Newark’s Best Bet: Investing in Problem Solving Startups

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By: Allison Williams, Director of NVP Labs

From the 7th floor of One Washington Park, it’s clear that the City of Newark is bubbling with potential. Whether you are looking out at the Newark Broad Street train station, just a 18-minute train ride from New York City, or inside one of the Newark Venture Partners’ (NVP) conference rooms adorned with hammocks, ping-pong and foosball tables, and even a Budha Booth – the energy percolating inside this building is palpable.

If you don’t believe it, talk with Emeka Oguh.  Emeka is a Newark native, having grown up on Sanford Ave in the Vailsburg section of Newark.  Today, after graduating from Rutgers and earning an MBA from Harvard Business School, he is the Founder and CEO of PeopleJoy, a tech startup selected for funding through the NVP Lab Program.  Did you know that a monthly contribution – as low as $50 – from an employer can reduce student loan payments by 1-3 years and help save the employee thousands of dollars in interest?  PeopleJoy is making it possible for businesses across industry sectors to support their employees in this way through a simple plug-and-play platform – and it all began here in Newark.

Yes, Newark has its issues.  Our public education system is in need of investment and upgrades.  We are behind curve on developing transit oriented and affordable/diverse housing. We need to do more to keep and grow job opportunities in growing markets and lift up the community through a stronger commitment to inclusion and equality.  Newark, like most cities, has work to do.

But who better to do that work than entrepreneurs like Emeka who are invested in the City’s future?  Any elected official can talk at length about Newark’s history as a capital of innovation, but a government incentive did not help Thomas Edison to invent the lightbulb, and no tax package could do what Audible has done for Newark since moving its headquarters here 10 years ago.  Audible is now the city’s fastest growing private employer, with deep ties to the local school system, pipelines to internships and employment, and incentives in place encouraging employees to live local, buy local and support the local economy.  Audible is a force driving Newark’s comeback story – not simply by giving (although they do that too) – but by growing, training, hiring and innovating.

As we continue to write Newark’s next chapter, NVP is taking lessons learned at Audible and applying them to tech startups. By focusing on solution-driven, tech startups in the B2B space – all headquartered right here in Newark – we have the ability to revolutionize the city’s entire landscape.  Today, in our Labs program, we are funding companies transforming everything from background checks (Vetty) to small business lending (LendingFront).  We are betting on entrepreneurs like Vlada Lotkina who developed a better way for parents and teachers to collaborate (ClassTag), and Wole Coaxum who is reinventing the way minority communities access mainstream banking services (MoCaFi).  We believe in our companies’ ability to shake up entrenched industries – the way Designity is modernizing the traditional advertising agency model and access to creative talent. We are investing in entrepreneurs who have identified problems and deployed 21st century, tech-based solutions to challenge the status quo. [Learn more about the companies and entrepreneurs participating in our Labs program at our Demo Day presentation on June 27th from 12-4pm at the Prudential Center]

We aren’t alone.  Some of New Jersey’s biggest employers like Panasonic, Prudential, Dun & Bradstreet have partnered with us, providing mentorship and strategic opportunities for the companies we are supporting.   Even the New Jersey State government is starting to catch up, with the Murphy administration offering financial incentives to support entrepreneurship and boost the state’s innovation economy. NVP’s managing Partners Tom Wisniewski and Dan Borok have been advocates for an investment-based approach to revitalizing Newark, growing industry – and the community – from the inside out.  The right investments can offer new ways of doing business, enhanced ways to service customers, and grow a network and ecosystem built on productivity.

NVP Portfolio company Veritonic is another example of how innovation grows in the City of Newark and is nurtured by its neighbors.  Originally part of the second NVP Labs cohort, Veritonic is the audio effectiveness company–the first analytics platform built specifically to quantify the value of sound. Sharing a building and working with Audible, one of the most vanguard audio companies ever, Veritonic has been inspired to create a business that not only solves a problem for the market — the need to bring more data-driven decisions to the use of audio — but helps to transform it. The company is thriving with a team of 12 and plans to hire more following the successful close of a $2.5 million seed round.

