NEWARK MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY TO EXPAND WITH EDISON INNOVATION FUND INVESTMENT
Trenton, N.J. (December 19, 2007) – The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) has closed a $250,000 Edison Innovation Fund investment to assist Newark-based NeuroTrax Corporation, a medical technology company that designs, develops and markets diagnostic tools for the neurological healthcare market. The Edison Innovation Fund, a key element of Governor Jon S. Corzine’s Economic Growth Strategy, was created to support technology and life sciences companies throughout their discovery, development and commercialization stages.
“Governor Corzine created the Edison Innovation Fund to attract and retain technology and life sciences companies, and NeuroTrax is a great example of how this initiative works to enhance New Jersey’s strong record of innovation,” said EDA Chief Executive Officer Caren S. Franzini. “NeuroTrax has created a new approach to sensitive and reliable cognitive testing, and its decision to grow and invest in New Jersey is great news for the state.”
The EDA, in consultation with the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education and the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, is responsible for managing the $150-million Edison Innovation Fund. The fund will leverage $350 million in private capital that will be targeted to emerging companies as well as existing mid-sized and large technology and life science businesses.
NeuroTrax Corporation’s primary product, Mindstreams®, is a web-enabled system of software-based interactive tests that measure memory, attention, decision-making, visual spatial and information processing speed, verbal skills, and motor skills to determine impairment. The company’s spotlight has been on early detection of Alzheimer’s disease although Mindstreams® can also be applied by physicians to traumatic brain injury, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia. Mindstreams web-based design offers medical professionals a unique ability to track a patient’s decline or progress over time. The $250,000 Edison Innovation Fund investment will be used to support the commercialization of the company’s diagnostic products and for working capital. NeuroTrax is located in the Enterprise Development Center at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark.
“We are very excited to have received this funding from the EDA,” said Dr. Ely Simon, Founder and CEO of NeuroTrax. “The investment will help us to grow and further the establishment of Mindstreams as a standard for medical practice. This funding proves that New Jersey is committed to helping innovative small companies succeed.”
Franzini noted that NeuroTrax is located within the Newark Edison Innovation Zone, one of three “technology neighborhoods” in the state where academic and research institutions can work with companies to develop and market new products or services while enjoying certain financial incentives and other benefits. The Zones were created in 2004 within the cities of Camden and Newark as well as the Greater New Brunswick Area to spur collaborative efforts and encourage the rapid transfer of discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace. Edison Innovation Zones are a joint state effort involving the EDA, the Commission on Science and Technology, and other state agencies.
The EDA is an independent, self-sustaining state financing and development agency that works to promote economic growth, job creation and the revitalization of New Jersey’s communities with financing assistance, technical support and entrepreneurial training, and real estate development activities.
For information on the Edison Innovation Fund and to learn more about opportunities for business growth throughout New Jersey, visit the state’s business portal at www.NewJerseyBusiness.gov.
