JERSEY CITY, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The New Jersey-based Tech Council Ventures (TCV), one of the Mid-Atlantic’s premier early-stage venture funds investing in healthcare, technology, energy, and the environment, has signed on as Venture Capital Innovation Lead Partner for the Healthcare Innovation Engine at Liberty Science Center’s SciTech Scity. Through the partnership, TCV will provide strategic guidance to start-up companies supported by the Engine and invest $250,000+ annually in one or more of them.
The SciTech Scity Healthcare Innovation Engine is a multi-stakeholder initiative to accelerate the adoption of digital-first healthcare solutions through real-world pilot programs with start-ups. The Engine is the first statewide platform for digital health adoption in the U.S. and is launching pilots with uninsured patients in cardiovascular health, oncology, post ER-care, maternal health, and adolescent mental health.
At last week’s Annual Urban Transformation Summit, the World Economic Forum (WEF) bestowed its prestigious 2025 Public-Private Collaboration Award on the Healthcare Innovation Engine. The Engine is a flagship program of SciTech Scity, the 30-acre innovation campus being developed by Liberty Science Center to foster the growth of new companies that use science and technology for public good.
Besides Tech Council Ventures, Engine partners include RWJBarnabas Health, Bristol Myers Squibb, EY, New Jersey Innovation Institute, Princeton University, Nokia Bell Labs, New Jersey Economic Development Authority, New Jersey Department of Health, New Jersey Department of Human Services, and Jersey City Department of Health and Human Services.
“By combining SciTech Scity’s ecosystem of hospitals, universities, companies, and government partners with TCV’s investment expertise, this partnership is poised to create lasting impact for patients and communities,” said Paul Hoffman, President and CEO of Liberty Science Center. “Start-ups supported by the Engine will not only gain the capital and validation they need to thrive but will also deliver innovations that expand access to care, reduce disparities, and improve outcomes for the most vulnerable.”
Addressing his company’s impetus to join SciTech Scity, Mark Kolb, TCV Partner, said that, “We were drawn to the Healthcare Innovation Engine because it solves one of the biggest challenges start-ups face, which is moving beyond pilots to real market adoption. Too often, promising companies stall before they can demonstrate sustainable impact. This platform provides not only access to leading health systems and corporate partners but also serves as a pathway to reimbursement and scale.”
He added that for TCV, this is “an opportunity to invest in companies that can both thrive commercially and deliver meaningful improvements in care.”
Hoffman explained that the Healthcare Innovation Engine is “building a model for how states can harness public-private partnerships to make digital health more equitable, affordable, and effective—positioning New Jersey as a national leader in healthcare transformation. The addition of TCV’s partnership to the Engine’s platform will help early-stage companies move beyond pilots, validate their business models, and scale into sustainable solutions that transform healthcare delivery and equity,” Hoffman said.
This collaboration comes at a crucial time. As Alex Richter, Executive Director and Head of the SciTech Innovation Hub, explained, “At a time when healthcare systems are under pressure to deliver more with fewer resources, and policy makers are raising the bar on equity and innovation, our partnership with Tech Council Ventures is ensuring that the most promising digital health startups don’t just pilot in New Jersey–they scale here.”
Echoing Hoffman’s remarks, Richter added that the “start-ups supported through this partnership will not only gain the capital and validation they need to thrive but will also deliver solutions that expand access, reduce disparities, and strengthen outcomes for communities most often left behind. In doing so, SciTech Scity and TCV are creating a replicable model for how states can leverage public-private partnerships to meet today’s healthcare challenges head-on—making care more equitable, more affordable, and more effective at the very moment it is needed most.”
About Tech Council Ventures
Tech Council Ventures (TCV) is among the largest venture funds dedicated to early-stage entrepreneurs in the Mid-Atlantic region. With a strong focus on healthcare and technology, TCV partners with founders to provide not only capital but also access to a powerful network of industry experts, corporate partners, and co-investors. The firm has a 20+ year track record of successful investments across healthcare IT, biotech, medical devices, and digital health.
About the SciTech Scity Healthcare Innovation Engine
The SciTech Scity Healthcare Innovation Engine launched in February 2024. It is a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership dedicated to transforming healthcare by accelerating the adoption, reimbursement, and scaling of digital-first care solutions. Unlike traditional innovation hubs, the Engine ensures that cutting-edge technologies move beyond pilots to full clinical integration, providing a structured, real-world pathway to improve patient outcomes. By bringing together health systems, payers, policymakers, and innovators from day one, the Engine eliminates silos that typically slow healthcare adoption.
At its core, the Engine is focused on helping the people of New Jersey—particularly the communities that need it most. By prioritizing vulnerable and underserved populations, the Engine is ensuring that digital health innovations expand access to care, reduce disparities, and create more equitable healthcare solutions. This effort is made possible through a multistakeholder coalition including RWJBarnabas Health, Bristol Myers Squibb, EY, New Jersey Innovation Institute, Nokia Bell Labs, Princeton University, and key government agencies such as the NJ Economic Development Authority, NJ Department of Health, NJ Department of Human Services, and Jersey City Department of Health and Human Services.
Through this unique collaboration, the Engine is positioning New Jersey as the nation’s testbed for scaling digital-first care, creating scalable, evidence-based models that can be replicated nationwide to improve healthcare access, quality, and affordability—ensuring that all patients, regardless of income or background, receive the care they deserve.
The Engine received the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Public-Private Collaboration Award.
About SciTech Scity
Liberty Science Center is developing a “Science City of Tomorrow” in Jersey City—a 30-acre innovation campus called SciTech Scity devoted to using science and technology to address humanity’s greatest challenges, from healthcare deficiencies to climate change, and create a better future for all of us. The new campus, including the existing Liberty Science Center, home of the largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, will be officially named the Frank J. Guarini Innovation Campus and start to open in 2026.
SciTech Scity will include $450 million of new construction: Liberty Science Center High School, a new public magnet STEM high school built by the Hudson County Improvement Authority and operated by the Hudson County Schools of Technology; Edge Works, an eight-story business creation center with laboratories, R&D spaces, office suites, co-working spaces, a tech exhibition gallery, and a state-of-the-art conference center; Scholars Village residential housing built and operated by Alpine Residential for tech-forward individuals and families; and Public Commons, three acres of community outdoor space for art installations, food trucks, performances, farmers markets, science festivals, and maker fairs.
Learn more at SciTechScity.com.
About Liberty Science Center
Liberty Science Center (LSC.org) is a 300,000-square-foot, not-for-profit learning center located in Liberty State Park on the Jersey City bank of the Hudson near the Statue of Liberty. Dedicated to inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers and bringing the power, promise, and pure fun of science and technology to learners of all ages, Liberty Science Center houses the largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, 11 museum exhibition halls, a live animal collection with 110 species, giant aquariums, a 3D theater, live simulcast surgeries, a tornado-force wind simulator, K-12 classrooms and labs, and teacher-development programs. More than 250,000 students visit the Science Center each year, and tens of thousands more participate in the Center’s off-site and online programs. Welcoming more than 800,000 visitors annually, LSC is the largest cultural institution in New Jersey and the largest interactive science center in the NYC-NJ metropolitan area.
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