Sangeetha Ramsagar, the inaugural executive director at Portal Innovations, the incubator space within the New Jersey Innovation Hub inside the HELIX complex in New Brunswick, has big plans to announce Portal’s presence in the state.
Count on hard‑hat tours of a facility that won’t formally open until summer. And expect a late‑spring program at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, where founders and investors will be able to view presentations and compare notes.
But more than that, prepare for something else entirely: A whole lot of casual get‑togethers. Nothing formal. Nothing fancy. Just people gathering over a drink or a few bites to talk about anything and everything.
Therein lies the secret sauce of Portal, which was founded by John Flavin in 2020 and now successful in numerous markets across the country.
It’s not just that they will help fund and foster life‑science startups in a way that has long been missing in the state — Portal will do it in a way the state has never seen.
“John understands that things happen in our ecosystem when you sit down and have a beer with someone,” she said. “He has created something called Portal Pours. It’s not just a Happy Hour; it’s a casual way to gain an understanding of who the other person is sitting across the table. That only comes when you talk about things outside of business.
“In an ecosystem of startups partnering with VCs who partner with pharma companies, I’ve learned the hard way that it’s not simply transactional. It has to be beyond that. It’s relationship‑building. It’s really getting to know the other person.
“It’s my job to set that up.”
But don’t misinterpret Ramsagar’s fun-loving approach.
As a veteran scientist and economic‑development leader at Bayer, J&J and Quest and a founder herself — and someone who has worked inside major innovation ecosystems in Boston, Philadelphia, Austin and San Diego — she brings a rare mix of R&D, business development and startup experience to the role.
Ramsagar will lead strategy, operations and ecosystem development for the 30,000-square-foot life sciences incubator, advancing its mission to accelerate the formation and growth of next-generation startup companies in New Jersey.
Her hiring marks a key milestone as the Innovation Hub builds dedicated leadership to support founders translating scientific discovery into scalable companies.
Ramsagar said she’s eager to get started.
“This role is at the intersection of everything I have done,” she said. “When I’ve been pounding the pavement with all the biotech companies in Boston, Philly and San Diego the past few years, what became obvious to me was that everything that’s needed exists in multitudes in New Jersey.”
Ramsagar quickly rattles off the state’s attributes, many of which will be found at the HELIX.
“We have all of the big pharma companies — and not just satellite offices,” she said. “We have the key decision‑makers in their clinical development and business development teams.
“We have top schools such as Stevens, NJIT, Rutgers and, of course, Princeton. We have the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.”
And Nokia Bell Labs.
There’s just one problem.
“It’s all fragmented,” she said.
That, in essence, is her mandate: Help bring it all together. The HELIX, Ramsagar said, will be able to do all of this and more.
“We need to create a catalyzing environment for these innovation startups,” she said.
She already can envision success at Portal and the N.J. Innovation Hub.
“Imagine having a connection with Bell Labs and its high‑tech innovation and a relationship with a medical school,” she said. “Imagine having access to translational labs and world‑class PIs and a vivarium. We’re going to have all of that.”
Her job now is to sell that vision.
“My 30‑day plan when I sat down with the job was to make all of this digestible and create an online as well as an in‑person presence for the community — so everything can be in one place and easy to comprehend and digest,” she said.
Ramsagar can’t wait to begin. She can’t wait for the presentations, the tours, the meetups and the conversations that will set the tone for what Portal can help the HELIX become.
More than anything, she can’t wait to talk with the leaders in this space — casually.
“I’m like a concierge,” she said. “If you have questions, reach out to me. I have answers.”
