Technology based news from around the state - and the world!

Emerging companies can apply through Feb. 16 to meet with major firms and explore likely business relationships around technology needs and innovation as part of the second annual Wisconsin Tech Summit.

The concept certainly is attractive: an entrepreneurial hub where people can share offices, ideas and talent to boost their start-up business to the next level. And judging by the full house listening to a pitch for StartingBlock Madison at the Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon on Tuesday, there is no shortage of interest.

The Madison area has all the pieces to become a world-class high-tech entrepreneurial city, a panel of experts said Tuesday at a Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon. What’s missing, however, is a site where they can all come together, they said.

About six years ago, Vilas County decided to get serious about economic development. Area leaders formed a committee, made plans to start a new organization, then took what seemed like the next logical step: they advertised in the local newspaper for board members.

What do these three companies have in common - Vector Surgical, RevolutionEHR and Fishidy? They’re all past finalists in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, a multi-stage competition that has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs since its inception in 2004. The 12th annual contest is open for entries through 5 p.m. Jan. 31 at http://www.govsbizplancontest.com/.

Microscopy Innovations, LLC of Marshfield, WI, is one of eight winning companies from four countries named to Innovation AveNEW at SLAS2015, the annual conference & exhibition of the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening. This select group of early-stage companies are awarded complimentary exhibit space and in-kind support for the event, which will be held Feb. 7-11, 2015, in Washington, D.C

Wisconsin companies looking to do business with the two largest economies in East Africa can get market information and meet potential partners on a Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. trade venture to Kenya and Tanzania planned for early to mid-May.

Gov. Scott Walker will lead a trade mission to London next month to convince overseas investors to put money into Wisconsin.

State Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley faces a challenge in April from Rock County Circuit Judge James Daley. The two spoke Tuesday at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus after addressing the board of the Wisconsin Technology Council. See the coverage here.

Madison Development Corporation (MDC) announced receipt of an additional $2 million to add to its Venture Debt loan program for technology businesses in Dane County.  The additional capital comes from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA)--$1.5 million, and MG&E--$500,000. 

In the latest example of a world-class health system yanking its established electronic health record in favor of a blue chip vendor, Mayo Clinic is migrating to Epic.

Midwest healthcare companies attracted $1.8 billion in new investments across 243 companies in 2014 according to the BioEnterprise Midwest Healthcare Growth Capital Report. The totals are the highest recorded in both dollars and number of companies funded since BioEnterprise began compiling the report in 2005, surpassing the banner 2007 by 46 percent and 2013 by 135 percent.

UW-Madison Chancellor Becky Blank spoke Tuesday to the board of directors of the Wisconsin Technology Council. Read her prepared remarks:

Neil Heinen, of WISC-TV3's "For the Record," talks with Tech Council President Tom Still and MobCraft Beer CEO Henry Schwartz about the upcoming 2015 Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest. Schwartz was last year's Advanced Manufacturing category winner. 

Lucigen Corp., a Madison biotech company, has raised nearly $2 million of funding from outside investors, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

About 80 judges have volunteered to judge entries in the 2015 Governor’s Business Plan Contest, a field that includes judges from a cross-section of disciplines that help define Wisconsin’s startup culture.

With gasoline prices hovering around $2 per gallon or less for regular grade across Wisconsin, drivers are saving money every time they fill up their tanks. The story for producers of alternative fuels and researchers seeking to unlock next-generation biofuels is very different. Their tanks are running on vapors.

In 2014, when venture capital investments in the U.S. reached their highest level in more than a decade, Wisconsin companies had a respectable but not spectacular showing.

Three state-based groups have been chosen by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority to invest a total of $4 million in venture capital.

This episode features Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.'s Katy Sinnott discussing the international ties Wisconsin is working to create. Also, Tom Still talks about the Wisconsin Super Angel Fund and other investment funds in Wisconsin, and Liz Schrum presents the WisBusiness.com Stock Report, which covers utility rates and the gasoline tax.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee. 

The Jan. 20 meeting of the Wisconsin Technology Council's board of directors will feature remarks by UW-Madison Chancellor Becky Blank, who will discuss tech-based development efforts on campus and beyond, and separate remarks by Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Ann Walsh Bradley and James Daley.Press may contact the Tech Council's offices for event details.

Ebullient, a finalist in the 2013 Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest, has raised nearly $1 million in seed funds meant to jolt commercialization of the Madison, WI-based startup’s liquid cooling technology for computer equipment.

A novel treatment to heal chronic wounds is among the innovations being funded through the second round of grants from the SBIR Advance Program, a $1 million initiative that provides capital to entrepreneurs to help commercialize high-tech innovation.

Milwaukee-based BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation Inc., a nonprofit that practices venture philanthropy, has announced an investment of $1 million in five companies new to its portfolio.

Forward Health Group Inc., a Madison health data and analytics software provider, has raised $5.7 million in a funding round. Forward Health Group presented in the WAN Investors' Track of the 2013 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium.

Tom Schuster, a seasoned corporate executive and turnaround expert who is now the managing general partner for the Wisconsin Super Angel Fund, spoke Thursday at a meeting of the Wisconsin Innovation Network in Wauwatosa. He outlined the investment goals for the $9 million fund while pointing out just how hard it is to raise such a fund in a financial risk environment that may be too cautious for its own good.

Consider Wisconsin’s major business sectors: They include financial services, insurance, health care and retail chains, all of which can be prime for cyber-attacks. And yet, most C-level leaders in those sectors would admit there aren’t enough trained hackers of the honest variety to go around.

That problem deserves attention in Wisconsin, which is behind the curve in producing, attracting and retaining the kind of cybersecurity talent needed by companies and institutions of all sizes.

While most Wisconsin startup observers would agree that the state’s biggest city trails the state capital, Madison, when it comes to startup activity, that doesn’t mean Milwaukee lacks good ideas. That was one of the takeaways from a presentation Thursday by Tom Schuster, managing general partner of the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Super Angel Fund (WSAF).

Milwaukee-area entrepreneurs hoping to apply for funds to get their start-up companies off the ground got a dose of hard reality on Thursday at a Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon in Wauwatosa from representatives of Wisconsin’s 2-year-old Super Angel Fund.

The Wisconsin Information Security Center in Madison brings UW into a select club of U.S. universities affiliated with labs specifically built to shield secret research from spying eyes. It also highlights the tricky act universities face in balancing the openness that is the bedrock of academic science with the secrecy demanded by agencies funding classified projects.

Experienced mentors from across Wisconsin will be available to offer advice to contestants during the 12th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest.

You won’t see Mark Cuban or Barbara Corcoran, but Madison is getting its own “Shark Tank” competition, courtesy of 100state. The organization announced that its members will pitch in front of judges, including Wisconsin Technology Council President Tom Still, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20 at the Madison Club.

Semba Biosciences Inc., a Madison supplier of scientific instruments and chemical substances for researchers, has raised $511,175 from investors, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Quietyme, a recent WAN Investors' Track presenter at the 2014 Early Stage Symposium, offers residential buildings, hospitals and hotels the opportunity to monitor noise levels, building temperatures, humidity levels and water-leaks. In short, it allows property managers and hospital workers a chance to give residents a comfortable environment in which to live.

Founded in 2012 by Andrew Gierczak, Henry Schwartz and Giotto Troia, MobCraft has carved out a niche for itself in the Wisconsin microbrew scene by crowdsourcing zany recipes. The brewery is taking this community-grounded philosophy to the next level by becoming the first company in the state to raise money under a new crowdfunding law. MobCraft recently presented during the WAN Investors' Track at the 2014 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium.

RevolutionEHR. Vector Surgical. BioSystem Development. What do these three companies have in common? They’re all past finalists in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, a multi-stage competition that has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs since its inception in 2004. The 12th annual contest is open for entries through 5 p.m. Jan. 31 at www.govsbizplancontest.com.

This episode features Isomark CEO Joe Kremer speaking from the Early Stage Symposium about his company's work on non-invasive detection of infections. Also, Tom Still talks about Wisconsin's jobs future and Liz Schrum presents the WisBusiness.com Stock Report, which covers legislation and retail.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee. 

State of Wisconsin officials have taken classes through the Michigan Cyber Range, which teaches computer network professionals to detect, prevent and mitigate cyber attacks in real-world settings. This spring, they will engage in exercises where one team launches an attack on a system while another team defends it.

"It's like a war game. You have to think like the enemy to predict where the enemy is going," said Jack Heinemann, director of the Wisconsin Security Research Consortium, a nonprofit organization that seeks science and technology solutions for national Homeland Security requirements.

Today's weapons of choice for those who would attack U.S. interests are Trojan horse programs, denial-of-service attacks and password-cracking tools used to steal or corrupt digital data.

Leaders of several key Wisconsin industries say 2015 should be a good year, according to forecasts prepared for the Wisconsin Bankers Association, but the state’s farmers will likely see their profits shrink.

As members of the Wisconsin Legislature suit up for the start of their 2015 session and a budget debate that is likely to last until summer, they should skate toward the “puck” of predicted economic growth rather than chasing prosperity where it was years ago.

Journal Sentinel column by Wisconsin Technology Council board member John Neis:
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the first two investments by Venture Investors LLC, the oldest and largest venture capital firm headquartered in Wisconsin. Those investments in Office Solutions and Promega were successes, and our firm has now invested in its fifth fund and has $200 million under management. That makes it a good time to reflect on what has been accomplished — and how far we still have to go to create a truly competitive entrepreneurial economy in Wisconsin.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease affects 90 million Americans. It can lead to permanent liver dysfunction and even death. Although there are a number of clinical trials related to the disease, there are no pharmaceuticals approved for treatment. Organic Research Corp. is developing pathology software that will impact the efficiency of detecting NAFLD, called the Digital Liver Pathology Aid. The company presented to potential investors and others Nov. 12 during the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium in Madison.

Hopeful entrepreneurs are familiar with the concept of the “Three Fs”: Family, Friends and Fools. Small investments from this alliterative triad often constitute the start-up capital for early stage businesses. Recently an organization of experienced investors formed in Vilas County, adding a new investment option for entrepreneurs in northern Wisconsin. Northwoods Angels, a part of the larger Wisconsin Angel Network, is looking for high growth opportunities that will bring business and jobs to Vilas County and surrounding areas.

This episode features Scopia Technologies' Ophir Ben-Yitschak speaking from the Early Stage Symposium about his travel-related startup. Also, Tom Still talks about efforts to pass right-to-work in Wisconsin and Liz Schrum presents the WisBusiness.com Stock Report, which covers unemployment claims and economic forecasts.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee. 

CardioPoietis LLC is a company commercializing a drug expected to reduce the damage to the heart during a heart attack by 30 to 35 percent compared to the current standard treatment. There is also promising evidence that it may provide similar protective effects for the brain during a stroke. Currently, two U.S.-issued patents for the idea and usage of this drug are owned by the company. CardioPoietis presented during the WAN Investors' Track at the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium on Nov. 12 in Madison.

Pradeep Rohatgi, Distinguished Professor of Materials Engineering at the UW-Milwaukee, has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Election to NAI Fellow status is a high professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation by creating inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society. Rohatgi (and Intelligent Composites) won third place in the 2013 and 2014 Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest advanced manufacturing categories.

