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

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.

Small- and medium-size Wisconsin businesses have until Jan. 31 to apply for grants of up to $50,000 to receive access to specialized high-performance computing systems and services under a program sponsored by the Milwaukee Institute, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. and Mason Wells. The program is geared toward businesses that can benefit from financial support for projects requiring modeling, simulation, visualization, analytics on high-performance computing systems. 

State businesses that would like to be acknowledged for their efforts in exporting have until Jan. 31 to apply for the 2014 Governor’s Export Achievement Awards.

Entrants in the 2014 Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest will once again compete for more than cash this year. The entry deadline for the 11th annual contest is 5 p.m. Jan. 31 at www.govsbizplancontest.com.

Wisconsin Youth Entrepreneurs in Science, a statewide youth business plan contest modeled after the successful Governor’s Business Plan Contest, is open for online entries from Wisconsin middle- and high-school students through 5 p.m. March 17, 2014.

In a society where fewer and fewer people have any ties to farming, even a generation or two removed, how will agriculture meet its many challenges? Managing information better and using science and technology to solve problems will be part of the answer.

Wisconsin’s bioscience industry continues to expand, often led by spinoff companies that are established to commercialize groundbreaking university research.

More than 85 judges have volunteered to judge entries in the 2014 Governor’s Business Plan Contest, a record number that includes judges from a cross-section of disciplines that help define Wisconsin’s startup culture.

Sun Mountain Kegonsa, selected to oversee the state-sponsored venture capital effort, envisions creating a handful of funds across Wisconsin that seeds as many as 100 early-stage, job-creating companies and breeds a new generation of young venture capitalists.

One speaker after another at the Renew Wisconsin Policy Summit cited examples of how other states, often Midwest neighbors but also politically “red” states around the country, are forging ahead with strategies that involve solar, wind, biomass and other renewable generation sources.

Promentis Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Milwaukee, which is developing compounds for treating schizophrenia and other central nervous system disorders, has attracted $2.9 million in a second round of capital-raising.

Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch encourages Wisconsin entrepreneurs to enter the 11th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest in a two-minute video describing the contest and its results over time.

Mark Cook is interim director of Discovery to Product, or D2P, a new UW-Madison effort created to coordinate all of the entrepreneurial support programs across campus and develop university research with the most commercial promise.

"It's going to create a whole change in the entrepreneurial spirit on campus," Cook said.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum talks with Rose Oswald Poels of the Wisconsin Bankers Association about how new lending laws will affect mortgage borrowers and lenders; Tom Still discusses exciting new prospects for Wisconsin's early stage investors in 2014; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for mid-January 2014 includes the port of Green Bay and alternative energy. 

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

Madison Vaccines Incorporated (MVI), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing innovative therapies for prostate cancer, announced an initial close of an $8 million Series A financing. 

Johnson Controls Inc. has agreed to sell its automotive electronics business for $265 million to Visteon Corp., bringing to nearly $1 billion the proceeds from the company's recent divestitures.

Will 2014 be the “Year of the Early Stage Investor?” While mid-January is a bit early to make predictions for the next 50 weeks, there are some encouraging signs that angel, venture and other private equity investors are warming to Wisconsin’s startup and emerging companies.

Wellintel Inc., a Shorewood start-up  developing an inexpensive system to give homeowners with wells more information than ever before about their water supply, has been chosen as a finalist in  Imagine H2O's  Global Water Start-up Competition.

WiSys Technology Foundation Inc., the technology transfer agent for the University of Wisconsin System, has a new executive director and a new chairman.

Statement from Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council:

“Chancellor Ray Cross is an educator who understands business and the necessary linkages between the two. His background in New York as well as the UW System speaks to his ability to work across private and public lines to get things done. He appreciates entrepreneurship and knows the value of emerging companies, beyond the startup level, in moving regional economies ahead. He will provide excellent leadership for the UW System and serve as a trusted partner in the communities those campuses serve.”

The amount of startup activity in Wisconsin over the past few years, particularly forming new funding sources and supporting tech startups, has venture capitalists from Milwaukee and Chicago cautiously bullish about the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. That was the consensus from a Thursday panel discussion between VCs hosted by the Wisconsin Technology Council ’s Wisconsin Innovation Network in Wauwatosa, a suburb of Milwaukee.

The Wisconsin Technology Council applauded the state's selection Friday of Sun Mountain Kegonsa as the manager of the early stage capital program that will invest in Wisconsin's most promising startup companies.

