Fifty-three entries from 23 communities have advanced to the semi-final round of the 13th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, contest producers announced Monday.

The contestants were selected from a field of 206 qualified first-round entries by an independent panel of about 100 judges organized through the Wisconsin Technology Council and its programs, the Wisconsin Innovation Network and the Wisconsin Angel Network.

The semi-finalists reflect the diversity of Wisconsin’s economy and are spread among four broad categories: advanced manufacturing (14), business services (12), information technology (13) and life sciences (14).

Water technologies, health information technologies, software solutions, agriculture, products and processes for manufacturing, and medical devices and treatments were sectors that drew a number of entries. The contest also attracted entries focused on innovations in fishing, fitness and music.

“Trends reflected in the top 53 entries match up well with Wisconsin’s traditional and emerging strengths,” said Toni Sikes, chairwoman of the Tech Council and co-founder of CODAworx. “Good ideas come from all high-growth sectors of the economy.”

The 53 entries competing in Phase 2 of the contest will write 1,000-word executive summaries. Each summary describes the core product or service, defines the customer base, estimates the size of the market, identifies competition, lists members of the management team and provides key financial data.

Once Phase 2 judging is complete in early April, the 53 entries may be made available for inspection by accredited investors through the Wisconsin Angel Network, which has about two-dozen angel networks, early stage funds or corporate strategic partners. About two-dozen plans will move on to Phase 3, in which contestants will write a full 15- to 20-page business plan.

The top dozen contestants will give live presentations at the annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference on June 7 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. Category winners, as well as the 2016 Grand Prize Winner, will be announced during the BPC Awards Luncheon on June 8.

Sponsors are contributing cash, office space, legal assistance, accounting, marketing, web development, prototyping and more. About $2 million in cash and in-kind prizes have been awarded since the inception of the contest. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. is a major sponsor.

Additional lead sponsors of the 2016 contest thus far include American Family Insurance; American Transmission Co.; Ascendancy Advisors; AT&T; Pieper Properties; Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren; SCORE Wisconsin; University Research Park; and Whitewater University Technology Park. Associate sponsors include 100state; Cresa Madison; Kollath CPA; Makin’ HEY Communications; Midwest Prototyping; Murphy Desmond; Neider & Boucher; and Smith & Gesteland. Additional sponsors are Aberdean Consulting; BizStarts; EZ Office Supplies; Fine Point Consulting; Madison Gas & Electric; PowerBuy 4 You; Red Arrow Production; UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations; and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

Here are the 2016 semi-finalists in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest.  Reporters wishing to contact individual contestants may do so through the Wisconsin Technology Council by calling 608-442-7557.

 

Submission First Name Last Name City
Advanced Braille Reader Grant Anderson Random Lake
Pixologie Inc. Mollie Bartelt Milwaukee
Gain Sight Inc. Joseph Blustein Madison
Responsive Writing Solutions Dave Clark Shorewood
Angio360 Diagnostics LLC Stephanie Cossette Wauwatosa
SeqOpt Edward Diehl Racine
Innovative Process to Upcycle Nitrogen from Wastewater Narimah Ehr Madison
Loreto Innovation Que El-Amin Milwaukee
Asto CT David Ergun Madison
Forsythe & Storms Technologies Lorne Forsythe Oak Creek
Export Abroad Austin Grandt Madison
Raydion Joseph Grudzinski Madison
Seiva Technologies Andrew Hampel Milwaukee
Skin Cancer Detector Nick Hoppe Madison
Hyde Pat Hughes Elm Grove
Essential Biotechnology LLC Michael James Big Bend
The Farm Vet App Abigail Jensen Delavan
Rapid Blood Test for Cancer Diagnosis Tonny Johnson Madison
The Writer Prep Kreigh Knerr Delafield
Candid Brilliance Music Jocelyn Kopac Elkhorn
Energy Balance Joe Kremer Madison
Complete Phytochemical Solutions LLC Christian Krueger Cambridge
Comfort Care for Animals LLC Lisa Krugner-Higby Middleton
Emonix Zachary LaVallee Madison
Radiopathomix: Noninvasive Prostate Cancer Staging Peter LaViolette Milwaukee
GoFarm Carl Lippert Pittsville
Beyond Measure LLC Ron Litsheim Appleton
WeightUp Solutions Daniel Litvak Madison
POLCO Nick Mastronardi Madison
Grazin Daniel Means Madison
AIM: Architecture Information Modeling Amin Mojtahedi Milwaukee
Fast Forward Forensics LLC Randy Nagy Madison
Guard Llama Cara Narkun Chicago, Ill.*
Labnostic Matt Nelson Madison
Foodexus LLC Ada C. Nielsen River Hills
Lynx Biosciences Chorom Pak Madison
Classmunity Alana Platt Whitefish Bay
OptikTechnik Jose Ramirez Milwaukee
Mikroflot Technologies Jose Ramirez Milwaukee
ActiveEDU LLC Jordan Rhodes Oshkosh
Iconac Harrison Richarz Milwaukee
Riemer Systems Dave Riemer Whitewater
Remex Static Mixer Eric Ronning Madison
Doobert.com Chris Roy Pewaukee
ThermoSphere Austen Scudder Milwaukee
Phosphorus Upcycling from Anaerobic Digesters Menachem Tabanpour Madison
Compost Crusader LLC Melissa Tashjian Milwaukee
23VIVI QuHarrison Terry Madison
Metrecycle Luke VandenLangenberg Madison
AmebaGone Inc. Cheryl Vickroy Madison
Linectra Brandon Walker Madison
My Snow Hero Chad Wilke Middleton
Waggledance Inc. David Zethmayr Mauston

*Entries from outside the state are eligible if committed to locating some aspect of their business within Wisconsin.