A source close to the toy industry has once again leaked a copy of Santa’s perks list for Wisconsin politicians and newsmakers. Here’s what the good boys and girls in Madison and Washington will reportedly find in their stockings this Christmas. But they better not pout and they better not cry if an alert district attorney asks why gifts were delivered down chimneys after midnight.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) is seeking companies to take part in a Global Trade Venture in Mexico in March.

Medical practices across the country are missing a chance to earn up to $4 billion that could be unlocked easily with the help of software. That’s according to Ben West, CEO and creator of Concinnity, a Madison-based company that is seeking to capitalize on better use of electronic health records.Concinnity won second place at the 2014 Elevator Pitch Olympics during the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium this November.

Consumer food awareness is on the rise, leading to an increased market demand for sustainable and eco-friendly food products. The food industry is quickly responding to meet this new demand, and companies like Fiberstar Bio-Ingredient Technologies – or FiberStar BIO – are determined to provide more natural ingredient options. FiberStar BIO presented during the WAN Investors' Track of the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium on Nov. 12 in Madison.

What if there was a way to gain access to clean water wherever you stood on the planet? Inaccessibility to clean drinking water is one of the leading causes of mortality across the globe. The Milwaukee company Hydro-lite is introducing an innovative way to purify water without the use of filters, chemicals or batteries. Hydro-lite presented during the WAN Investors' Track at the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium on Nov. 12 in Madison.

SmartUQ, a Madison, WI-based startup that has developed software to speed up the design of a variety of products, has raised nearly $1.8 million in seed funding, according to a new filing with the SEC.

Redox, a Madison software development tool maker, said that $350,000 of outside funding has helped the company sign up four clients, with five more likely to begin using the company's product this week.

Cambridge Major Laboratories Inc. (CML), a world-class supplier of comprehensive pharmaceutical development and manufacturing services, is investing more than $20 million in its R&D and manufacturing facilities in Germantown. The project will include a new administrative headquarters, as well as an expansion of the company’s R&D and manufacturing capacity to service the global pharmaceutical industry.

Interim Chancellor Mark Mone will become the next permanent chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

When David Krakauer joined the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID) in November of 2011 as its first permanent director, he recognized the potential to build one of the first, large-scale transdisciplinary research models embedded in a public university in the country.

Three years later, Krakauer has not only built a collaborative hub, he’s also forged a unique culture where boundaries across fields and disciplines blur—a place where a cartoonist, a stem cell biologist and a data expert can share insight and expertise; a place where businesses and researchers work on the same problems; a place that integrates laboratories and mathematical black boards, and where science can be both elegant and funky.

In the 20-plus years that Tim Gerritsen has been creating video games, working in the realm of imaginary battlefields and mythical kingdoms, the Wisconsin native has found himself in many of the real world's most innovative game development centers: Boston, Seattle, Tokyo, London. Recently he witnessed a transformation in his home state, where Madison has spawned a video-game industry of its own, putting it on the map in a booming sector of the global electronics economy. This was the topic of a recent Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon held in Madison.

If you ask the typical technology company executive or worker what they think about “right-to-work” laws, which say workers cannot be forced to join a union shop and pay dues as a condition of employment, you may get a blank stare for an answer.

Wisconsin companies that have achieved success in exporting are being encouraged to apply for the 2015 Governor’s Export Achievement Award, which recognizes businesses and organizations that have achieved extraordinary results in international markets or have contributed to the state’s ability to compete in the global economy.

StudyBlue Inc., a Madison edtech start-up, has raised $2.2 million in a funding round that started earlier this year, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

If it sometimes seems Madison’s tech community is all about fun and games — well, yes, it is. Digital games, that is, for fun, education and workplace training. This topic was explored at a recent Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon in Madison.

John Baker, a professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin and  a biochemist, is the principal investigator for a five-year, $1.8 million grant from NASA to look into the long-term risk of astronauts developing heart disease from radiation in deep space. Baker recently presented at the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, held Nov. 12-13 at the Monona Terrace in Madison.

Energy Bank Inc., a Manitowoc-based company specializing in the advancement of solid state lighting and controls, has received a $250,000 loan from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC).

At the close of the third quarter during the Wisconsin Badgers runaway football victory over Nebraska, a new entry went into the record books… and not just Melvin Gordon’s single-game rushing record of 408 yards. It marked the first time that Camp Randall Stadium experienced what telecommunications experts call an “inversion,” which means more data was leaving the stadium in the form of photographs, videos and other digital information than was being received inside by fans, press and staff.

The 12th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest is accepting entries online for the 2015 competition until 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015. 

This episode features TomoTherapy co-founder Rock Mackie speaking from the Early Stage Symposium about his latest startup projects. Tom Still talks about where Wisconsin falls among the states in science and technology ratings; and Liz Schrum presents the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for early December, which includes the state budget and economic forecasting.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee. 

The Wisconsin Innovation Network held a luncheon panel Nov. 25 at the Sheraton in Madison to discuss the growing video game development cluster that is growing in the Madison area. See coverage of the event here.

Gener8tor, which runs start-up training classes in Milwaukee and Madison, said Wednesday it has raised more than $2.1 million for a second fund.

This episode, filmed at the 2014 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, features an interview with Praveen Sinha, CEO and founder of HealthMyne, about his company and the investment climate in Wisconsin. Also, Tom Still discusses Wisconsin's brand in the upper Midwest in light of the recent Early Stage Symposium and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report covers the Milwaukee Bucks' arena and jobs.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee.   

Solomo Technology Inc., a Madison maker of software and sensor devices to connect businesses with customers, has raised $331,000 of a planned $1 million offering, according to a filing with federal securities regulators.

A team of UW-Madison students and recent graduates who devised a new way to add colors to 3-D printing won the $12,500 top prize in the Collegiate Inventors Competition.

Madison is the second-best city in the nation -- behind only Arlington, Virginia -- for young entrepreneurs to make their mark, according to NerdWallet.

Gener8tor, which runs a start-up training program that operates in Milwaukee and Madison, has raised a $2.2 million fund, according to a filing with federal securities regulators.

Stemina Biomarker Discovery, Inc. has announced a $2.3 million investment from the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation to support its clinical study of biomarkers in the blood of children with autism spectrum disorders that can distinguish them from typically developing children.

It’s called the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, but the state’s oldest venture conference – launched in Madison 30 years ago – has taken on a decidedly Upper Midwest look.

This episode, filmed at the 2014 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, features an interview with Paula Sorrell from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Tom Still discussing the future of net neutrality and the free Internet. Also, the WisBusiness.com Stock Report features Epic Systems and frac sand mining.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee. 

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank doesn’t have much patience for talk about any academic rivalries between UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee.

“We have to get past this whole discussion about competition between these two cities,” she said during a panel discussion at the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, held Wednesday and Thursday at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison.

Mark Bakken, co-founder and chief executive of Nordic Consulting, one of the state's fastest-growing start-ups, said Wednesday he is stepping aside to start an early-stage venture capital fund.

Wisconsin could take a page from Michigan’s book if it wants to spur the state’s tech economy. That was the message to a room full of investors at the Early Stage Symposium at Monona Terrace on Wednesday.

A Chicago company that creates a digital record of the injuries suffered by school-age athletes took first prize Thursday in the Elevator Pitch Olympics, while a Waukesha business looking to set up a stool bank won the People’s Choice award.

Medical technology company Phillips-Medisize Corp. announced plans Thursday to invest $30 million in five Wisconsin locations and hire 484 new workers in the region part of a major expansion.

A Chicago-based entrepreneur and ex football player scored first place in this week’s Elevator Pitch Olympics in Madison, WI, with a plan to help track student athletes’ health. The competition was held as part of the 2014 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, which took place in Madison from November 12-13.

A Chicago company that creates a digital record of the injuries suffered by school-age athletes took first prize Nov. 13 in the Elevator Pitch Olympics, which is part of the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium.

The 2014 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium attracted more than 550 attendees over two days. Thanks to all who participated!

By any standard, the Internet ranks as one of the leading innovations of our time. It has revolutionized everything from commerce to medicine to entertainment, all within the confines of a generation. Better yet, it has done so largely without government regulation. So, why would President Obama think now is the time to turn back the clock to Depression-era rules written when all telephones were black, hard-wired and hung on a wall?

Still on the fence about attending “30x10,” the annual Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium in Madison? Here are 10 reasons to drop in Wednesday and Thursday for one of the Midwest’s premier events for entrepreneurs.

Romney, who lost the 2012 presidential election to President Obama, weathered no small amount of campaign heat over the alleged “vulture capitalist” practices of his private equity firm, Bain Capital. Romney was accused of building Bain’s portfolio on the backs of the working poor, a charge tied to the company’s merger and acquisition business far more than its venture capital investments. Roll forward to the 2014 mid-term elections and private equity investors such as Romney are political darlings versus objects of derision.

Wisconsin’s most active angel investor group could get even busier, thanks to an influx of new members. Madison-based Wisconsin Investment Partners (WIP) added 18 new members in the past few months, primarily via a recruitment dinner held in the summer, co-manager Andy Shrago says.

The Mid-west Energy Research Consortium (M-WERC) board of directors appointed Corradini chairman during their October meeting. Corradini proceeds MaryAnn Wright of Johnson Controls as chair.

The head of the state of Michigan’s entrepreneurship, innovation and venture capital programs will speak Wednesday, Nov. 12, during the Wisconsin Investor Hall of Fame dinner, a part of the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium.

An emerging dilemma at the UW-Madison involves state government’s two-year ban on raising tuition, not only for in-state undergraduates, but for out-of-state students of all descriptions as well as professional school students in fields such as medicine, veterinary science, business and pharmacy.

With only two days to go to Election Day, here are a few questions that weren’t fully answered – or, in some cases, even asked – during Wisconsin’s campaign for governor.

Twelve panel discussions on topics of interest to entrepreneurs and investors alike will be among the highlights of the annual Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, to be held Nov. 12-13 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison.

CIO Review (www.cioreview) has chosen TASCET (www.tascet.com) for its 20 Most Promising Compliance Technology Solution Providers. The positioning is based on the evaluation of TASCET’s capabilities in governance, risk and compliance (GRC) services. The annual list of companies is selected by a panel of experts and members of CIO Review’s editorial board to recognize and promote technology entrepreneurship.

More than 45 early stage companies focused on various industries, including Chinese e-commerce, rare disease tracking analytics and software to improve your baseball swing, will pitch to potential investors and others at the 2014 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, to be held Nov. 12-13 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison.

Ralph Kauten is the new CEO of Lucigen, a Middleton company that provides cells, cloning kits and other technology for scientific researchers. The appointment took effect Oct. 20, the company said Wednesday.

Nordic has been ranked 52nd on Modern Healthcare’s 2014 list of the 100 “Best Places to Work in Healthcare.” The rankings were announced at a banquet last week in Chicago after the names of all the companies on the list were released in August. The complete ranked list is published in the Oct. 27 issue of Modern Healthcare.

Both angel and venture capital funding are required to have a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem. That’s according to John Neis, managing director of Venture Investors, who spoke Tuesday at the monthly Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon at the Sheraton Hotel.

