year.

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