The build-up to I.C.D.-10, a new set of computerized medical codes, is why a group of Madison-based health IT experts and artists combined to produce “Struck by Orca,” an illustrated guide to some of the more obscure and often hilarious situations that have found their way into the federal code.

At a startup-themed Wisconsin Innovation Network meeting, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said he would like to see state startup investment become a conversation point in the governor's race.

Stemina Biomarker Discovery Inc. said Thursday is has received a contract from the Environmental Protection Agency that will generate more than $10 million of revenue over the next five years.

Gener8tor has accepted five young companies, including a water measurement start-up from Mexico, into its 12-week-long winter program.

From an entrepreneurial perspective, it was as if Wisconsin awoke from a long slumber in 2013. Support for a vibrant start-up community, which many say is needed to boost the state's mediocre business growth trends, finally appears to be gaining steam.

The Internet of tomorrow has arrived, and it's about much more than Facebook, Netflix, Twitter and email, the services we use to connect with one another. This new Internet already has its own acronym, IoT, for "Internet of Things." And while many of its architects are well-known Silicon Valley companies, longtime Milwaukee industrial stalwart Rockwell Automation Inc. has positioned itself at the heart of the phenomenon, which some consider the next industrial revolution.

It all starts with an idea and a plan to take it from cocktail napkin notes to reality. That’s what the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest has done for hundreds of entrepreneurs since its inception in 2004.

As the Wisconsin Technology Council looks forward to 2014, we want to close out the year with the many accomplishments of our sponsors, members, volunteers, board of directors and staff in 2013.

Can you name more than one or two major companies that have ever picked up and moved to Wisconsin, especially from farther away than Illinois or Minnesota? It rarely happens.

Whether it was adding space, encouraging young entrepreneurs or even taking one noteworthy company public, the Madison area tech sector dominated much of the business news in 2013.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Governor’s Export Achievement Awards. Deadline is January 31 for companies that have had exporting success. 

Wisconsin businesses that want to learn more about exporting to the Middle East and establishing contacts there have until Friday, Dec. 20, to apply for a Global Trade Venture to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in January.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum  talks with Mark Gehring of Propeller Health about his experience with building startup companies; Tom Still discusses the evolving bioenergy field in Wisconsin; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report covers advanced manufacturing and jobs.

Venture Investors' John Neis speaks about the challenge of putting together syndicates for life-sciences investment, how returns are improving and the need for biotech companies to perform after going public.

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 11th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest is accepting entries online for the 2014 competition until 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31, 2014. The contest is designed to encourage entrepreneurs in the seed, startup and early growth stages of high-tech businesses in Wisconsin.

The State Journal editorial board championed six big goals during the last year. Some of our priorities fared well, including a state investment fund for emerging businesses. Other causes drew strong public support — especially redistricting reform — but stalled because of stubborn lawmakers.

The nation's three Bioenergy Research Centers — including one in Madison — are cranking out transformative research that is beginning to find its way into companies and the broader economy, said Patricia Dehmer, chief science officer for DOE.

Web-based science news has placed a higher burden on scientists to more effectively share their discoveries with the public— a challenge that CALS life sciences communicators are ready to help them meet.

As 2013 rolls to a close, many wonder: What’s our next step if we want health care coverage in the year ahead? The answer depends a great deal on the size and current coverage plan of your company – and whether you’re a one-person shop.

In an increasingly digital world, three Wisconsin start-ups are looking to claim a share of the growing amount of retail dollars flowing online.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com:The Show,” Liz Schrum talks with Bob Okabe of the Angel Resource Institute about investmentsin Wisconsin and across the country; Tom Still explains why small businessesmight prefer to wait before taking advantage of the Affordable Care Act; andthe WisBusiness.com Stock Report for mid-December features banks andforeclosures. 

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

Wisconsin small- and medium-sized businesses will have the opportunity to gain access to specialized high-performance computing systems and services under a new program unveiled Monday by the Milwaukee Institute, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and Mason Wells. 

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is proposing to create a microgrid combining wind, solar and battery power at a research building in Glendale.

Thompson is the chairman and chief executive officer of Thompson Holdings, a business umbrella under which one of the most familiar names and faces in Wisconsin politics is investing and advising about 30 companies, mostly in the health care space. 

The Milwaukee Institute will provide high-performance computing and storage resources to tenants in the new Global Water Center under the terms of a partnership announced Monday morning.

SupraNet Communications, Inc. is excited to offer passengers at the Dane County Regional Airport complimentary wireless Internet for the holiday season.