Tim Keane, an investor who was one of the first college-level educators in Wisconsin to design courses around entrepreneurial studies, will be the first recipient of the “Excellence in Entrepreneurial Education” award at the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium in Madison.

On the latest episode, Liz Schrum interviews Susan Healy of Ascendancy Advisors and the Early Stage Symposium; Tom Still discusses the growing number of venture capital investments in Wisconsin; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report features health care and property assessments.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee. 

Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic challenger Mary Burke have staked out major differences in their approach to job creation and economic growth, but the candidates appear to agree on one significant item: Reinventing the state’s flagship economic development agency was the right thing to do.

The University of Wisconsin-Extension and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. encourage high-tech small businesses to apply for grants through the second round of the SBIR Advance state-matching fund. Grants are available to recipients of federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants.

Competing against thousands of startups from around the world, OpenHomes announced recently that it won a spot to present at technology conference Web Summit Nov. 4-6 in Dublin, Ireland. OpenHomes will also present during the WAN Investors' Track at the 2014 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium.

Roger Ganser, the nationally known founder of Venture Investors LLC, Wisconsin's oldest and largest venture capital firm, will be inducted into the Wisconsin Investor Hall of Fame during a Nov. 12 dinner tied to the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium.

Isomark LLC said it has received a $1.7 million federal grant to help bring to market a noninvasive device that detects infection using a breath sample.

Wisconsin’s electricity industry is in the hot seat as Madison Gas and Electric Co. awaits an imminent decision from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin on MGE’s proposal to change the way residential customers are billed. On Tuesday, industry experts told a Cleantech Network forum at the Wisconsin Energy Institute that the decision, expected before the end of the year, could signal changes in the way Wisconsin utility companies use residential customers to cover more of the fixed costs of doing business.

Wisconsin companies have raised almost twice as much venture capital so far this year than in all of 2013, according to a national report released Friday.

The good news: Venture capital dollars invested in Wisconsin through the first three-quarters of 2014 is already double all venture investments last year, and the number of deals is approaching an all-time annual high for the state.

The sobering news: Wisconsin still lags 23 other states in deals reported during the third quarter of 2014, and falls behind 25 states in total dollars invested during those three months.

About three-dozen Wisconsin winners of $77 million in federal research grants in the most recent reporting period will be honored during an opening-day luncheon at the 2014 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium.

Deltanoid Pharmaceuticals announces the successful completion of a phase 2B clinical trial for its lead experimental drug DP001 for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients with chronic kidney disease receiving hemodialysis.

On the latest episode of "WisBusiness: The Show," Jim Laudon, site director of Google Madison, talks with Liz Schrum about the interest Google has in the region; Tom Still explains why reduced federal investment in academic research is a worrisome trend; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report covers water technology and cyber-security.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee.

SHINE Medical Technologies, Inc. (SHINE) announced today that it executed a term sheet providing for up to $125 million of debt and equity financing with Deerfield Management Company, L.P. (Deerfield), a New York headquartered healthcare investment firm. SHINE plans to build a new manufacturing plant in Wisconsin to produce more than a quarter of world supply of the most commonly-used isotope in nuclear medicine, molybdenum-99 (moly-99).

During his “Rise of the Rest” tour stop in Madison, venture capitalist and AOL.com founder Steve Case said Wisconsin’s capital city would rank among the top 20 communities for startups in the United States — “barely” — and if entrepreneurs continue to work hard, it could be among the top 10 within a decade.

EatStreet, a Madison company that lets consumers order food online or through mobile devices, has finalized an additional $4 million in funding. Added to the $6 million the company closed on in April, Eat Street has raised a total of $10 million from investors so far this year. New investors include the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) and 4490 Ventures, a new early-stage venture fund formed by SWIB and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

SoLoMo Technology — a Madison company that describes itself as “Google analytics for the physical world” — won a pitch competition at the Majestic Theatre on Monday night and a $100,000 check from AOL cofounder Steve Case and his Rise of the Rest Road Tour.

Phoenix Nuclear Labs will build an advanced neutron imaging system for the U.S. Army, to be used for inspecting ammunition and other defense tools.

It can appear from the local news that every week brings a new business plan contest, venture capital investment or “accelerator” organization aimed at helping startups succeed.

Maybe it all reflects an economy on the verge of explosive, tech-sector-fueled growth. Or maybe it reflects a prodigious capacity for wishful thinking.

In a pitch battle between nine different area startups, Tech Council board member Liz Eversoll and SOLOMO Technology were victorious in the Rise of the Rest competition held Monday evening at the Majestic Theatre.

Comply365 LLC, a Beloit maker of communications technology for airlines and other regulated industries, has raised $12 million in a funding round led by Drive Capital, an Ohio-based firm led by two Silicon Valley veterans.

Leaders of three of Wisconsin’s leading academic institutions will discuss how research partnerships are driving innovation and economic growth during a Nov. 13 opening panel discussion at the 2014 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium.

Wisconsin is behind the curve in producing, attracting and retaining the kind of cybersecurity talent needed by companies and institutions of all sizes.

Yoshi Kawaoka is known worldwide for his work on avian influenza viruses, the likes of which wiped out 40 million people in 1918. This talented UW-Madison researcher has also spent time studying strains of the Ebola virus, which has now found its way to the United States from West Africa, where thousands have died from its devastating effects. Trouble is, Kawaoka’s Ebola research is largely in the past tense because federal funding for the project ran out just as some promising results were reported.

U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet has announced the SBA’s support of four new Regional Innovation Clusters, adding to its portfolio of high-performing regional innovation networks across the country.

Virent has announced the appointment of Edgar Steenwinkel as the company’s Vice President of Research and Development. Steenwinkel will lead technology development efforts of Virent’s BioForming® platform in preparation of commercialization of its biofuel and biobased chemicals.

Five years ago, Exact Sciences seemed on its way to becoming an expensive biotech failure in Boston. Today, it’s a Wisconsin success story and poised to change how patients and medical professionals everywhere go about detecting colorectal cancer.

Chief Executive Officer Kevin Conroy and Chief Operating Officer Maneesh Arora, who moved the company from Massachusetts to Wisconsin in 2009, will tell the story of the company’s rebound and growth Wednesday, Nov. 12, the opening day of the 2014 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium at Madison’s Monona Terrace Convention Center.

Nine new research projects, including developments for a new cancer therapy and a high-power density battery to continue medical operations during power outages, have received Catalyst Grant funding from the UWM Research Foundation.

Betting in large part on the booming biotech sector, engineering design firm InForm Product Development will spend $2.8 million to dramatically expand its footprint in Sun Prairie and nearly double its workforce, enabling new services including niche manufacturing for customers in the bioscience and lab equipment fields.

Wisconsin stands out as one of few states where manufacturing has remained the biggest employer. Although average wages among the state’s manufacturers are far higher than wages in the other three sectors, data analyzed by the Journal Sentinel show that Wisconsin retained at least a share of its manufacturing jobs by keeping wages under pressure.

Along with 11 other companies, mostly in their early stages, Promega was one of the first presenters in a conference format that has endured in various forms since 1984. Known the past 10 years as the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, it was previously the Madison Venture Fair, the Wisconsin Venture Fair, the Wisconsin Venture Conference and the Wisconsin Life Sciences Venture Conference. By whatever name, the annual match-making event has introduced up-and-coming companies to prospective investors and contributed to Wisconsin’s high-growth economy.

At lunchtime on March 18, Rachel Keranen walked the two blocks from the Bendyworks office at 106 E. Doty St. to the Madison Club, the traditional gathering spot of Madison powerbrokers for 100-plus years.

Seven Wisconsin small high-tech businesses each will receive a $75,000 grant to commercialize their innovations—the first recipients of the SBIR Advance program, a collaboration between the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and the UW-Extension Center for Technology Commercialization (CTC).

On the latest episode of "WisBusiness: The Show," Tom Still discusses breakthroughs and trends in the field of medical devices; Liz Schrum speaks with Quintessence Biosciences CEO Ralph Kauten about his varied entrepreneurial endeavors and the upcoming Early Stage Symposium; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report covers agriculture and real estate.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee. 

Equity crowdfunding got off the ground in Wisconsin Wednesday, as Madison's MobCraft Beer announced an agreement with a bank to help with the state's first deal using the new investment vehicle.

Three women who have been successful entrepreneurs or investors agreed Tuesday that Wisconsin still has a long way to go before enough women are engaged in startup companies, especially high-growth, scalable companies.

Leaders of emerging companies can apply through 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26 to pitch their venture during the 2014 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, to be held Nov. 12-13 at Madison’s Monona Terrace Convention Center.

Opened in mid-September with tours, science demonstrations and a community celebration, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Freshwater Sciences represents the continued development of Milwaukee's water cluster. It also symbolizes the potential for economic growth, jobs and revitalization that can flow from partnerships that apply high-end research to solving real-world problems.

Envisioning, designing and manufacturing medical devices – which range from robots to sensors, and from surgical instruments to software that allows devices to communicate with one another – was the topic of a recent conference in Chicago.

Echometrix, LLC announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) awarded the company Patent No. 8,840,555 on ultrasound technology for the dynamic functional analysis of injured and healing tissues.  The company’s Echosoft product line centers on the use of ultrasound to provide functional information about soft tissues as an alternative to other more expensive and less portable medical imaging modalities like MRI. 

BioForward, a trade organization for Wisconsin's bioscience industry, said Wednesday it has hired Laura Bray as its new chief executive officer.

Patch Products LLC, a Beloit game manufacturer and distributor, has been acquired by New York City-area private equity firm Topspin Partners for an undisclosed amount.

Madworks at Campus, a Madison organization, will provide grants of as much as $4,000 to start-ups in its fall program.

Head of the Wisconsin’s flagship university, University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor Rebecca Blank, spoke to a group of Milwaukee-area business leaders and investors about how she wants to find more ways for companies and educational institutions in Milwaukee and Madison to work together.

The UW-Madison is one of the nation’s leading research universities by several measures – dollars invested, patents produced and ideas licensed or otherwise transferred to the market – but it was Wisconsin’s only academic R&D center for more than 100 years. However, the past decade or so has brought change.

On the latest episode of "WisBusiness: The Show," Liz Schrum speaks with Vicki Elkin, executive director of the Fund for Lake Michigan, about how the business of water benefits the state's economy; Tom Still looks at how Wisconsin's economy could benefit from following Colorado's business practices; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report showcases hiring and mining.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee.  

While Wisconsin can't offer mountain vistas, the story of Colorado's economic performance offers some potential lessons for the Badger State — as well as affirmation of trends already underway.

The planners of the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, a two-day event that has been connecting innovation and investment for three decades, are looking for innovative early stage companies from Wisconsin and other Midwest states to present in November at Madison’s Monona Terrace.

Imbed Biosciences Inc., a Madison company with a novel biomaterials platform for wound dressings and surgical implants, has raised $683,000 of a planned $1 million funding round, according to filings with federal securities regulators. Imbed Biosciences won second place in the 2012 Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest's Life Sciences category.