Scott Simonelli, Founder and CEO of Veritonic said, “The City of Newark gave Veritonic roots.  It welcomed us in, gave us access to great minds and great mentors, and it became a space where we could grow.  We’re so excited for this city’s future.” Simonelli will participate in panel at this year’s Demo Day hosted at the Prudential Center on June 27th.  Register here to attend.

It’s true that Newark’s current tech ecosystem is still in its infancy, but with a steady diet of strategic investments and support from local stakeholders, it can grow to be our greatest asset.   If you doubt it, we encourage you to visit us on the 7th floor of One Washington Park, and you will see our tech community thriving, expanding, and developing the future.

 

Newark Venture Partners Portfolio Company Vydia Raises Series A Financing

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Vydia just scored one of the biggest music industry investment rounds in 2018.

In a simple, centralized platform, Vydia allows musicians, influencers, and brands to manage their content.  Now, the digital rights management and monetization startup has announced that it has raised $7 million in a Series A financing round.

This comes on the heels of significant user growth.  The company now has over 200,000 users that create, distribute, monetize, store, protect, and measure their content on the Vydia platform.

Vocap Investment Partners led the Series A Round of funding, with participation from Newark Venture Partners.  Vocap’s Managing Director, Vinny Olmstead, will join Vydia’s Board of Directors.

According to Vydia, it will use the $7 million to institutionalize and ramp sales.  In addition, the startup will expand product and feature sales, and further integrate additional video, audio, and social platforms.

The company will also double down on its machine learning capabilities.  This, says Vydia, will help creators receive intuitive, actionable feedback.

Of course, the big fat problem is that artists and content owners aren’t getting paid.  And they really don’t know how to value and maximize their assets, especially on platforms like YouTube.  So here’s a company that wants to solve that.  “Content creators are leveraging the power of video across every social platform available, however, their insights and control over their own intellectual property are limited,” said Roy LaManna, Vydia’s founder.  “Vydia is empowering creators by solving this problem with a smart, universal application.”

“With the growth of streaming services, specifically within video, we feel there is a lot more room for growth.  This capital investment will help us enrich the careers of artists on an expedited timeline.”

LaManna added that with the investment, the company will expand and improve its proprietary technology.  This will help not only individual music content creators, but also content-focused brands.

Vydia On The Web :
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https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/02/20/vydia-raises-7-million-financing/

AeroFarms has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2018

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Of the thousands of companies evaluated, we are proud to be named one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Food.

AeroFarms is a vertical farming company that operates inside a converted steel warehouse in Newark, New Jersey. Its thousands of trays of seeds grow in a high-tech aeroponic growing system that does not require sunlight or soil. The 70,000-square-foot site will ultimately farm up to two million pounds of food per year that will then be sold in area grocery stores. Cofounder David Rosenberg hopes his system will eventually be a solution for food shortages.

Lists
2018: Food
Headquarters: Newark, NJ
AeroFarms On The Web :
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Newark Venture Partners Portfolio Company, Inpensa, Named Top 5 Coolest Tech Company in NJ

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While, the tech industry today is an ever-growing community that spans across the continent and beyond, New Jersey is not to be discounted as an area full of burgeoning tech companies specializing in a range of fields, from digital marketing to fintech.

Inpensa – Edison, NJ

At Inpensa they’re changing the way executives decide on project investment with their award-winning data driven capabilities and SaaS Technology. Inpensa’s focus is on strategic project portfolio planning, analysis of ROI, and realization of benefits.

The unique approach of this young business solves the permeating problem across mid- to large organizations that spend millions or more on investments each year. The wealth of data pushes forward timely, informed decisions, which saves their clients millions on new investments.