Zywave Inc., a software company that employs 366 people in Wauwatosa, has sold its insurance division and the Zywave brand name to Aurora Capital Group, a private equity firm in Los Angeles.

The same problems and trends that are challenging the University of Wisconsin System these days are confronting other public universities across the country. That was evident at the annual conference of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, held recently in Washington, D.C.

Al Wearing, an insurance executive for Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, spoke at the Nov. 26 Wisconsin Innovation Network meeting in Madison. Wearing said that a good deal of the original health reform law has been modified by changes to regulations and delays and it might be best for small employers to sign up for early health insurance renewals and wait out some of the changes.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum talks with Wendy White Eagle of Native Capital about the investment opportunities in the upper Midwestern region; Tom Still explains how colleges and universities in other parts of the country are working to face the challenges in the higher education system; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for late November 2013 discusses the Brightstar Wisconsin Foundation and the holiday shopping outlook for this year.  

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

As we gather this Thanksgiving to share time with family, friends and food, let us count the blessings of our digital age… using zeros and ones only, of course.

Two years ago, Wisconsin could connect local businesses with trade partners in five countries. Today, the number of countries has grown to 36 — more than in any year since the state began offering such assistance in the 1970s. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. now contracts with 15 trade representatives, also a record, and at a lower cost than in previous years.

The wave of remembrances tied to the 50^th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination have necessarily stressed his role in pushing the frontiers of space exploration, but his contributions to innovation in other realms of science and technology reach well beyond. 

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum speaks with Mark Bakken, CEO of the Epic consulting firm Nordic Consulting, about the growth potential for health information technology in the state; Tom Still congratulates George Mosher on his recent induction into the Wisconsin Investor Hall of Fame; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for mid-November 2013 features Talgo Inc. and the Oshkosh Corp.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric, UW-Milwaukee and BMO Harris Bank.

Sonic Foundry Inc., a Madison provider of video communication services, said Thursday it plans to acquire two companies — one in Japan and the other in the Netherlands — and increase its presence in the global market.

Wisconsin businesses wanting direct market access to two of the world’s wealthiest economies will have a unique opportunity to meet leading customers, importers and other market intermediaries in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar as part of a Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Trade Venture in January.

PALO ALTO, Calif. — HP Enterprise Services has announced the Wisconsin Department of Health Services has signed a $221 million agreement for HP to continue its 36-year relationship as the state’s Medicaid fiscal agent.

While Wisconsin continues to lag in the creation of net new companies, directions in sectors that are sources of young, high-growth companies promise to help over time. Here are 10 trends shaping the future of Wisconsin’s tech-based economy.

University Research Park in Madison, and its MGE Innovation Center that houses many emerging companies when they first arrive at the park, has been listed in a Forbes magazine ranking on "12 business incubators changing the world." Others listed are located in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, California, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Read more: http://www.forbes.com/pictures/feki45hekd/mge-innovation-center/

Three years back, Matt Howard, Eric Martell and Alex Wyler were UW-Madison students with a bright idea and not much money. But they had a solid corps of friends, and sometimes that can get you by. The three are co-founders of EatStreet Inc., a promising young Madison tech firm that supplies restaurants with software for handling online orders. They weren't the first in the field. Other companies — GrubHub, Seamless, Eat24 — were quicker to start plowing this digital-convenience ground, but the Wisconsin crew figured there was still plenty of acreage to cover.

The 2013 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium attracted more than 550 attendees over two days. Thanks to all who participated! See the full attendee list and read all the coverage of the conference here.

Two days after Typhoon Haiyan left a trail of death and destruction in the Philippines, some of the nation’s leading climate scientists gathered at a higher education conference to talk about how to better predict the next mega-storm. Their conclusion: Whether or not people and policymakers buy into the notion of man-made climate change, the science of forecasting the strength, target and frequency of such storms must qualitatively improve. 

Angel and venture capital investing in Wisconsin has many faces. They range from sophisticated fund managers, inside the state and out, who handle multi-million-dollar deals to the casual investor who may join a hometown angel network and take part in one five-digit deal a year. One of the most familiar and humble faces belongs to George Mosher.

American Family Insurance is leading the way among state companies in terms of its involvement in Wisconsin's entrepreneurial scene, a State of Wisconsin Investment Board portfolio manager said Wednesday.

See pictures of the ninth annual Elevator Pitch Olympics, held Nov. 6 at the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium in Madison.