Exports and foreign direct investments are flip sides of the same coin. They represent Wisconsin’s ability to build, produce and grow what the world needs – and to attract investment from other markets that understand Wisconsin’s strengths

Propeller Health, the FDA-cleared digital health solution for chronic respiratory disease, announced that it raised $14.5 million in Series B financing, led by Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE:SFE) with participation from Series A investor The Social+Capital Partnership. Propeller Health will use the funding to accelerate product development, strategic alliances, client services, sales and marketing.

BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation Inc. has announced the formation of a partnership agreement with gener8tor, a Milwaukee- and Madison-based business accelerator that invests in technology-enabled, rapidly scalable, early stage companies. BrightStar has made a commitment to invest $50,000 in each company that comes out of the bi-annual gener8tor accelerator program that meets BrightStar’s mission and main investment criteria, creating high-quality jobs in Wisconsin. The most recent class had five participants that were picked from nearly 400 applicants.

SHINE Medical Technologies , Inc. (SHINE), a Wisconsin - based company dedicated to being the world leader in the safe, clean, affordable production of medical isotopes, announced that it closed a $2.4 million financing.

The Morgridge Institute Medical Engineering team, responding to increased UW-Madison demand for microfluidics resources, has launched a new microfluidics foundry to build customized tools that bring biology down to the smallest possible scale. The Advanced Fabrication Laboratory has a suite of new machines that can mold, emboss and etch polymer micro-channels and create the precise surface properties required in microfluidics devices.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. and the Center for Technology Commercialization announced recently that 11 additional grantees from UW faculty, staff and student teams have been selected to receive up to $25,000 each through the Ideadvance Seed Fund, bringing the total to 23 teams receiving grants.

Apply to pitch your company to the most active investors in the Midwest at the annual Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, being held Nov. 12-13 at Madison’s Monona Terrace. Many companies have cited their presentations at the conference as a key factor for getting funding and growing their business.

The Doyenne Group, a Madison nonprofit that provides mentoring and networking for high growth potential, women-owned companies, plans to raise $500,000, part of which will be used to start an angel investment fund.

On the latest episode of "WisBusiness: The Show," Liz Schrum speaks with Wisconsin Technical College System President Morna Foy about the role of technical colleges in the Wisconsin economy; Tom Still discusses the ever-improving environment for startups in Wisconsin; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report covers cranberries and local businesses.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee.

Two Madison-area biotech companies — Intuitive Biosciences Inc. and Stealth Therapeutics Inc. — each have raised nearly $500,000 of funding, according to filings with federal securities regulators.

Equity crowdfunding is off to a slow start in Wisconsin, with few businesses moving to use the new investment vehicle, and banks seemingly cautious about getting involved. Other states have traveled a similar path, but Wisconsin's road contains a speed bump found nowhere else: The financial institution that holds investors' money during a crowdfunding campaign must be state chartered.

Gener8tor, a for-profit group formed in 2012, has put 23 start-ups through its training program. Those companies have gone on to create 118 jobs and raise, often with gener8tor's help, more than $20 million of capital. Gener8tor ranks in the top 30 out of 220 accelerators in the world in terms of the average dollar amount that portfolio companies have raised, according to Seed-DB, a database of all known seed accelerators.

Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a UW-Madison researcher whose work with dangerous influenza strains made headlines this summer, says his work is not only extremely safe, but also has important implications for global health. Kawaoka’s research has led him to create versions of already-known avian influenza viruses that would have the potential to become global pandemics if released into the general population, he told his audience at the monthly Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon in Madison.

Ten winners, ranging from a mobile law clinic to a device that detects infections using a breath sample, were named at the inaugural Wisconsin Innovation Awards ceremony Aug. 26.

Wisconsin is often dinged for being a state with relatively low numbers of start-up companies, which is true given the mix of start-up flavors that are counted in such surveys — from mom-and-pop stores to lifestyle businesses to the "gazelles" that aspire to land angel and venture capital.

If the measure is focused on fast-growing gazelles, however, there are indications that Wisconsin is turning the corner on producing the kind of companies that attract investors and produce significant numbers of jobs.

Exact Sciences Corp. said Aug. 25 that Mayo Clinic will be the first health system to offer the company's non-invasive, DNA-based colon cancer screening test.

Leaders from 20 of the region's academic institutions met at Marquette University Thursday to explore the idea of a nonprofit center near downtown Milwaukee that could help their students build start-ups and partnerships with industry. The project will begin with a pilot program in November, with a goal of launching the entire program next summer, said Matt Cordio, co-founder of Startup Milwaukee, which is running the initiative with Innovation in Milwaukee, or MiKE, a project of the Greater Milwaukee Committee.

The Marshfield Clinic Health System Board of Directors has named Susan L. Turney, MD, MS, FACP, FACMPE, as the Health System's first chief executive officer (CEO). Turney, who will assume the new role September 1, has resigned her position as President & CEO of the Englewood, Colo.-based Medical Group Management Association (MGMA).

Techstars announced this week the next Patriot Boot Camp event will take place Sept. 26-28 in Madison, expanding from annual events in Washington, D.C., and New York City to regional events.

Chicago-based emerging medical device firm Advanced Cooling Therapy (ACT) has closed a $1.5 million Series A financing round to support the full commercial launch of its first product, the Esophageal Cooling Device (ECD) to control patient temperature. ACT was a presenter in the WAN Investors' Track at the 2013 Early Stage Symposium.

The race for governor in Wisconsin may come down to how voters answer similar “are you better off?” questions from Republican Scott Walker, who was elected in 2010 and who weathered a recall challenge less than two years later, or Democrat Mary Burke, his challenger in an apparently tight race.

Ten student teams have been chosen by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to receive a total of about $70,000 in cash and services, along with support for turning their ideas into products or businesses.

An infant sleep pod, aimed at reducing the number of infant deaths due to sleeping with an adult, is one of 11 projects being funded through new grants from University of Wisconsin Extension and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Intelligent Composites, third place winner in the Advanced Manufacturing category of the 2014 Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest, is also among the grant recipients.

When faced with difficulties in obtaining funding, many entrepreneurs look to angel investment groups. Although only certain types of businesses will qualify, Wisconsin is trying to make it easier for businesses to submit requests through the Wisconsin Angel Network (WAN).

Nordic has been recognized as the 46th fastest-growing privately held company in the nation on the annual Inc. 500 list, America’s most prestigious ranking of fastest-growing private companies. In addition, Nordic has earned a spot on Modern Healthcare’s 2014 list of the 100 “Best Places to Work in Healthcare.”

In the Village of Siren, a community of about 900 people surrounded by nearly 300 lakes in northwest Wisconsin, you can get Internet speeds up to 50 times faster than what most people have in their homes in Milwaukee or Madison.

Scale Up Milwaukee, a multi-stakeholder effort helping support entrepreneurs at all stages to grow their ventures by stimulating a strong regional entrepreneurship ecosystem, has announced it is accepting applications for the second class of its Scalerator program – training designed to teach ambitious, local companies how to maximize their growth potential.

An investment capital firm is investing $3.24 million in ZBB Energy Corp.’s Chinese joint venture company to build storage products for energy and power electronics platforms.

Microscopy Innovations LLC, a Marshfield company that makes a system for preparing microscope specimens, has raised $410,000 of a proposed $750,000 funding round, according to documents filed with federal securities regulators.

UW-Madison researcher Yoshihiro Kawaoka, who will speak Tuesday at the Tech Council’s Wisconsin Innovation Network meeting in Madison, is best known for his work surrounding potentially deadly strains of avian flu. His research in the past has also included studying a noninfectious strain of the Ebola virus with an eye toward developing drug therapies.

Amelia Baxter and Roald Gundersen launched Whole Trees in 2007. The firm initially focused on providing products for home building, an area where Gundersen for years used round timber in his designs. After weathering the 2008 recession and obtaining additional funding, Whole Trees is now increasing production by entering the commercial building products industry.

Workforce development means different things to different people – which is why the term carries emotional and political weight across Wisconsin, from its small towns to its major cities. It also explains why policymakers must aspire to devise a balanced approach to meeting Wisconsin’s diverse workforce needs.

On the 125th episode of the show, Liz Schrum speaks with Maurice Cheeks, director of the Wisconsin Innovation Network, about what's next for the organization. Tom Still argues that outsourcing is a part of doing business in the modern world, and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report covers startup companies and consumer spending.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee.

Forty-seven area companies were nominated for the inaugural Wisconsin Innovation Awards, with the winners announced Aug. 26 at a ceremony at the Memorial Union. In total, 118 businesses, products and services from around the state were nominated. The nominees are in the process of being evaluated by apanel of industry experts. Nominations spanned all parts of Wisconsin and represented large, medium and small companies, startups, established businesses, and nearly all industries.

Seventeen projects have been chosen for the launch of the new Discovery to Product, or D2P, program. The partnership between UW-Madison and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, announced last November, is aimed at taking some of the most promising campus inventions and helping to speed their entry into the marketplace, boosting the economy and creating jobs.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) website is the third best in the country when it comes to providing economic development site selection information, according to a new independent report.

For reasons that include the Great Recession, the rise of the Internet and the changing reading habits of Americans, general-circulation newspapers have been in survival mode for a decade or more. However, the spate of just-announced deals that feature media companies spinning off their publishing arms may yet produce a promising future for newspapers – in Wisconsin and nationally.

Barbara Corcoran expects entrepreneurs to listen to what she says, and then do what they want. Even when they're using her money to build their companies.

Together, the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illionis, Indiana, and Ohio accounted for 17 percent of angel deals. That compares to about 18 percent in California but just 13 percent in New England and 12 percent in New York.

Innovation in manufacturing across a mix of sectors is essential for Wisconsin to retain its manufacturing “market share.” Two recent announcements demonstrate that commitment.

Invisible Connect, a stealthy hardware startup based in Eau Claire, WI, has raised $2.5 million in seed money from an unnamed Wisconsin investor, according to the founder and an SEC document.

While Karl Holt's idea may not be the sexiest of inventions, he pitched his Hartland-based business to ABC's television show "Shark Tank" and received a phone call to go the next round, which includes sending in an application and a video for the show. Aero-Stream was the first place advanced manufacturing winner in the 2010 Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest.

Students skilled in marketing, writing, graphic design and social media will be available during the UW-Madison fall semester through a course taught by Tom Still, president of the Tech Council.

The Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority recently closed the books on its 2013-14 fiscal year, completing 24 financings for $794 million. That brings to $20.6 billion the total dollar amount of 753 financing projects handled by WHEFA since its founding in 1979. WHEFA is a member of the Wisconsin Innovation Network, the Tech Council's membership arm.

There’s no doubt losing those companies hurts Wisconsin’s efforts to wean its economy off a dependence on agriculture and old-school manufacturing by building a high-tech cluster. Although the state continues to rank poorly in entrepreneurship rates and venture capital investments, it’s starting to build some momentum with new micro-VC funds, groups striving to nurture the nascent startup community, and a small-but-promising crop of growing young companies.

Construction of an Energy Innovation Center is expected to start in September on Milwaukee's north side, a project that aims to create a laboratory for innovation in energy and power technologies that could help some of the state's largest businesses grow. The project received a financial boost when the WEDC and WHEDA announced $900,000 in funding for the center.

