American Entrepreneurship Today is pleased to present our Q&A series with key participants of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Who founded JuiceTank and what is its mission?
JuiceTank was founded by Charlie Patel and Mukesh Patel. The mission of JuiceTank is to create a community of entrepreneurs and startups that can work together in the same space, successfully find funding for their companies, enjoy a network of shared services, and have access to mentorship and advisory to accelerate their companies. We are an active part of the entrepreneurship ecosystem initiative in New Jersey, and are building to be one of New Jersey’s innovation hubs.
Does JuiceTank have a particular type of startup or early stage company it seeks to incubate?
We are open to many different companies that are looking to innovate and put a winning product out to market. We generally fund those companies that are earlier in the process and we look to play an active role in incubating our companies.
How does your co-working space differ from incubation?
Our coworking space offers people and companies who are not going through our incubation program to work out of our space and become members of the JuiceTank community. These members have access to many of the JuiceTank benefits such as shared services, mentorship, and connections with potential investors. We take a targeted approach when choosing the types of companies that work out of the space. Our vision for the coworking community is to ensure that you will not have to leave JuiceTank in order to get the services that your company needs, from marketing, to design, to PR.
Will JuiceTank invest in their incubator companies or help them find investors?
JuiceTank does invest in its incubated companies, and will also help its companies find potential investors. We will help all of our community members to help facilitate relationships with accounting firms, law firms, venture capitalists, and angel investors.
How do you feel JuiceTank or other incubators can change New Jersey’s entrepreneurial eco-system?
We believe that JuiceTank and other incubators can change NJ’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by facilitating working relationships between entrepreneurs and creating more opportunities to be funded. The key to changing the ecosystem in NJ is to give companies a network of funding opportunities, whether it be through JuiceTank’s incubator, a VC, or an angel investor. Helping the entrepreneur to find those opportunities is what will create the ecosystem, because allows them to have a business that prospers in New Jersey rather than in another state.
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