Newark, NJ – May 25, 2011 – A promising new venture based at the NJIT Enterprise Development Center was selected as the winner at iEvening New Jersey, an innovative new business event attended by more than 160 startup founders and entrepreneurs, and hosted by NJIT on May 19, 2011. The four-hour conference included two workshops, networking, 14 exhibits and an investor pitching competition for start-up companies seeking investment capital.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, delivered a keynote address on innovation and business development at the event, and NJ startups presented competitive speed pitching presentations to a panel of high-profile, early stage investors.

“The success of this event demonstrates the leading role NJIT plays in promoting innovation and entrepreneurial education in the New York metro area,” said Judith Sheft, associate vice president of technology development at NJIT. “Jerry Creighton, executive director of NJIT’s Enterprise Development Center (EDC), continues to foster an environment in which startups can grow and succeed. We expect this will be the first of many events we host.”

The event was produced by iBreakfast New Jersey, a venture of NJ marketing firm, Sperlingreene PR and Marketing, in partnership with New York-based iBreakfast. Attendees heard from a panel of early-stage investors about what they look for in companies in which they invest. The investor panel included: John Ason, angel investor, Stephen Brotman of GSA Venture Partners, Mike Segal of Joshua Capital, and Chris Fralic of First Round Capital.

The winning firm, iSpeech, a profitable provider of cloud-based speech technology and mobile apps, received an invitation to present at the prestigious Private Equity Forum in New York, to be held in June at New York’s Yale Club.  

Sponsors included NJIT, human resource specialist Ambrose, and the law firm Plata Forbes Ferrer & Gutierrez. Event organizers plan ongoing events and meetings sponsored by NJIT, that cater to the New Jersey small business community, including the 95 startup companies based at the NJIT Enterprise Development Center.

Steven Greene, partner of iBreakfastNJ said, “This first iBreakfast event in New Jersey demonstrates the powerful resources available this side of the Hudson, and points to the surging growth of business in the Garden State.” iBreakfast founder, Alan Brody agreed, “We are seeing an exciting new wave of tech and life science ventures emerging from the Garden State.”

For more visit http://www.prlog.org/11510119-ispeech-wins-investor-competition-at-ievening-nj-conference-of-160-nj-startups.html .