More than 525 people took part in the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium at the Monona Terrace Conference Center on Tuesday, up from 488 last year, organizers said. Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, attributed the increased number of attendees at the annual matchmaking event for investors and nascent companies to a slowly improving economy and a broader range of technologies.

More than 45 early stage companies spanning products as diverse as medical devices, dairy products, a portable jet ski and a diesel aircraft engine presented to potential investors and others during the 2013 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium.

It's a common question, often voiced inside the Capitol and within Wisconsin's business community: How can the University of Wisconsin System better align itself with the state's economic future?

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

It’s rarely a bad idea to compare-and-contrast when it comes to business development, whether it’s city to city, state to state or region to region. It can be a really bad idea, however, to get hung up on it. Unfortunately, the latter seems to be the case these days in Wisconsin, where a slow recovery from the Great Recession has sent business, government and economic development leaders scrambling for answers wherever the grass looks greener. 

Investors from Wisconsin, the Midwest and beyond will share their expertise with entrepreneurs and others at the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, to be held Nov. 5-6 at Madison’s Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center.

Four examples of academic innovation that could become tomorrow’s commercial successes will be unveiled Nov. 6 during the annual “First Look Forum” at the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium.

More than 45 early stage companies spanning products as diverse as medical devices, dairy products, a portable jet ski and a diesel aircraft engine will present to potential investors and others at the 2013 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, to be held Nov. 5-6 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison.

The concept of equity crowdfunding was embraced by the JOBS Act, within certain investment limits, but it ran head-long into the SEC’s historic concern about society inventing new ways to swindle grandmothers and other unsuspecting investors. So, while most of the nation waited for the SEC rules, several states moved ahead with crowdfunding on their own – including Wisconsin, where the Legislature has passed legislation to rewrite state securities law.

Entrepreneurs often pitch their business plans to investors – but what happens when the shoe is on the other foot? That’s the concept behind the “Reverse Elevator Pitch,” new this year at the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium. Also new this year is “Office Hours,” a series of five small-group discussions at which entrepreneurs can discuss specific issues with experts and their peers.

Wisconsin businesses interested in learning more about opportunities in South Korea are invited to attend a Boardroom Brief event on Tuesday, Oct. 29, in Madison. The session, hosted by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. and Wisconsin Manufactures & Commerce, will provide updates on exporting and other business opportunities in South Korea.

Louis Ho, the director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s seven offices in North and South America, freely admits he didn’t know that much about Wisconsin until a recent visit to Minnesota’s Twin Cities persuaded him to look across the border.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum interviews Al Wearing of Group Health Cooperative about the nation's initial response to and interactions with the Affordable Care Act; Tom Still previews the Nov. 5-6 Early Stage Symposium; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for mid-October 2013 includes biotech firm Promega and Wisconsin's corn prices.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric, UW-Milwaukee and BMO Harris Bank.

Click here to listen to an Oct. 15 interview with Tech Council President Tom Still on Visionary Talk Radio, in which he discusses the role of the Tech Council, the role of higher education in innovation, and attributes of successful entrepreneurs.

Mark Schmitz, whose design work for research institutions and tech-based businesses currently spans four continents and eight countries, will speak on global opportunities for emerging Wisconsin companies Nov. 5 at the annual Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium.

AquaMost, Inc. today announced the appointment of Mark Henrickson as Chief Operating Officer. Henrickson, who has served as the company’s Chief Financial Officer since March 2012, will continue to head up the company’s financial management strategy in addition to now also leading the organization’s day-to-day manufacturing operations.

Uncertainty in the markets is one of the most obvious indicators of the federal shutdown, but it’s not confined to companies that are publically traded. The story is similar for other emerging companies in the life sciences, including medical devices, and extends to firms in other sectors that may be subject federal review or a grant approval process.

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. 5-6 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison.

UW Regent Tim Higgins, chair of the board's Research, Economic Development and Innovation Committee, addressed the Wisconsin Technology Council board of directors on Tuesday, Oct. 9, in Neenah. The meeting was hosted by Plexus Corp.. View Higgins' remarks, as well as the UW System's strategic plan surrounding economic development, here.

Watch Tom Still's interview on "Newsmakers," the Appleton Post Crescent's online issues program.

The United States is home to about 297,000 or so square miles (190 million acres) of federal forest and rangeland. This incredible resource has always been – and forever will be – susceptible to fire, natural as well as manmade. But the fire patterns of the last decade or more represent a worrying change: There have been more fires that are more devastating, harder to fight, and more costly to people and the environment. 

