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The basics:

• HAX in Newark has supported over 50 startups in its first year
• Startups raised more than $60 million and created 160+ jobs
• Focus areas include clean energy, AI tools, critical minerals

In just over a year, HAX in Newark is showing remarkable progress. HAX is an SOSV development program for deep tech startups. SOSV is a Princeton-based venture capital firm. Through a partnership and grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, HAX established a 35,000-square-foot hub in Newark that opened last May.

The program provides an initial investment in each participating company, hands-on collaboration, a global community for early-stage founders, and more. [See box below]

HAX held a one-year anniversary celebration May 6 that featured a startup Demo Day for investors, along with a community celebration featuring members of the Newark startup, art and tech communities, as well as Audible, New Jersey Innovation Institute and the NJEDA, among others.

In this first year, HAX has quickly established itself as a global hub for startups – with more than 50 enterprises invested in and relocated to Newark from Boston, California, U.K., EU and beyond. Those startups have employed more than 160 people. The HAX startups have raised more than $60 million in VC funding.

In mid-June, NJBIZ toured HAX and spoke with leaders. Shortly after that visit, the NJEDA announced that it was partnering with SOSV and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory to launch a new Strategic Innovation Center in the Princeton area: the NJ HAX Plasma Forge. According to officials, the latest SIC would leverage SOSV and PPPL’s robust investment experience to bolster plasma-focused startup creation and acceleration, promote collaboration and commercial groundbreaking technologies in this emerging sector.

“The NJ HAX Plasma Forge, along with the other Strategic Innovation Centers across New Jersey, will support startup creation, create high-paying jobs, and strengthen the state’s long-term economic competitiveness,” said Gov. Phil Murphy in a June 17 news release.

Unlocking new possibilities

“With the support of the NJEDA’s Strategic Innovation Center initiative, entrepreneurs will be able to harness transformative advances in plasma research to create businesses that drive this exciting industry forward and further the state’s ambitious clean energy and energy resiliency goals,” said NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan.

“Plasma is a powerful tool in the deep tech arsenal, a technology that unlocks nuclear fusion, powers advanced spacecraft, and manufactures futuristic AI chips,” said SOSV General Partner and HAX Managing Director Duncan Turner. “PPPL is a world-renowned leader in this field, and we’re thrilled to partner with them to unlock new possibilities. At SOSV, we’ve already backed a handful of startups harnessing plasma technology, and this new lab, made possible by the NJEDA, will allow us to expand and deepen that effort.”

So, there is a lot happening around HAX – and that was evident during the June visit to Newark.

The NJBIZ conversation with Turner started with the culture and vibe at the facility. Turner noted that a lot of scientists and engineers have certain things they like to socialize around – describing it as a hard-working environment. “The companies seem to be enjoying themselves as they do it,” Turner told NJBIZ. He highlighted the camaraderie and positive culture of support as the entrepreneurs go through their respective journeys.

He cited the fact that more people are coming in and different members of different teams will all have lunch together. Turner said that mutual learning, especially on the CEO/CTO level, is useful for these entrepreneurs. “Because you’ve got somebody who’s been through a certain challenge ahead of you, then you can just learn from them – and you get a really good, tangible and recent example,” Turner explained.

He added, “They introduce each other to VCs and stuff – it’s great.”

A New Jersey welcome

The conversation shifted to HAX’s integration into Newark. Turner says that HAX has been welcomed into the city with open arms. “So much support – and we really needed it,” he said.

Then to the partnership with the NJEDA. “They’ve been absolutely just the best partners ever – they do everything to help the companies and to help us,” said Turner. “They’re just constantly thinking about ways to make things work better. … They really just kind of embrace the whole process. If I’ve got a problem, I call them.”

Asked about potential future announcements, Turner demurred.

“Most of what we do is kind of trying to figure out how we get these companies that are at the critical point of where they’re going past – OK, we’ve done technological development and proof of concept. How do we validate that within a market?” Turner explained. “That’s most of what we’re doing here. Because if we don’t get that bit right, the companies die.

“And then, therefore, everything that we’ve done here has been in vain. So, that’s what we concentrate on.”

Bringing ideas to life

The work going on at HAX aims to jumpstart supply chains and manufacturing – and it’s fascinating to see the operation in process, with labs and heavy-duty equipment, including fabrication tools, 3D printers and more. The outlet provides a space right in the heart of Newark for entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to life, which are focused on sustainability across climate, industrial automation and human health.

Turner spoke about Princeton Critical Minerals as well as Still Bright (a copper company), highlighting the need for critical minerals that are used in the batteries of the future and the broader energy transition.

“It’s awesome – and it’s paving the way for what we knew was going to be the focus, which is kind of a new industrial era,” said Turner. “It’s all about this idea and fact that we’ve got a number of different pressures on the industrial sector – most of which, it just needs to come back to the U.S. We need to be able to manufacture everything that’s going to be creating the huge amounts of value in the future.

