Fifteen minutes after John Flavin, the founder of Portal Innovations, and Chris Picariello, the president of J&J Innovation, had an insightful fireside chat, most of the room of more than 100 founders, investors and life science industry executives was still there, talking and networking.
Thirty minutes after, the numbers had only dimmed slightly.
Flavin didn’t mind. In fact, he welcomed it.
This wasn’t about being a good host at an event held at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center — it was about setting an example of how Portal intends to engage with the innovative ecosystem that has long existed in New Jersey.
This was about creating opening conversations in low-pressure settings that could lead to bigger discussions down the line.
This was a sneak peek of what can be expected at HELIX 1, anchored by Portal and the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The facility, which had limited opening earlier this month, will have a more formal announcement later this summer.
Flavin can’t wait. He’s eager to bring more of these events to the HELIX.
“It’s what I live for,” he told BINJE afterward. “There’s a place for scientific lectures — but this is about warmer conversations, convening, interacting, collaborating. You want people in the same room who haven’t been in the same room before. That’s how ecosystems get built.”
Flavin said the goal is continuity — gatherings that don’t feel transactional but instead create the kind of familiarity that leads to follow-on meetings, shared ideas and, eventually, companies.
He noted that the real measure of an event like this isn’t the program itself, but what happens after.
He even pointed to the HELIX’s future marketplace — complete with an Irish pub — as a metaphor for the culture Portal wants to cultivate.
“You can do serious stuff in a pub,” he said with a laugh. “You can conduct real business over beers. That’s the essence of what we’re trying to create.”
It’s what Portal, headquartered in Chicago, has done in locations around the country, including Boston, Atlanta and Houston.
For Sangeetha Ramsagar, Portal’s inaugural executive director in New Jersey, the night felt like confirmation.
She credited DEVCO and its President, Chris Paladino, for having the vision.
“New Jersey has been waiting for something like this,” she said. “A place where health systems, pharma, biotech — everyone — is co-located. Tonight was a microcosm of HELIX 1. You can already see Chris Paladino’s vision coming to life.”
Ramsagar said the energy in the room — founders talking to investors, researchers talking to operators, conversations continuing long after the program ended — is exactly what Portal intends to spark on a regular basis.
“This is what it’s supposed to feel like,” she said. “And when HELIX opens, it’s only going to grow.”
It’s already growing.
BioNJ Founder and CEO Debbie Hart, who announced earlier in the day that her organization has joined Portal as a foundational member, was delighted by the event – a proof-of-concept moment for sure, she said.
“It’s creating a place where companies won’t just grow, they’ll scale, lead and elevate New Jersey on the global stage,” she said. “BioNJ is just so proud to be part of that.”
Jim Lynch, the CEO of DNA Nanobots, was equally impressed.
Lynch lives in Jersey, but his company, which builds programmable DNA-based nanostructures to deliver genes and drugs precisely to diseased cells, is based in Columbus, Ohio. And while Ohio has life science gatherings, they are not at this level.
Lynch said potentially taking space here would be about more than just cutting down his commute.
“New Jersey obviously has long had the ecosystem,” he said. “This is showing what can happen when it all comes together.”