Fast-growing Milwaukee fashion startup Wantable Inc. has secured $1.5 million in Series A funding, the company announced. The e-commerce startup, from Buyseasons Inc. founder Jalem Getz, closed the round with support from unnamed Wisconsin and California-based investors.

The 2014 Lake Superior Business & Technology Conference, to be held Friday, Aug. 8 at the Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in Ashland, will focus on regional economic development through innovation, retention and expansion.

The hyperlocal online rental marketplace ABODO announced it has closed $1.25 million in Series A financing, led by American Family Ventures. Also joining the round are 4490 Ventures and Lakewest Venture Partners.

The Lake Superior region’s economy will likely always rest on some traditional pillars – timber, transportation, tourism and taconite ore – but technology is becoming a fifth “T” in the jobs creation lineup. At the Aug. 8 Lake Superior Business and Technology Conference, a collection of communities, educational institutions and business leaders will drill down into the economic bedrock of Ashland, a city of about 10,000 people on the shores of Lake Superior.

On the latest episode of "WisBusiness: The Show," Liz Schrum speaks with Arjun Sanga of WiSys Technology Foundation about innovation on UW System campuses; Tom Still outlines scientific breakthroughs happening in Wisconsin; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report covers hiring optimism and the state jobs picture.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee.

While President Obama and others are right to worry about the long-term implications of American companies effectively renouncing their citizenship, the larger issue facing the White House and Congress is American competitiveness in a global economy. Tax reform that lowers rates and closes loopholes such as inversion should be the answer.

The Ability Network exit, which was among the largest healthtech transactions nationwide in the first half of 2014, brought a big payoff for a group of Wisconsin investors. One of Ability’s early investors was the Chippewa Valley Angel Investors Network (CVAIN), based in Eau Claire, WI, 93 miles east of Minneapolis.

Imbed Biosciences Inc. announced July 28 that it has been awarded a $1.5 million competitive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant from National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, a division of National Institutes of Health. Imbed is a past finalist in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest.

Protein Foundry LLC, a start-up formed by four Medical College of Wisconsin scientists, may be the first in a string of spinoffs to be incubated at the school under a new program aimed at helping move more companies out the door.

Minneapolis-based D’Shannon Aviation plans to relocate its aircraft engine overhauling business to Wittman Regional Airport following AirVenture.

The increasingly curious exchange between incumbent Gov. Scott Walker and challenger Mary Burke over the “outsourcing” of jobs illustrates how political campaigns and economic realities seldom mesh.

The plan for Wisconsin’s new fund-of-funds program is starting to come into focus. The headline: The Badger Fund of Funds could ultimately result in at least five new funds investing a minimum of $90 million in more than 100 Wisconsin startups over the next several years. That’s the biggest takeaway from a presentation Tuesday by two of the three managers of the fund-of-funds at an event hosted by the Wisconsin Technology Council’s Wisconsin Innovation Network in Madison.

Along with making money and creating jobs, Ken Johnson wants to develop a new generation of venture fund managers, and he believes that the strategy of making modest investments in many small companies can succeed.

On the latest episode of "WisBusiness: The Show," Liz Schrum speaks with Mark Reinstra, a partner at the Silicon Valley law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; Tom Still discusses information technology in Wisconsin; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for mid-July 2014 covers new business survival and ride share services.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee. 

NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes LLC broke ground today for a new 50,000-square-foot facility at 1800 Gateway Blvd. in Beloit, Wis. When completed in late 2014, the facility will house the company’s headquarters and activities related to the production of the medical radioisotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). The facility is being constructed by Corporate Contractors Inc. of Beloit.

Aaron Olver, a former secretary of the state Department of Commerce and head of Madison’s economic development division, has been hired as managing director of University Research Park.

Riding high on big paydays from companies such as Braintree, Groupon and GrubHub, Chicago investors are looking outside the Midwest's biggest city for some of their next investments. One increasingly popular option: Madison's digital start-ups.

The continued growth of Epic Systems in Verona, a national leader in electronic health records, has attracted the attention of the news media. Here are stories from the Wisconsin State Journal and WKOW-TV in Madison.

The Board of Trustees of the Morgridge Institute for Research has approved a new focus area in metabolism, a growing research field with enormous potential to treat or reverse a broad spectrum of human diseases.

New engine technologies are frequently developed in one-cylinder engines like this one in the basement of a University of Wisconsin-Madison lab. And after being doctored by a group led by Rolf Reitz, a professor of mechanical engineering at UW-Madison, this is the most efficient diesel in the engine-research world.

A science kit to help students learn about nanotechnology has been selected as one of the top 100 technology products added to the market place for 2013. NanoFab Lab…in a Box!™ was developed by Mike Zach, associate professor of chemistry at UW-Stevens Point, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.

Aaron Olver has been named managing director of University Research Park. Olver, economic development director for the city of Madison and former state Department of Commerce secretary, succeeds Mark Bugher, who retired last November.

Wisconsin native Don Schlidt, 46, came back to the state in 2008 to run Waukesha-based Dedicated Computing Inc. Schlidt had previously run four other businesses, most recently in Denver, where he led the electronic component design and distribution business of Arrow Electronics. Schlidt will join the Wisconsin Technology Council board of directors this fall.

The City of Milwaukee's latest economic development plan identifies five industry clusters primed for growth: water technology and research; food and beverage processing; headquarters and business services; finance and insurance; and industrial controls, automation, power and energy. If the city wants to embrace one more candidate for growth, however, it should consider adding information technology and software to the short list. The Milwaukee area arguably has precisely what the IT and software sector needs.

Speaking recently to the board of directors for the Wisconsin Technology Council in Eau Claire, Zach Halmstad of JAMF Software described a company that has grown sharply since 2010 by focusing on customer service and employee retention through pay and benefit packages that attract and grow talent.

Madison's Idle Free Systems, a ?maker of auxiliary power units for over-the-road and work trucks, has been acquired for an undisclosed sum by Phillips & Temro Industries in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

Runzheimer International, a Waterford provider of workforce travel programs, services and technology, said Thursday that it purchased Chicago travel technology firm ProcureApp Inc. Runzheimer International is a Wisconsin Angel Network member and was a participant in the 2014 Wisconsin Tech Summit.

Promega, the granddaddy of Wisconsin's biotechnology industry, is still growing. Read about its latest expansion in the Wisconsin State Journal.

ABC's "Shark Tank," on which entrepreneurs seek funding for their projects from a panel of successful businesspeople, will be holding open auditions in Milwaukee on July 21. The open casting call for the show, whose motto is "Only the Strong Survive," will be held at the Milwaukee Art Museum, 700 N. Art Museum Drive.

Dairyvative Technologies, a Top 25 finalist in the Governor's Business Plan Contest this year, was awarded a Grow Wisconsin Dairy 30x20 Grant for dairy processors, Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) Secretary Ben Brancel has announced.

In steady-as-she-goes Wisconsin, new businesses are notoriously few. That's the bad news. But the ones that do get launched tend to stay launched — more so than in all but a handful of states. Recently released state profiles from the U.S. Small Business Administration show the pattern.

On the latest episode of "WisBusiness: The Show," Liz Schrum speaks with Yumin Choi from HLM Venture Partners; Tom Still discusses the pivotal role of technical colleges in Wisconsin's work force; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report covers the tech industry and tax collections.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee.

The Tech Council's new Wisconsin Innovation Network director is a techie, a city of Madison alderman and someone who believes in Wisconsin's economic future. But, no, Maurice "Mo" Cheeks is not the former NBA star. Read about "our" Maurice Cheeks here. 

One such example of consensus among the jurists who make up the nation’s highest court was the 9-0 ruling that police need warrants to search the cellphones of people they arrest. It’s a decision that is likely to apply to searches of tablets, laptops and other connected devices, as well.

Scientists have found how the electric fish evolved its jolt. Writing in the journal Science, a team of researchers led by Michael Sussman of UW-Madison, Harold Zakon of the University of Texas and Manoj Samanta of the Systemix Institute in Redmond, Wash., identifies the regulatory molecules involved in the genetic and developmental pathways that electric fish have used to convert a simple muscle into an organ capable of generating a potent electrical field. Also, read this USA Today story on the research being named as one of the "five most incredible discoveries of the week."

As ubiquitous as free Wi-Fi has become, though, many business owners still don't offer it, for a variety of reasons, including worries that it encourages some people to hang out at their location for the Internet access while not spending much money.

Zurex Pharma, a Middleton, WI-based startup developing antimicrobial products to prevent hospital-acquired infections, has raised $4.1 million from investors in a round that could top out at $5.1 million, according to a new SEC filing.

Two local tech companies are getting some high-profile placement for their virtual reality products. WebRacing, the second place winner in the Business Services category of the 2014 Governor's Business Plan Contest, will be part of the July 5-6 opening weekend for the Tour de France, with a 30-bike virtual reality cycling installation at the Yorkshire, England, starting point.

Most people outside the Wisconsin borders have been trained to think of the state as a place defined by cows, cheese, beer, lakes and the Lambeau Leap. There's not much room in their collective subconscious — yet — to think Wisconsin may also lay claim to a well-rounded, 21st century economy. But here are some examples of excellence beyond our historic brands.

StudyBlue, a Madison, WI-based edtech startup, has raised $1.7 million from investors, a new SEC filing shows.

The push-pull between tech colleges and four-year colleges is nothing new, but many Wisconsin employers say the shortage of skilled workers is becoming more intense. Still, some of those employers seem unaware that training programs that can meet their needs are often just a short drive from their plants and offices.

Bringing investment money to Madison-area startup companies from the East and West coasts has long been a tough sell. But convincing coastal tech companies to bring some of their jobs here is a real possibility, a partner in a New York venture capital firm told the Madison chapter of the Wisconsin Innovation Network this week.

Madison will never be Silicon Valley, but a New York City venture capitalist speaking at the Madison chapter of the Wisconsin Innovation Network this week says he believes the city has the potential to become a hotbed for startup tech companies.

Thalchemy, a Madison, WI-based startup developing technology to facilitate continuous sensory processing in smartphones and other devices, has raised $650,000 from local and out-of-state investors, Xconomy has learned.

Throughout Wisconsin, businesses and supporting organizations are working together to provide an intellectual network that advances industry innovation. The state has invested to become a global leader in several high-tech industries, including information technology, health care and water technology. Our statewide network offers entrepreneurial support services within these industries, and more and more entrepreneurs are taking advantage of these resources to help their companies launch and thrive. In fact, areas in the state are drawing attention for high-tech job growth. Forbes Magazine recently ranked Madison, Wis., fifth on the 2014 list of “Cities Creating the Most Information Technology Jobs.”

The Wisconsin Security Research Consortium has signed a subcontract with Altamira Technologies Corp., a technology company working to solve problems of national importance, to support the Washington-based company’s “Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity” contracts. 

It’s only logical that MobCraft Beer, a Madison craft brewery that makes its ales based on a majority vote by customers, would be the first company to sign up to use Wisconsin’s new crowdfunding law. MobCraft was the winner of the Advanced Manufacturing category in the 2014 Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest.

