Nokia Cuts Ribbon on Bell Labs Venture Studio at Murray Hill

By Jim Pytell, Managing Editor On Apr 10, 2025

Nokia Bell Labs cut the ribbon on its new Bell Labs Venture Studio yesterday during a centennial celebration at its Murray Hill campus. The venture studio will eventually be moved and housed within the NJ Nokia Bell Labs Innovation Center, which itself will be part of a new Strategic Innovation Center (SIC) at the planned Health & Life Science Exchange (HELIX) 2 building in New Brunswick, which is expected to open by 2028.

The ribbon cutting took place during a day-long celebration honoring Nokia Bell Labs centennial, marking 100 years of groundbreaking discoveries and innovations. 

“The last century would be unrecognizable without Nokia Bell Labs,” said Nishant Batra, chief strategy and technology officer at Nokia. “We established the foundations for modern communications, computing and the internet, setting the standard for the telecommunications industry, with a profound impact on people and communities worldwide. Our legacy is embedded in every bit within the billions of terabytes that flow through global networks each year, and our dedicated researchers are tirelessly working on the groundbreaking innovations that will shape the future.”

Throughout its history, Bell Labs has been a birthplace of innovation, leading to numerous revolutionary inventions and discoveries including the transistor, laser, cellular telephony, solar cells, and the UNIX operating system. The facility has also been recognized with myriad awards, including 10 Nobel Prizes and five Turing Awards.

As for the venture studio, in February, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) and Nokia Bell Labs announced a partnership to launch a SIC, which will be focused on enabling startups to accelerate and commercialize intellectual property from Bell Labs and local universities with an emphasis in the fields of communication, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and optical and wireless networks.

The NJEDA plans to make a $25 million investment to support the NJ Nokia Bell Labs Innovation Center and the Bell Labs Venture Studio. 

“We are writing the greatest chapter yet in New Jersy’s innovation story,” said Gov. Phil Murphy. “This studio will pave the way for new technological breakthroughs, create new jobs for our students and our workers, and carry forward the Bell Labs tradition of building the future.”

The Bell Labs Venture Studio will be operated by the Nokia Ventures team, and over a five-year period the studio will facilitate company creations that are expected to generate hundreds of high-skilled jobs in the state. 

The venture studio will provide entrepreneurs and researchers with business training, operating services, and management guidance to transform their research into commercially viable products and services. The studio will also assist its ventures with access to a network of academic, corporate, and venture partners to accelerate venture growth.

“[It] will help bring cutting-edge research to the real world,” said Mike Chen, vice president of ventures and partnerships and CEO of the new studio. “We are building on Bell Labs’ legacy by partnering with top researchers, investors and entrepreneurs to accelerate innovation.”

“The technologies developed in this building will continue to boost growth, innovation and living standards around the world,” said Nokia CEO Justin Hotard. “Nokia Bell Labs has had a century of tremendous impact. It has shaped all of our lives and will continue to shape the lives of every citizen around the world.”

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