Inpensa is the better solution for managing the project investment lifecycle, which means no more spreadsheets and a smarter use of data. It is changing the way we’ll think about investments forevermore.

The purpose-built Enterprise Business Value Management suite includes significant capabilities that can be fully integrated or delivered independently, including Project Portfolio Strategic Planning, Business Case Management, and Tracking and Analytics.

You can learn more at their website: www.inpensa.com

www.njtechweekly.com/art/3500-opinion-the-5-coolest-tech-companies-in-new-jersey/

Amazon Names Newark and New York City as ‘HQ2’ Finalists

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The New York metropolitan area picked up a one-two punch Thursday in the battle among North American cities hoping to become home to Amazon’s second headquarters, when both Newark and New York City landed on the retail giant’s shortlist.

The Seattle-based retailer had set off a frenzy among cities in the United States and Canada when it announced in September that it was looking for a location for its second headquarters, dangling promises of $5 billion in investment and as many as 50,000 jobs.

More than 238 applications poured in to Amazon from cities and regions vying to become its “HQ2.” Amazon has narrowed the list to 20, with most finalists far from the tech-saturated hubs on the West Coast. Along with Newark and New York City, Boston, Atlanta, Denver and Nashville all made the cut.

“New York gets two bites of the apple,” said Patrick L. Anderson, of the Anderson Economic Group, which advises cities on economic development and had handicapped the Amazon sweepstakes.

Before Amazon released its list of finalists, some analysts had dismissed the chances of either New York City or Newark. New York City was considered too expensive, and Newark was seen as hampered by its reputation as a hardscrabble urban center.

But Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, one of the city’s most prominent residents, seemed intent Thursday on trying to capitalize on that image by appealing to Amazon’s potential to be a game-changer for the state’s largest city.

“We have sites ready downtown, or on the waterfront. We have universities and fiber,” Mr. Baraka said. “Amazon could have a transformative effect on one of America’s oldest cities. This is an opportunity for Amazon to change the narrative about the company and where it’s headed.”

New York City is already home to a large Amazon distribution center in Staten Island and offices for more than 2,000 finance, sales and marketing workers in Manhattan. New Jersey has three Amazon distribution centers, including one 12 miles from Newark.

If Amazon finds housing and the cost of doing business too high in New York City, it could turn to Newark, which sits atop the fiber optic cable spine running along the Eastern Seaboard and is in the midst of a resurgence. Office and apartment rents are substantially lower and Amazon already has a subsidiary there, Audible.

Either way, Amazon could tap into a tech work force of nearly 300,000 people, far more than Chicago (138,813) or Los Angeles (166,234), two cities that also made Amazon’s shortlist. The impact of 50,000 new jobs would be felt throughout the metro area.

“Newark, New York City and Chicago all have very strong workforces,” Mr. Anderson said. “Newark has the advantage on cost of doing business, which is very important to Amazon.”

Mr. Anderson had put New York at the top of his list when he rated the competition last fall. Nearly three-quarters of his top 20 picks landed on Amazon’s shortlist.

But the eventual winner is by no means a foregone conclusion.

The Washington, D.C., metropolitan area presents a triple threat, with three areas — Northern Virginia, Montgomery County, Md., and the capital itself — making the list. Jeff Bezos, chairman of Amazon, has a home in Washington and owns the local newspaper, The Washington Post.

Still, there are 100,000 more tech workers in the New York region than in Washington and its suburbs.

Amazon’s finalist list hews closely to the criteria it established at the beginning of the contest: a metro area of more than a million residents; ease of transportation; a business-friendly environment; potential to attract and retain technical talent; and a strong university system.

“This is what Amazon said they wanted in a candidate,” Mr. Anderson said. “No incentives, silly sales pitches or talk of how cool their sports teams are.”

But at this stage of the contest, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, the subsidy packages that competing cities offer Amazon may influence the decision.

“Amazon, like most big companies, is dollars-and-cents oriented,” Mr. Zandi said. “Here’s where incentive packages may tip the scales.”