Maurice “Mo” Cheeks has joined the Wisconsin Technology Council as the director of its Wisconsin Innovation Network, it was announced Monday.

Two corporate leaders who made their marks in very different industries offered their views on what it takes to start and grow a business at the recent Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference, an annual gathering that offers hands-on ways for young businesses to learn more. Featured speakers included Craig Culver, who co-founded the Sauk City-based Culver’s restaurant franchising system that includes about 510 stores in 23 states, and Jack Lynch, CEO of globally recognized Renaissance Learning in Wisconsin Rapids and a veteran of several high-growth software companies.

Kevin Conroy, chief executive officer of Exact Sciences Corp. and Wisconsin Technology Council board member, is one of eight executives named EY Entrepreneur of the Year in the Midwest. Exact Sciences, Madison, has developed a stool-based, DNA test for colorectal cancer.

On the latest episode of "WisBusiness: The Show," Liz Schrum speaks with Chris Olsen from Drive Capital, Tom Still speaks about the potential benefits from the proposed Badger-Coulee power line, and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report covers Elucent Medical and bank profits.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee.

As news about scientific breakthroughs has migrated to online formats, public discussion about research and innovation has been simultaneously democratized and distorted. Read more in Tom Still's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel column here.

American Family Insurance has dispatched a catastrophe team to Dane and Grant counties, where strong overnight storms blew out windows, tore off roofs and toppled trees and power lines.

Kiio Inc., a Madison company with a small computing device that it says could modernize the practice of physical therapy, has raised about half of a $1.3 million offering, according to a filing with federal securities regulators.

Jonah Thompson, an 8th grader at New Glarus Middle School developing a beekeeping-related company, is the grand prize winner in Wisconsin YES!, a youth business plan contest for students in middle and high school.

On the latest episode of "WisBusiness: The Show," on location at the Wisconsin Entrepreneur's Conference, Liz Schrum speaks with Culver's CEO and co-founder Craig Culver about his approach to the restaurant business. Also, Tom Still speaks about the future for startup companies and venture capitalists, and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for early June 2014 provides insight on coal use and job training.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee.

As the state Public Service Commission weighs the pros and cons of the Badger-Coulee line, another factor may rule over both clans: The need to wean Wisconsin from its coal habit.

There's a good chance the first company to use Wisconsin's newly implemented rules allowing investment "crowdfunding" will be, fittingly, a brewer. MobCraft Beer, a Madison firm that cooks up such sudsy exotica as Mayan Chocolate Chili Ale and Blood Orange Tea Weizen, is poised to open the spigot and tap into what it hopes will be a free flow of investment from ordinary Wisconsinites into Wisconsin business. MobCraft was the Advanced Manufacturing category winner in the 2014 Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest.

At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, the company revealed tantalizing bits about a partnership with Epic Systems, the dominant vendor of electronic health records. The announcement which highlighted Apple’s new HealthKit platform for health apps and tracking devices took many by surprise.

A Kenosha engineering firm says it has developed a new wheelchair aimed at reducing shoulder and wrist injuries that come from using a regular wheelchair, and that's also faster and better at climbing. Procubed LLC hopes to begin selling the new wheelchair late this year starting with Veterans Affairs facilities.

Wisconsin entrepreneurs often lament the state’s relative lack of venture capital, but lately they’ve had plenty to smile about.The recent flurry of VC activity coincided with the release of this year’s Wisconsin Portfolio, an annual publication from the Wisconsin Technology Council and its Wisconsin Angel Network, which tracks all of the deals statewide. Wisconsin saw 16 percent more deals in 2013 than 2012, but the total dollars invested dropped 21 percent to $128.3 million.

With a fresh crop of winners in the Governor’s Business Plan Contest, some enthusiastic out-of-state investors and more than 500 people buzzing about the latest trends, you would never have guessed from last week’s Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference that the state lags in company startups. The anecdotal evidence of Wisconsin’s progress as a place to start a company, especially high-growth companies, is persuasive

The 2014 Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference attracted more than 500 attendees over two days. Thanks to all who participated!

Read a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story on Procubed, a Kenosha company that is developing a wheelchair the company says is physically easier on users and able to better climb inclines. Procubed is a past finalist in the Governor's Business Plan Contest.

A medical device company developing a new detection system for locating and showing surgeons breast cancer won the grand prize in the 2014 Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, organizers announced on Wednesday. 

When to start your own company. Where to find potential customers. How to approach investors for money. Those were among the topics tackled at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in Madison on Tuesday.

Microbe Detectives, a company founded by Trevor Ghylin, uses DNA-based microbial analysis to ensure drinking water safety -- a technique he believes would prevent such a widespread outbreak from happening again.

Students in the UW-Madison Department of Life Sciences Communications recently profiled more than a dozen state companies that are working on advancements the companies hope will net them sustained business success.

From breast cancer treatment to beer making, Wisconsin entrepreneurs with novel ideas, and research to back them up, vie to win the annual Governor's Business Plan Contest.

In his Sunday Business section column for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Tech Council's Tom Still writes about trends uncovered in the annual Wisconsin Portfolio report -- including a trend toward more out-of-state investors taking an interest in Wisconsin companies.  

Americans once believed in commanding numbers – 80 percent or more – that a college degree was a good investment. Recent public surveys suggest confidence has plummeted, in part because the average debt for graduates is growing ($28,102 for Wisconsin college graduates, according to CNN Money) at a time when the economy is still struggling to produce enough high-wage jobs.

With registration numbers running high, hundreds of people are set to attend the 12th annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference. Here are 10 reasons to join them Tuesday and Wednesday at Madison’s Alliant Energy Center for one of the Midwest’s premier events for entrepreneurs.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum speaks with Tricia Braun, a new vice president at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., about her goals for the organization; Tom Still discusses the upcoming Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for late May covers data centers and "zombie" houses.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee. 

In the town of Verona on the rural fringes of Madison, Wisc., there’s a Google-like campus that houses one of the country’s most rapidly growing tech companies, and one of the least well known. Founded in 1979, the medical software maker Epic has grown to employ 6,800 people, most of whom work at its 5.5 million-square-foot headquarters complex, which sprawls over 800 acres of what was farmland until the early 1990s.

Four entrepreneurs who have built successful companies in Wisconsin will talk about their ups and downs Wednesday, June 4, during a morning session at the 12th annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference at Madison’s Alliant Energy Center.

Aver Informatics Inc., a De Pere health information technology start-up, has raised $8.5 million of funding in a round led by two large, out-of-state venture capital firms.

Adam Cohen of Milwaukee was playing with some spherical desk magnets at his desk one day when an idea struck him. Tiny magnets just millimeters in size could be inserted into foam weapons. They would then produce electrical signals that could be recorded. This created an unambiguous, reliable scoring system -- an improvement over the honor system used in games such as paintball. With that, MagneTag was born. MagneTag was in the Top 52 entries of the 2014 Governor's Business Plan Contest.

A restaurant's menu is a visual "first impression" for customers. It can be appealing to people in search of something tasty, different or familiar, or a slightly frustrating ordeal that can keep diners from coming back. Understanding that many restaurants need help in how to design their menus – and to track results over time – is the idea behind HotOperator, a business based in Oshkosh and a Top 52 entry in the 2014 Governor's Business Plan Contest. 

By the time the annual Governor’s Business Plan Contest boils down to its “Diligent Dozen” live presenters, a result of five months of judging and mentoring, a series of tough cuts throughout the competition has yielded the best of the best. 

The path from scientific discovery to commercial enterprise is often long, usually challenging and, occasionally, strewn with doughnut crumbs. Or so it has been for the Madison team behind Isomark LLC, a nearly 9-year-old venture built on an intriguing idea — that the very breath we exhale can signal early warning of life-threatening infections.

Matching enthusiastic young people with volunteer opportunities that both interest them and maximize their skills is the aim of Kathleen End’s website, Sproutr. Sproutr was among the Top 52 entries in the 2014 Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest.

The lead administrator for Wisconsin’s “Fast Forward” program said Tuesday at a Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon that using state funding to collaborate with businesses in training skilled workers helps to focus job-training efforts.

Forkforce can enhance its job platform for the service industry thanks to raising $250,000 in seed funding, the company announced.

The Wisconsin Technology Council has been a part of two timely information efforts in Washington, D.C., this month, where Congress is considering important revisions to programs that affect the tech-based economy.

Finalists representing diverse tech-based sectors in Wisconsin’s startup economy will present live to judges in the Governor’s Business Plan Contest during the 12th annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in Madison.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum speaks with Joe Kremer of Isomark about Canary, a breath-based early detection system for infections. Also, Tom Still explains how the co-investing trend helps bring out-of-state dollars into Wisconsin; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report covers coal use and health rankings.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee.

From ag tourism to the Global Water Center to the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, we are attracting scientific interest from around the world for our innovation and invention across industries. These advances make protection of intellectual property an important policy priority for Wisconsin jobs.

Nearly 50 investors and entrepreneurs will talk about best practices, success stories – and even how they learned from failure – during panel discussions at the 12th annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference, June 3-4 at Madison’s Alliant Energy Center.

Thomas "Rock" Mackie, director of medical engineering at the Morgridge Institute for Research, will receive the highest honor in the field of medical physics for his far-reaching contributions to medical imaging.

Little Green Pencil, a company founded in 2013 by Will Robus, Stuart McIntosh and Steve Ramig, aims to use text messaging and publicly available website to make golf outings as simple and as social as possible for everyone involved -- event participants, spectators, event planners and even the golf course itself. Little Green Pencil is in the Top 25 of the 2014 Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest.

Detroit’s financial problems have gotten a lot of attention in the past few years, but there is another economic story unfolding in Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder said. The state has become the high-tech hotbed of the Midwest, and has climbed from being 41st in the nation in terms of entrepreneurial activity and investing to the sixth-place spot in under a decade, the governor said.

He was a governor who angered many in the education establishment, who sought to exercise more control over the state bureaucracy, and a politician who redefined his party yet seemingly didn’t care if he won by one vote or thousands. Gov. Scott Walker? Perhaps so, depending on your point of view, but the description also fits former Wisconsin Gov. Patrick J. Lucey.

Greg Robinson left a cushy post with a venture capital firm in the mecca of IT magic, Silicon Valley, to steer a new fund aimed at giving a jump-start to promising young software companies in Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Technology Council and its Wisconsin Angel Network annually chart the state’s angel and venture deals. In 2012 and 2013, 160 such deals involved startups that raised a few thousand dollars to companies that attracted tens of millions of dollars. Nearly 70 of those 160 deals involved at least one investor from outside Wisconsin, and sometimes outside the country.

A new partnership between Johnson Controls and the University of Wisconsin-Madison will explore how the next generation of car batteries will fit into the nation's overall energy picture.

Craig and Lea Culver, co-founders of the Culvers restaurant chain, will receive the 11th annual Ken Hendricks Memorial “Seize the Day” award at the 2014 Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference.

A student team that’s figured out how to inject color into plastic items made by 3-D printers took the top prize at the UW-Madison’s annual G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition.

Hear the latest roundup of BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation’s investments, and its plans to do make as many as 20 this year at the May 8 luncheon meeting of the Wisconsin Innovation Network in Wauwatosa.

