If you’re a fellow New Jerseyan, you know a big election is coming up. We have the constant barrage of commercials and junk mail to prove it.
Doing some research on the races today, I came across an interesting initiative Governor Phil Murphy recently passed. It’s called the NJ Innovation Evergreen Fund.
This fund provides tens of millions of dollars to venture firms to invest in New Jersey-based companies. I’d love to see our state dominate this field, especially since we’re the original home of the transistor!
I invest in tech startups and I can tell you this much: every one of them is hiring. They’re a great source of high quality jobs.
Murphy also passed free community college and a $1 billion school funding increase. This means our population will have better skills.
The transformative inventions and great companies of tomorrow will be created by those with the best skills. And I want New Jersey to be a big part of that.
One change I’d suggest to the fund would be to have it directly invest in companies. Its current structure is complicated and hard to understand.
If the fund simply hired people knowledgeable about tech and venture capital and came in as a co-investor on great New Jersey-based companies, it could help them scale much faster.
And if the fund did well, the state could make a huge profit.
I’m excited to see this novel approach by the Murphy administration. Let’s make the Menlo Park that matters most Menlo Park, NJ!
More on tech:
Why I Just Invested in Kippo, Where Gamers Find Love
What if Everyone on Earth Had Super Fast Internet for $1?
Why I Just Invested in Capbase, The Startup in a Box
Photo: “Governor Murphy, Lieutenant Governor Oliver, Senate President Sweeney and Speaker Coughlin hold a press conference on budget agreement in Trenton on June 30, 2019.Edwin J. Torres/NJ Governor’s Office.” by GovPhilMurphy is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
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