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Deals Start Here: Inside NJ’s Innovation Infrastructure
How venture capital, government investment, and founder-focused innovation hubs are producing the next generation of acquisition targets and investment opportunities.
New Jersey is no longer flying under the radar — it's rapidly becoming a hotbed for early-stage innovation, where venture-backed companies, government-funded accelerators, and corporate partnerships are fueling a powerful new deal pipeline.
This isn’t a startup 101 conversation — it’s a strategic look at how the businesses being built in NJ today are becoming the acquisition targets, clients, and investment opportunities of tomorrow.
Whether you advise, invest in, acquire, or support high-growth companies — this is where the deals will come from.
This discussion offers a unique window into how NJ’s public and private sectors are working together to shape the state’s next wave of scalable businesses.
Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at how NJ’s innovation infrastructure is evolving, and what service providers, investors, and M&A leaders need to know to stay ahead of the curve.
Featured Panelists include:
Vaughn Crowe, Managing Partner, NVP Capital
Moderator, Yelena Dunaevsky, Senior Vice President, Woodruff Sawyer, a Gallagher Company
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear directly from the leaders shaping NJ’s innovation economy — and discover how to position yourself for the deals already taking shape.
This Monthly Breakfast is kindly supported by our sponsors: EisnerAmper, Crowe, and Gibbons P.C. and our other Annual Sponsors.
Meet the Panel
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Vaughn Crowe, Managing Partner, NVP Capital
Vaughn Crowe is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of nvp capital, where he leads direct investments across the firm’s core themes in B2B software and vertical AI. With a career spanning operational leadership and venture investing, Vaughn is known for building long-term partnerships with founders from the earliest stages through scale.
Before launching nvp, Vaughn was Managing Director at Wesray, the family office of Ray Chambers, where he invested across seed, growth, and buyout stages and helped seed several notable PE and VC firms. He also served as Executive Chair of a $300M consumer products company, leading key operational and strategic initiatives. Earlier in his career, Vaughn worked at Chubb Insurance as a property and casualty underwriter and marketing manager.
Vaughn serves as Vice Chair of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, part of RWJBarnabas Health, and sits on several boards, including, Toothio, Handspring Health, Ryse Marketplace, and Workgrounds. He holds a BA in Political Science from Colgate University, where he played football (Go ‘Gate!) and attended Harvard Business School.
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Moderator, Yelena Dunaevsky, Senior Vice President, Woodruff Sawyer, a Gallagher Company
Experienced complex commercial insurance broker and former securities and M&A attorney with over 20 years of experience in law and insurance, Yelena advises clients on M&A- and IPO-related insurance solutions, including representations and warranties insurance (RWI) and D&O insurance for public companies and SPACs.
Yelena is a frequent speaker and author and has been featured in many publications including S&P Global, Yahoo Finance, Reuters, Investment News Today, Business Law Today, Law360, CFO.com, Business Journal, Deal Flow and Bloomberg.
She is the M&A Executive Editor of the American Bar Association’s Business Law Today and the Executive Editor of the SPAC Notebook, a blog series that covers SPACs and SPAC risks.
In 2022, Yelena was named in Insurance Business America's "Hot 100," which lists top professionals whose contributions have helped shape the insurance industry. Yelena also received the JD Supra “Readers’ Choice” and “Top Read Article” Awards for her M&A articles in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Prior to Woodruff Sawyer, Yelena practiced as a senior capital markets associate at Clifford Chance and a corporate/M&A associate at LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae (later Dewey & LeBoeuf) and earned her BS in Economics from Cornell University and her JD from Fordham University School of Law.
| Who should attend: This event is open to all ACG members and non-members. |
Hosted by: ACG
Chapter
New Jersey
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Early Bird Rates Expire March 31, 2026
Regular Rates Expire April 15, 2026
Late / Onsite Rates begin April 16, 2026
Member - ACG $55 EB | $65 | $75 LR
Member - Other Chapter $65 EB | $75 | $85 LR
Non-Member $105 EB | $115 | $125 LR
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