The state of New Jersey, which is backing Newark’s bid, has offered the biggest plum of all: $5 billion in tax breaks, grants and other subsidies. Newark officials have also discussed a supplementary subsidy package that could be worth as much as $2 billion.

“In the last decade, Newark has experienced unparalleled growth, paving the way for many new companies to call our city home. A Newark HQ2 would mean tens of thousands of local jobs, a boost to our regional economy and small businesses, and an opportunity for Amazon to take a tremendous stake in the continued transformation of our great city,” Mr. Booker said.

Critics contend that the Garden State is being overly generous with tax dollars.

“We remain wary of the steep price tag for taxpayers that state and local lawmakers have already put on this project,” said Jon Whiten, vice president of New Jersey Policy Perspective. “It has ensured that the returns will be minimized if Amazon were to ultimately choose the state.”

The administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio was less generous, announcing New York City would not offer any special subsidies or incentives for Amazon beyond the city’s existing programs. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo did say that the state would provide a benefit package for Amazon, although he did not disclose any details.

On the same day New York City submitted its bid to Amazon, Mr. de Blasio criticized the company for its destructive impact on local shop owners. But at this point, neither that criticism nor the lack of an enhanced subsidy package has hurt New York’s chances.

“We’re not changing our approach,” said Alicia Glen, New York City’s deputy mayor for economic development. “We offered four very viable options in different neighborhoods. If you want to hire 50,000 incredibly smart people, there’s no better place. And a city that has art, culture, food and urban walkability are a huge priority for this generation of workers.”

The Partnership for New York City, a business group that has strongly supported the city’s bid for Amazon, said New York’s chances are good.

“Amazon is notoriously cheap and our costs our high,” said Kathryn Wylde, the Partnership’s president. “But in every other way, New York is a winner. It has the markets they want to reach, the talent and a strong history as a global retail capital. The question is, ‘Does Bezos sees the value of mixing with the global industries and market leaders that are based in New York?’ ”

www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/nyregion/amazon-headquarters-finalists.html

Canadian-Fronted Hyr Raises $1.3 Million Seed Round

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Hyr has announced it has raised a $1.3 million USD seed round.

The New York City company, founded by Canadian Erika Mozes, saw the funding led by Flybridge Capital Partners with participation from Newark Venture Partners and XFactor Ventures.

The new capital brings Hyr’s total raised financing to $2.4 million USD. The new financing will be used to scale Hyr into new markets and verticals while also growing across the U.S. and Canada.

Hyr is a startup that helps match shift workers to businesses when they need to pick up a few extra shifts on the go. The platform is a solution for both workers and businesses; employees get the chance to make a bit of extra cash when they are not busy, and companies can pick up workers when they really need the extra bodies.

Mozes shared a blog post describing her journey around founding and growing Hyr.

“We also played upon a growing restlessness among a younger generation, who value time over money and value experiences over things,” she writes. “The Bucket List Generation was exactly our target—being defined by what you’re working for, not where you work.”

“The gig economy was looking for the ‘Uber’ of the labor market and Hyr was the answer.”

In New York and Toronto, there are over 600 million shifts scheduled each year in the hospitality and retail industries. More than six million of those go unfilled because the businesses are unable to find willing and able workers.

Since founding in 2017, Hyr has seen more than 10,000 workers on-boarded to the platform, accessing more than 200 businesses. This includes some of the largest hospitality chains in Canada like Carlsburg, SirCorp and Hero Certified Burgers.

“Information and office workers have had the chance, over the last 10 years, to benefit from more flexible work environments and more meaningful work and now the shift economy can tap into that same opportunity,” writes Jesse Middleton, a venture capitalist at Flybridge. “I imagine a world, not too far off, where a simple tap of a button on your phone can take you to new places all over the world with a room from Airbnb, a car from Uber and a job from Hyr when you land.”