“And minerals is where it starts for a lot of the energy transition. It’ll move into battery manufacturing and then advancements in that space later. Right now, there’s a focus on minerals.”

Talking energy, trade

Turner spoke a bit more about energy, which of course is a hot-button issue in New Jersey as prices spike this summer. “Most of what we’re investing in are areas to reduce the need for energy to get a certain output,” he said. “For example, we’ve concentrated a lot on data centers, particularly AI data centers, and energy optimization for those. We’ve got a couple of companies here that are doing that. Whereas it may cost us a little bit more to run the facility, ultimately, there’s a tailwind for those companies because they’re reducing energy load by 30% into some of these critical areas.

“Same for HVAC – that’s another area we’ve been heavily invested in for a long time. Any optimization you can get there, incremental is huge.”

He also discussed the impact of trade disputes. “The tariffs for us are interesting because everything we’re doing is trying to get manufacturing and processing back to the U.S.,” said Turner. “And that’s building out that industrial infrastructure. That’s building out technology — which ultimately is going to be supported by the fact that there’s a tariff which is going to be supported by the fact that there’s a tariff there.

“However, it does cost a bit more to get that infrastructure in place for now. So, it’s a double-edged sword.”

AI boom

He also noted how the widening use of AI is changing the business landscape.

“There’s a number of different levels there. So, pretty much every company will use some kind of general use AI for a lot of what they’re doing,” said Turner, noting that means ChatGPT, large language models, which he says is making the companies more efficient. “Anybody not doing that in any industry – is going to have a problem.

“More specifically, though, we’ve got a lot of automation companies. So, any robotics company is inherently an AI company – they rely on and have relied on AI for a long time.”

He said there are also material discovery companies that are getting a tailwind from the AI boom.

“And lastly, you’ve got a whole load of – and this is really where we’ve been focusing our attention – is picks and shovels of the AI boom,” said Turner, which refers to companies providing foundational tools, infrastructure and the services for AI technologies. “That’s really the area that’s most interesting for us.

“We don’t invest in AI agents – we don’t invest in pure software plays,” Turner continued, noting that that space is a bit overvalued. “But there’s a world there that probably will make a huge impact on some venture returns in the not-too-distant future. What we’re looking at is energy consumption. We’re looking at edge AI cases: How do you embed AI into devices? And how do you make AI more resilient? And how do you make it so that you have a platform that’s more specific for different use cases.”

‘People are coming back to us’

Turner said HAX has become prominent in the tech sector.

“It’s interesting,” said Turner. “I would say that people have always known about us. I think we’ve just come more into fashion as investors are looking more at hardware and physical infrastructure – and picks and shovels types of investments for AI. They’ll be like – ‘Oh, the hardware guys – oh, HAX. They’ve been doing this for over a decade.’”

“So, people are coming back to us,” Turner continued. He noted that investors who were maybe focused on software will come back to HAX because they are now looking more into the physical infrastructure.

He stressed again that a big area of concentration is on those picks and shovels for AI amid the boom in that space.

I would say that people have always known about us. I think we’ve just come more into fashion as investors are looking more at hardware and physical infrastructure – and picks and shovels types of investments for AI.
– Duncan Turner, SOSV general partner and HAX managing director

“That’s the energy efficiency within AI, data centers, processing power in data centers, energy storage within data centers – those are all huge. Then you’ve got long duration energy storage — still a very interesting area. There’s a lot of curtailment of renewables still happening. And so, figuring out cost effective ways to introduce long duration energy solutions is one that’s really, really very interesting indeed.

“In the energy independent sector, I think a lot of the companies that we are investing in – we’re looking at different means to fund those, both publicly and privately,” Turner explained. He pointed to another area of investment: maritime decarbonization, an area that emits 3% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. “It’s had very little VC funding compared to other sectors. Yet the maritime industry is starting to wake up to some of the problems.

“They are now putting forward a global tax on GHGs for the maritime sector, which means that any ship not falling within a certain energy efficiency threshold will be fined massively,” said Turner. “So that introduces a whole load of interesting investing opportunities in new fuels, in efficiency of the ship as it goes through the sea.”

What’s next?

So, what excites Turner about the immediate future?

“There’s so much,” said Turner. “If you look at the way in which policies are heading at the moment, it’s all saying – we’re no longer a global supply chain. We’re an independent supply chain. And every time that I look now at any industry, I see a whole range of different opportunities to enable that idea.”

Turner said that trend has played out through the recent, different presidential administrations.

“It was a Biden thing – it’s now a Trump thing. It’s kind of the one thing that they can agree on. Look at that plastic bottle you have there (pointing to a reporter’s diet soda bottle) – look at this piece of wood here,” said Turner about that push to make things inside the U.S. – not outside. “That means automation, material discovery, and interesting new logistics and supply chain.”

And of course, that means more opportunities for the companies and entrepreneurs operating out of HAX in Newark.