The advance of technology translates into heavier, more complex workloads for nurses on the frontlines of medical care. To ease the burden, biomedical engineer Sarah Sandock has invented a simple, inexpensive, single-use timer that could be worn like a wristwatch to tell a nurse when to administer a drug or unhook a medical device.

Tim Keane, Golden Angels Investors, has now joined with six other entrepreneurs to create The Entrepreneurial Journey, a 200-hour, four-month short course sponsored by Carroll University. The first class of 24 students — now being recruited through an application process that will remain open for a few more weeks — will begin study in September and earn a 15-credit graduate certificate from Carroll.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum speaks with Don Stanley of 3Rhino Media about the role that social media plays in modern business; Tom Still discusses the Wisconsin dairy industry, past and present; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report covers the Miron Co. and the state's jobs picture.

Entrepreneurs can raise all the venture capital they want, but they know that in the long run, they don’t have a business without dollars flowing in from customers. That’s why the Tech Council organized its first “Tech Summit” April 7 at the GE Healthcare Institute in Waukesha, WI.

Carl Ruedebusch is a veteran businessman who understands how high-speed Internet connections can make or break economic opportunity – depending on where you live in Wisconsin.

A statewide panel of judges have selected 25 entries to advance to Phase 2 of Wisconsin YES!, a youth business plan contest for students in middle school and high school. 

Aver Informatics, Inc. and Wellbe, Inc. announced a collaboration at the Medical Informatics World conference to pair their two healthcare solutions to tackle the complexities of value-based episodes of care.

Stratasys Ltd., a leading global provider of additive manufacturing solutions, announced that it has entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement to acquire certain assets of Wisconsin-based Interfacial Solutions.

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has invested $150,000 in Isomark LLC, funding that will be used by the Madison-based firm to help support a 110-patient study of the company’s non-invasive “Canary” breath analyzer. The device is intended to provide early warnings of potentially deadly patient infections.

David Lambert, the president and CEO of the 500-member Internet2 networking consortium, will speak June 4 at the 12th annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in Madison. He will speak during the awards luncheon for the Governor’s Business Plan Contest.

Fostering innovation is the goal of a new project within the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research, one of the world’s leading centers for discovery within an industry that has become international in every way.

Wisconsin entrepreneurs interested in “cleantech” projects may feel a bit isolated from investors and support, but regional competitions and networking can help.

Phoenix Nuclear Labs (PNL) announced that it was awarded a $1M grant from the Department of Energy (DoE) to design and build a high current negative hydrogen ion source.

Whenever something like that is in the news I do think it has an impact on people,” said Candice Taylor, a representative from San Francisco-based Lyft. “I wouldn’t say that there hasn’t been any impact. And I think because of that there will be less Lyft vehicles if you open the app because right now that is going to put fear into some people.”

Taylor was speaking Tuesday on a panel with Nick Anderson, a representative from rideshare competitor Uber, Phil Anderson from Green Cab of Madison and downtown Madison Ald. Scott Resnick, who’s trying to hammer out an ordinance that will allow the rideshare services to operate legally. The event was sponsored by the Wisconsin Technology Council.

The controversial topic was discussed during an open forum Tuesday afternoon organized by the Wisconsin Innovation Network. Local business leaders and entrepreneurs wanted to know more about the two companies coming to town and the companies hoped to clear the air about the recent controversy.

In a city that prides itself on being among the nation’s most “techie,” there has been a decidedly un-techie reaction to the arrival of two ride-sharing companies that have challenged the status quo of traditional taxi services.

Fostering innovation is the goal of a new project within the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research, one of the world's leading centers for discovery within an industry that has become international in every way.

Tech start-ups may be drawing heaps of attention lately but the top two dozen companies still in the running in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Competition represent a wide variety of industries, from Pan Genome Systems’ vaccines for dairy cows to Little Green Pencil’s system for scoring golf outings.

Twenty-four companies — including 14 from the Madison area — have made the second cut and are moving forward as finalists in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest.

UW-Milwaukee student entrepreneurs placed first in UW-Extension’s inaugural Wisconsin Big Idea Tournament and will represent the state at the International Business Model Competition.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum speaks with Idle Free Systems chief executive officer Robert Hopton about his company's work to eliminate extended idling by trucks and buses; Tom Still discusses start-ups and scale-ups in Wisconsin; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report covers Exact Sciences and the state's jobs picture.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee.

What if a doctor could tell you have an infection even before any symptoms appear? That’s the idea behind Isomark’s Canary breath analyzer. The technology, based on UW-Madison research and licensed from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, has just come through its proof of concept test, conducted at UW Hospital, said Joe Kremer, CEO of the Madison company.

Beginning April 15, 2014, Nordic Consulting will begin a three-year sponsorship of the complimentary wireless Internet access at the Dane County Regional Airport.

Twenty-four entries representing sectors as broad as software, agriculture, water technology, medical devices and innovations in manufacturing are competing in the finalist round of the 11th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest.

Among the 55 bills Gov. Scott Walker signed into law April 16 was Assembly Bill 729, which will alter the rules currently in place across the University of Wisconsin System prohibiting classified research.

John “Jack” Lynch Jr., chief executive officer of Renaissance Learning, a Wisconsin-based online education company recently purchased for $1.1 billion, will speak June 3 at the 12th annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in Madison.

Stratasys Ltd., a leading global provider of additive manufacturing solutions, announced that it has entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement to acquire certain assets of Wisconsin-based Interfacial Solutions.

The increasingly dynamic nature of the economy means that while workers themselves may be living longer, companies are not.

Wisconsin continues to rank among the worst-performing states as measured by its rate of entrepreneurial activity and the size of its decline in entrepreneurial activity over the last decade, according to a report by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Read coverage of the April 7 Wisconsin Tech Summit, held at the GE Healthcare Institute in Waukesha.

Small businesses account for 65 percent of net, new private-sector jobs, according to federal figures, and businesses between one and 10 years old create 40 percent of all jobs. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, Mo., which follows entrepreneurship nationally, has also attributed most net new jobs to young companies. It’s why the debate over company creation in Wisconsin will command attention as the election year gathers steam.

Stratasys Ltd., a Rehovot, Israel, maker of 3D printers with a large presence in Minneapolis, said Friday it has agreed to buy certain assets of Interfacial Solutions LLC, a privately held company near River Falls that provides research and development and production services to the plastics industry.

BizStarts Milwaukee, a nonprofit that helps companies grow, unveiled a new headquarters and an expansion of its services Wednesday at a reception for business and political leaders.

The new offices are in Schlitz Park in downtown Milwaukee. The expanded services, called BizForge, are organized around three areas: academic; money, management and operations; and deals. They are being offered to a wider range of entrepreneurs and companies beyond those with the potential for the most rapid growth, said Dan Steininger, BizStarts' president.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum speaks with John Biondi about the new "Discovery to Product" initiative at UW-Madison; Tom Still discusses numerous ways to draw a younger population to Wisconsin; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for late March 2014 includes the Manitowoc Co. and aircraft manufacturing.

Making things easy — building simple products that solve people's problems — is the starting point for ZoomShift Inc.'s founders, neither of whom had much software code-writing experience before starting the company.

Exact Sciences Corp. said March 27 that a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has unanimously approved its DNA-based, noninvasive colon cancer screening test, paving the way for potential market approval.

Inside the Nohr Art Gallery on the UW-Platteville campus, 15 or so people gathered last week to talk about a lot more than the paintings and photographs on the walls. The topic was angel investing, a subject usually discussed on the nation’s coasts and larger cities, but increasingly part of the conversation in states such as Wisconsin.

While a shock to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the departure of highly regarded Chancellor Michael Lovell for the top post at Marquette University will prove to be a net gain for the area, business leaders said March 26.

Sixteen major companies will take part in about 200 “speed dating” meetings with 54 emerging companies during the inaugural Wisconsin Tech Summit, to be held April 7 at the GE Healthcare Institute in Waukesha.

The Art Commission LLC, which operates an online community of artwork collaborators, has raised $200,000 from existing investors.

Renaissance Learning’s recent price tag might have surprised some people, but not the company’s chief executive officer.

Six young Madison companies have been chosen to face off in the Pressure Chamber for a chance to meet with West Coast investors.

The University of Wisconsin System’s technology transfer efforts have gotten a major boost in recent weeks, thanks to the addition of four leaders who are heading programs aimed – in large part – at turning ideas into companies and jobs. 

Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, calls the four – all of whom come from outside the UW System – “talented new kids on the block who will help lead economic development efforts to a new level of sophistication.

The demographic challenge for Wisconsin is best summarized by a few statistics that help to explain why it's also a workforce challenge.

Inside the sparkling new offices of Nordic Consulting, a firm that has grown from a handful of health information technology experts to 400 employees and more than 90 customers, three venture capitalists from Boston sat down recently to talk about what they’re seeing in Wisconsin.

These days, Midwestern entrepreneurs and investors are seeding more than just fields. A resurgent U.S. technology industry, propelled by strong initial public offerings and a healthy M&A market, as well as the launch of technology infrastructure services from companies like Amazon and Microsoft, has meant that entrepreneurs across the Rust Belt and Farm Belt are starting new technology companies in addition to more traditional manufacturing.

On Tuesday, Madison got an endorsement from Boston venture capitalists who are starting to take notice of the entrepreneurial activity happening here, including in health information technology.

Welcome to National Business Furniture Inc.'s virtual showroom. The Milwaukee-based company recently added a feature to its website, connecting prospective customers with sales representatives who use video cameras to display furniture. It amounts to live product demonstrations conducted through the Internet, said Kent Anderson, company president.

Mark Sherry, 50, started with Mortenson Construction in 1987 and initially worked as a junior estimator in Minneapolis. He moved to the Milwaukee office in 1993 and has remained there for 21 years, leading that branch starting in 2000 and adding the Madison office when it opened.

Wisconsin Rapids education technology company Renaissance Learning Inc. is being sold for $1.1 billion, less than three years after the company was sold for less than half that amount.

As American TV & Appliance prepares to shut its doors, lessons about competing on quality, service, product and price can be found in recent company expansions in Wisconsin.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,”  Liz Schrum interviews Greg Robinson of the 4490 Venture Fund; Tom Still comments on science, technology, engineering and math education (or "STEM" education) in Wisconsin; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report features the city of Green Bay and the status of mass layoffs in Wisconsin.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee.

More than 70 entrepreneurs from communities across the state took part in the annual “boot camp” sponsored as a part of the 11th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest. 

Robert W. Schumann, widely regarded as the father of Madison’s high-tech industry, died Thursday at the age of 93. He helped start a number of high-tech companies in the Madison area, including Nicolet Instrument Corp. and what would become Tracor Northern in Middleton.

The former chief executive of several early stage technology companies has been named to head the Discovery to Product project at the UW-Madison. John Biondi, who has led Xolve and C-56 Technologies among other companies, will lead an initiative to accelerate formation of businesses based on discoveries at UW-Madison.

The statewide Wisconsin YES! youth business plan contest will close to entries 5 p.m. Monday, March 17.