Hyr is a company that is coming at the right time, as a recent study by Intuit Canada shows that Generation Z is beginning to embrace their side hustle and look for ways to grow and earn money beyond a typical 9-5.

www.techvibes.com/2018/01/17/canadian-fronted-hyr-raises-1-3-million-seed-round

In Newark, tech startups get a head start

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Nine companies, from real estate technology to artificial intelligence, represent the third Newark Venture Partners Labs Accelerator Class.
Welcome to Demo Day, an opportunity for companies to present and pitch to investors to raise capital right in Newark.“This day basically is going to kick-off our Series A round, we’re going to be raising $5 million to get this facility off the ground and open a few more, and also start distributing our products to consumers. We’re making a cleaning product and an organic plant food,” said Amanda Weeks, co-founder of Industrial/Organic.It’s one of the companies in the lab’s program that turned a former meatpacking plant in Newark into its pilot facility.

“What we do is take in food waste and it gets processed using fermentation and other mechanical and biological methods,” said Weeks.

In 2014, startups in New Jersey attracted just one-tenth of the venture capital that was invested in New York. Newark Venture Partners is aiming to bring more of that money to the state.

“We invest from $100,000 up to $1 million, and each of the companies we work with on the $100,000 end, that’s the lab program, but as they graduate we put more and more into the company and help them thrive,” said Managing Partner Tom Wisniewski. “The idea is for us to make things so great here with our partners, with our space, that the companies will lay down roots.”

Managing Partner Dan Borok says his family’s roots are in Newark — they go back about a hundred years. His grandfather came to the city from Russia and opened a family business not far from Newark. He sees that potential for the tech companies the fund invests in.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is there are a number of publicly traded large corporations, so we’ve gotten those companies to invest in our fund and connect directly with our startups to help them scale up and build businesses here in Newark,” said Borok.

“We’ve received about 1,800 applications in the past year and a half. We invested in 40 companies and put about $10 million of capital to work and we’re really happy with the progress we’re seeing with the companies now,” continued Borok.

That was part of Audible CEO Don Katz’s vision for his company.

“Eleven years ago, we brought Audible to Newark and the idea was to be part of this comeback story, and to redefine the company around urban transformation,” he said.

He founded Newark Venture Partners as a way to expand on that vision. With the graduation of this class means a new group of entrepreneurs, to which Katz offered this piece of advice.

“A lot of entrepreneurs think it’s all about them, and ultimately, it’s not scalable. You need compatriots,” he said. “You need to fill in the gaps and another thing you have to argue is that you have to measure your success in your own metrics because if you wait for the money guys to tell you how to measure things, you won’t be too happy because in the early stage, it’s the input that matters — not the financial outputs.”

www.njtvonline.org/news/video/newark-tech-startups-get-head-start/

In Newark, a Startup Plans to Convert Trash Into Usable Products

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Soil erosion, loss of farmland, increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, rising temperatures, water scarcity, food waste, landfills—these are the unsustainable realities that keep Industrial/Organic (IO) co-founder and CEO Amanda Weeks up at night. But after a year of research, three years of testing, and a successful seed round of funding, IO is opening its first food waste facility in Newark, New Jersey, and according to IO’s website, it is ready to close “several crucial loops necessary to support public health, environmental resilience, and economic growth.”

IO is a waste management service, but more accurately, it is the waste management service of the future, employing the kind of commitment, foresight, and ingenuity that is timely and absolutely essential. According to IO, food waste is the largest contributor to landfills in the United States with one-third of all food produced ending up as waste.

Amanda Weeks is from Staten Island and grew up just a few miles from Fresh Kills—the 2,200-acre landfill that at the peak of its operation took in 30,000 tons of trash a day from New York City. The stench of garbage was always in the air. Before co-founding IO, Weeks worked as a market researcher, and through consumer insights, she gathered that food waste diversion was trending, especially in urban areas, but there’s a dearth of facilities capable of organic recycling.

