HAX Opens New Headquarters in Newark

By Jim Pytell, Managing Editor On Apr 30, 2024

Princeton-based venture capital firm SOSV’s HAX, a startup development program for pre-seed hard-tech companies, opened its new 35,000-square-foot global headquarters in Newark today. With additional offices in Shenzhen, San Francisco, Pune and Tokyo, the HAX program provides a 6-month collaborative residency, hands-on engineering support, and an initial investment package of $250,000 to early stage founders building hard-tech startups.

“From the electric light bulb to the telecommunications and pharmaceutical industries, New Jersey has a long history as the birthplace of industries. Governor Murphy’s vision for innovation and commercialization works hand-in-glove with HAX’s strategy of igniting an industrial renaissance for the United States. And society, as a whole, has an urgent need for next-generation hard-tech companies to solve our current challenges in human and planetary health,” said SOSV Managing General Partner Sean O’Sullivan.

“Hard-tech,” means engineering or scientific breakthroughs in the physical world. When it comes to startups, that includes companies building new robotics, sensors, connectivity, electronics, critical materials, industrial processes, and infrastructure.

There have been more than 250 HAX graduates since 2012, which have raised nearly $2 billion and have a cumulative value of more than $8 billion.

In 2021, HAX secured $25 million from the state of New Jersey to open and staff its new Newark facility on 2 Cedar Street.

“[SOSV] could have planted the HAX flag literally anywhere in the world, and they chose Newark,” Gov. Phil Murphy said. “I think it is among – if not the most – significant win that we have had in my time in office.”

The headquarters will anchor a $50 million project that is expected to help develop 100 new startups over the next five years, bringing millions of dollars of capital to New Jersey’s largest city.

SOSV said that companies participating in the HAX program could create more than 2,500 jobs over the next 10 years.

Additionally, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) is working as a partner with SOSV, and has invested $25 million in the project.

“HAX is a game-changer for the New Jersey innovation [ecosystem],” said NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan. “It will help to create the equitable access to resources we need to continue supercharging our economy.”

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