Gov. Scott Walker proclaimed the week leading up to the March 17 deadline as the “Celebration of STEM Education Week” statewide. STEM components, which include science, technology, engineering and mathematics, are considered vital to the intellectual and economic future of Wisconsin.

Several issues making the rounds in or around the state Capitol illustrate how the federal-state balancing act can affect the business community, for better or worse.

I have seen the future of healthcare information technology and it is in Madison, WI.  No, I’m not talking about Epic, the behemoth that bestrides the world of EMRs, although clearly they are part of that future. I am talking about a small, startup, Propeller Health.

Drifty, a participant in the TechStars Cloud 2013 incubator, and makers of a suite of tools for mobile developers building apps and websites, most notably, the Ionic framework, has closed on a million in seed funding, the company is announcing. The funding comes from Arthur Ventures, and will help the company grow its team and continue development on the Ionic framework.

Gov. Scott Walker and others may have their problems with Wisconsin’s Common Core standards, which have been in the works since 2009, but when it comes to STEM education, his office proclaimed next week as “STEM Week” in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction recently rolled out a modest grants program for schools that want to enhance STEM programs, and many statewide groups are working to make science, technology, engineering and math a bigger part of the curriculum.

A new venture capital fund that will concentrate on Wisconsin-based information technology companies has named its general partner.

Greg Robinson, a veteran of the Silicon Valley venture scene, will oversee the $30 million fund created last year by the State of Wisconsin Investment Board and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

Classified national security research could be done by University of Wisconsin System professors if a bill currently before the Legislature passes.

With last fall's opening of the Global Water Center, and the creation of a neighboring business park, more apartments, restaurants and other developments are coming to the Walker's Point area, south of downtown Milwaukee.

To Al Zeise, a Green Bay-area entrepreneur, there's a simple formula for starting a company: find a problem, solve it and commercialize it. It's a formula Zeise has successfully used in the last two decades. He's founded or co-founded at least 10 companies. And he's made other investments through his involvement in two existing angel/venture funds.

Now Zeise is aiming to establish something his home turf is short on: an angel investing group. Zeise will hold an invitation-only meeting in De Pere on March 12 to discuss the planned group with potential members.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum interviews Steve Lyons from the Wisconsin Growth Capital Coalition about the classified research bill being discussed in the Legislature; Tom Still explains what the recent Google Capital investment in Renaissance Learning could mean for the state's tech sector; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report covers Renaissance Learning and S.C. Johnson.

As the Wisconsin Legislature rolls toward a spring wrap-up of its work, economic development items on its agenda range from protecting intellectual property from “patent trolls” to setting the stage for more classified research to rethinking the state’s sore-thumb tax on capital raised by many young companies.

If Fitchburg life sciences products company Promega Corp. is one of the grandfathers of the Madison area’s biotech industry, and electronic health records developer Epic Systems Corp., Verona, is the trigger for a growing health information technology cluster, then Sonic Foundry deserves credit as a nexus of all sorts of entrepreneurship.

That was the idea behind a presentation of the Wisconsin Innovation Network (WIN) on Tuesday, featuring former Sonic employees who, among them, have started at least seven new companies.

Fifty-two entries from 26 communities have advanced to the semi-final round of the 11^th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, contest producers announced Wednesday.

This is the big question: How far can Dane County ride Epic's success?

Done right, we're talking about the foundation for Dane County's 21st-century economy being built on the medical software industry: lots of good-paying information technology jobs that fuel an expanding housing market, a glittering downtown with hip restaurants and music clubs, a rising tax base to fund new community services and a lot more resources to deal with the serious problems of poverty.

In a development arising from nanotechnology research, scientists in Madison have created a spongelike material that could provide a novel and sustainable way to clean up oil spills. It's known as an aerogel, but it could just as well be called a "smart sponge."

Sixty-eight emerging companies in sectors as varied as data analytics, medical devices and software have applied to meet with major companies that will take part in the inaugural Wisconsin Tech Summit. The April 7 event at the GE Healthcare Institute in Waukesha will feature a “speed dating” format through which selected companies will meet with representatives of 14 major companies: American Family Insurance, Aurora Healthcare, AT&T, Faith Technologies, GE Healthcare, HP Enterprise Services, IBM, Intel, Johnson Controls, Kraft Foods, Plexus, Runzheimer International, Rockwell Automation and TASC (Total Administrative Services Corp). The latest addition to the major company list is Intel, which has investments in a number of emerging companies.

Produced by the Wisconsin Technology Council and partners that include some well-known Milwaukee-area companies, the Tech Summit will provide an organized way for young companies and corporate giants to meet and explore likely business relationships around technology needs and innovation.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum interviews Jim Morgan of the WMC Foundation about the Future Wisconsin initiative; Tom Still explains why Assembly Bill 729 could help Wisconsin's research sector; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report discusses startup businesses and the paper industry.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, as well as archives of past shows. The show is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric and UW-Milwaukee.

MaryAnn Wright, vice president of engineering and product development for Johnson Controls Inc., and UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Mike Lovell are scheduled to speak at the Wisconsin Tech Summit, to be held April 7 at the GE Healthcare Institute in Waukesha, Wis.

Google Capital has invested $40million to take a minority stake in Renaissance Learning Inc., a Wisconsin Rapids education technology company, the firms said Wednesday.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. and Milwaukee Institute today announced the winners of its 2014 Computational Science Challenge Grants designed to accelerate product development and research utilizing Wisconsin’s very own high-performance computing (HPC) and storage resources.

With angel and venture capital investment dollars scarce for many young companies, the question arises: Why is Wisconsin virtually alone in taxing capital raised by those companies?

David Krakauer, the first permanent director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, will speak at the Wisconsin Tech Summit, to be held April 7 at the GE Healthcare Institute in Waukesha, Wis.

ZBB Energy Corp. reported a smaller quarterly loss Thursday even as sales fell to $961,000 from $2.75 million.

A $2 million fund to help faculty and students on University of Wisconsin campuses commercialize ideas and potentially create new businesses and jobs was launched Thursday by the UW System and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

In drilling for gas and oil, one of the biggest problems is water. Companies using fracking methods to extract gas and oil from previously unreachable rock formations must have the right quality of water to inject at high pressures into their wells, and they need to figure out what to do with the contaminated water that results. Among companies working to address these issues is Madison-based AquaMost LLC.

Just when you thought you had the politics of the pro- and anti-Obamacare debate figured out, along come some pesky numbers to upset your thinking.

Former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson has aspirations for starting an early-stage investment fund—that’s if he can achieve a few exits this year with his current personal investments. Thompson made the comments Thursday afternoon at a luncheon in Wauwatosa, WI, hosted by the Wisconsin Innovation Network, an arm of the Madison-based Wisconsin Technology Council.

EatStreet, the online restaurant ordering platform based in Madison, WI, has raised $3.7 million in a financing round, according to a document filed this month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Former GOP Gov. and national health secretary Tommy Thompson said he hopes to sell off four of his businesses within the next year and start an angel fund to help Wisconsin start-ups focusing on health care technology. Thompson made the comments in a presentation Thursday to about 50 entrepreneurial hopefuls at a Wisconsin Innovation Network meeting in Wauwatosa. Some attendees raised their hands and asked him point-blank for money.

Susan LaBelle, a veteran private sector executive and economic development leader who has taught in the UW-Madison master's in biotechnology program, has been selected to head the university's Office of Corporate Relations.

Fund Milwaukee, a grass-roots investment network providing an alternative to traditional business financing, has hit a milestone — more than a million dollars advanced to small local firms.

State lawmakers are looking to change a University of Wisconsin System research policy that dates back to the Sterling Hall Bombing of August 24th, 1970.

Novelos Therapuetics Inc., a publicly traded developer of drugs for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer, has changed its name to Cellectar Biosciences Inc. Cellectar is in the process of moving its headquarters back to Madison from Newton, Mass. The company was founded in Madison in 2003 by University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Jamey Weichert.

Baird Venture Partners, a division of Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co., plans to raise $150 million for a fourth fund, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Imagine a showcase building in downtown Madison featuring entrepreneurs, nonprofits, technology companies and financiers all interested in environmental sustainability. The concept has been floating around for a couple of years but is moving forward with the recent hiring of the group involved with development of Chicago’s "Green Exchange," the country's largest sustainable business community.

Two Madison-based biotechnology companies will present at separate investor conferences in New York City this week.

Enhancing cybersecurity to protect against threats from abroad, as well as close to home, is a national priority that touches just about everyone in our digital age. The risks can range from breaches of department store credit card data to attacks on America’s lifelines – including its energy grid, its water supply, its health-care institutions and its financial institutions. Read Milwaukee Journal Sentinel version of Tom Still's column here.

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation isn’t the only organization accusing Apple Inc. of infringing on a high-tech patent.

Entrepreneurs from 87 communities across Wisconsin submitted 292 entries in the 11th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, contest organizers announced Thursday.

Madison's MobCraft Beer LLC bills itself as the world's first completely "crowdsourced" brewery. It brews small batches of craft beer based on recipes or ideas submitted by beer drinkers.

Microsoft named University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee grad Satya Nadella as its next CEO, only the third leader in the company's 38-year history. The announcement lifts to the top of one of the world's best known companies a relatively young man — Nadella is 46 — who 25 years ago studied graduate-level computer science at UWM.

A thin piece of silicon that serves as the brain of the latest high-end iPhones and iPads is at the heart of a lawsuit the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has filed against Apple Inc.

At issue is whether Apple's A7 processor — used in the iPhone 5S, theiPad Air and the iPad mini with Retina display — incorporates technology patented by Gurindar Sohi and three other University of Wisconsin-Madison professors in 1998.

Somna Therapeutics has raised $700,000 from individual angel investors, an amount the company says will allow it to market its adjustable neck band that keeps stomach acid from rising into the throat.

"This is an encouraging sign for others of how a company that started just a few years ago in Wisconsin is continuing to attract angel investment," said Dan Blake, director of the Wisconsin Angel Network.

Michael and Patrick Hull, two Madison stockbrokers whose aggressive money management strategies led to a shortfall of as much as $24.5 million in the Wisconsin Funeral Trust, aim to raise a $30 million venture capital fund with Teresa Esser, managing director of the Silicon Pastures angel investing group.

"Access to larger pools of capital, especially international pools, can be an important part of the game today when it comes to building a fund," said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. "It will be interesting to watch the development of Greenpoint, given the varied experience of the players and their connections to the Asian markets."

Produced by the Wisconsin Technology Council and partners that include the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., the Wisconsin Tech Summit will provide an organized way for young companies and corporate giants to meet and explore likely business relationships around technology needs and innovation.

Emerging companies can apply through Feb. 24 to meet with major firms and explore likely business relationships around technology needs and innovation as part of the first annual Wisconsin Tech Summit.

The entry deadline for the 11^th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest is 5 p.m. Jan. 31. Don’t miss an opportunity to share in more than $100,000 in cash and in-kind prizes. Get started at www.govsbizplancontest.com! Here are 10 reasons you should enter your business idea.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum interviews Lorrie Keating Heinemann of the BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation, the non-profit organization that is jump-starting the early stage investment field; Tom Still discusses advancements and opportunities in farm science and technology; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for late January 2014 covers biotechnology and the bitter cold weather.