Enter Industrial/Organic. The proprietary process is ideal for urban areas because it’s fast (3 days), clean (reduces transport emissions), odorless (does not produce methane), requires little infrastructure (pop-up, modular design), and saves space (unused, industrial buildings are perfect).

Weeks’ initial concept took years of research validation by a team of scientists and engineers, resulting in the proprietary process which she graciously explained to the unscientific staff at Jersey Digs:

“Similar to a brewery or winery, we ferment food waste in an enclosed tank. The fermentation process sterilizes and stabilizes the organic matter, while also releasing the high moisture content in food. We then separate and reclaim the individual resources present in food waste or that are generated as a byproduct of fermentation: carbon, nutrients, water, organic acids, and alcohol. We use these raw resources to then manufacture new products from organic fertilizers to household cleaning products.”

Newark is IO’s first commercial-grade facility, getting the process out of the lab and into use. Set up in an old meatpacking plant, the location is just 7,000 square feet, which is tiny when compared to traditional waste facilities that sit on multiple acres far outside the city limits. IO chose Newark for its pilot “micro-facility” because “there’s a lot of development going on here, catalyzed by large firms who call Newark home, such as Audible and Prudential. We wanted our first facility to be at the ground floor of an urban renaissance,” says Weeks.

The plan moving forward is to have a “distributed network of smaller facilities that break up the distance that waste travels which in turn eases the burden on specific communities,” says Weeks.

IO recently received approval from Essex County to file its permit application with New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection and hopes to be up and running by Spring 2018. IO is also laying the groundwork to train and provide career paths to traditionally underemployed groups as well as increase their involvement with universities and government policy to raise awareness and further affect change.

“Part of sustainable development is making a positive impact on the communities we serve. Every community is different and we plan to serve the underserved in every community we work in,” says Weeks.

Check out IO’s website which is a true primer on conventional agriculture, traditional waste management, and the ways Industrial/Organic is inserting itself into each stage of the current, unsustainable cycle to ensure a future for us all.

www.jerseydigs.com/newark-startup-industrial-organic-will-eliminate-food-waste-without-landfill/

This Unexpected City Says It Has Everything Amazon Wants for a New Headquarters

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Kansas City’s mayor reviewed 1,000 products on Amazon. Basketball star Michael Jordan wrote a personal letter to the e-commerce giant’s CEO Jeff Bezos. Meanwhile, Georgia offered to name in new city after the company.

But as creative as those attempts are to woo Amazon for its second headquarters, it’s far more likely that the big dollars that Amazon has asked for will be a major deciding factor in its location.

That likely what New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had in mind when he submitted the official proposal for placing Amazon’s HQ2 in Newark Monday, getting straight to the point. Responding to Amazon’s specific tax requests as a condition for building its second headquarter in any given city, Christie proposed up to $7 billion in tax incentives.

Amazon has said that the new location would result in 50,000 new jobs and a $5 billion investment. New Jersey estimates HQ2 could bring a $9 billion boost to the state’s economy, which has struggled to come back from the riots in 1967.

Christie said Monday that his state would be willing to provide $5 billion in tax incentives over the course of 10 years once those 50,000 jobs are added. The city of Newark meanwhile is also offering a local property tax break that could save the company another $1 billion, and is also offering to waive $1 billion worth in wage taxes for employees over 20 years.

While New Jersey’s tax incentive plan is likely the largest one put forward yet by any city, the deadline for HQ2 proposal submissions has not yet passed. Amazon is giving cities and states until Oct. 19 to submit a plan.

Philadelphia meanwhile is also offering 10 years of property tax abatement. It’s unclear how much in savings Amazon will gain from the plan. The city’s mayor James Kenney said in September that they hadn’t gotten to the specifics about those tax incentives.

www.fortune.com/2017/10/16/amazon-hq2-new-jersey-newark-jeff-bezos/

Uber of dog walking? App connecting owners and walkers expands to N.J.

