NJ FAST Accelerates Startups in New Jersey

New Jersey is fondly known as the “Garden State,” and these days an abundant new crop of innovative startups are taking root with the support of the New Jersey Fintech Accelerator at Stevens Institute of Technology, or NJ FAST.

Launched in the Fall of 2024, NJ FAST is a partnership between Stevens, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), Prudential and Plug and Play, a Silicon Valley-based firm and innovation platform that connects startups, corporations, venture capital firms and government agencies. The collaboration focuses on supporting startups in the fintech and Insurtech sectors to ensure their success.

This collaboration is also building a thriving pipeline of new talent. Through NJ FAST, students draw on their time in the classroom to help startups refine and grow their efforts. Selected students greatly benefit from gaining first-hand, real-world experience.

That’s what drew Emma Brooks, a biomedical engineering undergrad who is earning her MBA to apply. “I wanted to gain hands-on experience with startups and help turn innovative ideas into real businesses,” she explained.

After earning admission into the program and getting matched with Waste Sync in the Spring 2025 semester, Emma leveraged her lessons to make an impact. “I applied marketing, analytics and communication skills from my MBA courses to support business development and strategy. I used my engineering background to help me understand the technical side of their company.”

Exposing students to how different companies operate, from startups to more traditional firms, is an important part of helping them grow in their personal and professional development says Assistant Dean and Senior Director of Management Programs Brian Rothschild.

Brian Rothschild (Right) poses with Stephen Dyer, Managing Member of SRD Capital Management, LLC (Left)“At Stevens Institute of Technology, we realize that the mind of an entrepreneur works a little differently than others,” shared Rothschild. “We afford our students the ability to find out if this is the lifestyle for them by offering real-life, hands-on experience working with true startups that are in different stages of development, like pre-seed, seed stage, startup stage, growth stage, established stage, expansion stage, maturity stage or merger and acquisition stage. These internships expose students to the world of fintech and how to create a business from scratch. Students can utilize this knowledge in their future by either being entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial, using the creative mind of an entrepreneur inside of a company.”

Waste Sync was among more than a dozen companies that showcased their work during the NJ FAST Batch 2 Expo at PGIM’s Newark headquarters held on June 24, 2025. The event also featured remarks from New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Prudential CIO Scott Case and NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan. BNY’s Chief Compliance Officer, AI, Jeremiah Sadow joined for a fireside chat on AI compliance.

Be on the lookout for future updates on the next NJ FAST batch coming this fall.