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HOBOKEN — Emily Hammond had just moved back to New York after college in Wyoming and the animal lover was hoping to find a job in human rights. But in the meantime, to help pay the rent on her East Village apartment, she took what turned out to be an ideal temp job: walking dogs for a new company called Barkly.

“I care about animals so much!” said Hammond, 23, who also feels good about the humans who feed her dog-walking jobs. “They’re really easy to communicate with, you can tell they value their clients and the dogs, as well as the walkers.”

Newark-based Barkly — call it a leash-hailing app — was founded in Washington, D.C., in 2015, and has been making its way up the East Coast since then, expanding into Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and now, the New Jersey Gold Coast. Last week, Barkly began operating in the Hudson County K-9 strongholds of Jersey City, Hoboken and Weehawken.

“We think that Hoboken, Jersey City and Weehalken hit our demographics really well,” said Dave Comiskey, a former Defense Department analyst who is a co-founder and chief operating officer. “Younger working professionals who have a commute. Having that commute makes it challenging to care for your own pet when you’re working. And that’s where we come in: to lend a helping hand should work go long; should there be a happy hour after work. We’ll be available in under 60 minutes in all those areas of New Jersey.”

Pet owners who download the app or sign up at Barkly’s web site, pay a basic rate of $18 for a half-hour walk, 80% of which goes to the dog walker. Payment is by credit card through the app. The site also includes articles under the headings Health & Safety, Pet News (“Trump White House to Remain Pet-less”) and General Fluff.

To have their dogs walked, owners contacts Barkly to arrange scheduling and access to their house or apartment. For regular walks, particularly at single family homes, Barkly will come and install a lock box outside the house. For emergency or unforeseen situations when nothing’s been set up in advance, the pet owner can arrange for a doorman, concierge or some other third party to let the walker in, or they can let Barkly know there’s a key under the mat.

In a very few emergency situations, when there is no prior relationship between a pet owner and Barkly, and there is no way to provide emergency access, Comiskey said Barkely will not be able to walk the dog.

To protect pet owners, their pets and their personal property, Comiskey says Barkly does background checks on all walkers, thoroughly trains all walkers in the handling of dogs, and insures against theft or damage. Barkly will also arrange meet-and-greet sessions to let pet owners get a sense of their dog’s potential walker. The walkers are also insured against injury or liability, Comiskey said.

Barkly was one of nine startups in the inaugural “class” of Newark Venture Partners, a tech incubator and investment fund launched by Audible founder Don Katz. Like other members of NVP’s first and second incubator classes so far, the company is provided capital, office space at NVP’s downtown Newark location in a building shared by Audible and Rutgers Business School, mentoring and training in marketing and other business principles beyond their particular expertise.

Comiskey declined to provide sales figures for the company, but he said, “I would say we’re doing several thousand dog walks a month.”

Would-be walkers who visit the site are told, “Earn over $1,000 a month,” and asked for a name, email address and zip code, and must agree to a background check. They are regarded as independent contractors, not employees, a model made familiar by the ubiquitous ride-hailing giant, Uber.

But Comiskey dismisses comparisons between his company and the controversial transportation startup, which has been accused — unjustly, Uber insists — of treating its drivers like employees but depriving them of common employee benefits.

“Whatever it is, we will go to every lenth to insure that our dog walkers, pets and pet parents are happy,” said Comiskey, 30, who founded the company with Chief Technology Officer Jim Camut and Chris Gonzalez, the chief executive officer, both about his age. “So if that means getting the dog walker medical attention or getting a dog medical attention, we will do it.”

Rave reviews light up the Barkly Pets Facebook page. And Comiskey said the 1,000 applications a month the company gets from people who want to walk dogs is both a testament to the company’s commitment and a way to insure a quality workforce.

www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2017/08/the_uber_of_dog_walking_app_expands_into_hudson.html