MADISON – On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum interviews Rebecca Larson of the Alliance of Health Insurers about the health care industry in Wisconsin and the impact of the new health care laws; Tom Still points out some tips for improving the state's job creation efforts; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for early October 2013 covers workforce training and coal. 

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric, UW-Milwaukee and BMO Harris Bank.

Due to a rapidly growing number of potential deals, the Golden Angels investing network is restructuring and opening to new members, the group's director said Thursday.

Economic development investments made by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation are now open for public view through an interactive online map launched Oct. 1 by the organization. The economic impact map was developed through a partnership with the UW-Whitewater and UW-Madison. The impact map located on WEDC’s website (http://inwisconsin.com/inside-wedc/impact/) shows all of the individual investments WEDC has made since July 2011.

Madison Development Corp., a local non-profit development company helping hard-to-finance small businesses with loans, started a Venture Debt Fund to help technology businesses stretch scarce local venture capital dollars.  Since inception, the MDC Venture Debt Fund has made about 40 loans totaling $11.5 million to local tech businesses. Four loans were just closed to Intuitive Biosciences Inc., SOLOMO Technology Inc., Veridt , Inc., and Wellbe Inc.

Assuming national issues such as interest rates, the advent of health-care reform and uncertainty in Washington and abroad affect all states more or less evenly, what are the factors holding Wisconsin back? Here are some possibilities.

UW-Madison produces cutting-edge science and skilled researchers. But like other institutions in the upper Midwest, it doesn’t do enough to promote itself, the university’s new chancellor said Tuesday at a Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon.

Brad Feld, an entrepreneur, investor and co-founder of the successful TechStars accelerators, will speak live via telepresence to open the Nov. 5 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium in Madison.

Wellintel Inc., a Shorewood company formed less than a year ago, plans to begin selling in spring an inexpensive system that will give homeowners with wells more information than ever before about their water supply.

One of the key changes enacted by last year’s federal “Jumpstart Our Business Start-ups Act” went into effect on Monday, allowing startups to advertise that they’re seeking equity investments. But the effect of lifting the 1933 ban on general solicitation of private securities offerings is still unclear, local experts said Monday.

The life sciences hub around Madison and Milwaukee, anchored by biotech firm Promega and the University of Wisconsin system, has diverse capabilities in research instrumentation, reagents, medical devices, and agricultural biotech applications, in addition to drug discovery and stem cells, says Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, a nonprofit economic development group.

Making sense of how to collect, store, use and protect your own byte of “big data” was a theme of the Sept. 18 Resource Rendezvous at UW-Milwaukee, where about 80 people gathered to hear from cybersecurity experts and others from the worlds of research, business and defense. 

Are you looking to raise startup capital that has no financial strings attached? Winning a business contest is one way to gather funds you don't need to pay back or forfeit equity to get. The same goes for small-business grants.

The remarkable growth of Wisconsin's Epic Systems Corp. over the last decade has spawned a whole new industry: Hundreds of consulting firms, paying average salaries well into six figures, have sprung up across the nation to help hospitals and other health care providers install and operate the Verona company's electronic medical records systems. Nordic Consulting Partners Inc., the biggest Wisconsin-based Epic consulting firm, illustrates the phenomenon.

When first lady Michelle Obama dropped by the southern Wisconsin city of Watertown to urge Americans to drink more water, the original healthy alternative to sugary drinks, it seemed like a good gimmick. She “dropped” into Watertown… get it? 

The first lady’s visit was welcome, of course, but there’s a lot more happening under the surface of Wisconsin’s water technology economy than even the White House might know. 

MADISON –On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum interviews Jim Rice of Piiku, an advertising company with an innovative approach to ad presentation; Tom Still explores the rising field of water technology in Wisconsin; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for mid-September covers the Kenosha economy and mining industry jobs.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric, UW-Milwaukee and BMO Harris Bank. 

Seventeen companies from the Upper Midwest have been selected to present science and technology-based products and research Sept. 19 in Milwaukee, Wis., during the seventh annual “Resource Rendezvous.”

The history of friction between science and theology resurfaced in Wisconsin recently with the announcement that the 7,400 children who attend schools in the Madison Catholic Diocese will no longer be taking field trips to the Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery. That’s because the facility on the UW-Madison campus conducts research using human embryonic stem cells.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum talks to Dan Blake, director of the Wisconsin Angel Network, about the latest news and upcoming events for Wisconsin's investment community; Tom Still points out a few booming economic states to keep an eye on; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for early September covers health care costs and unemployment claims.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric, UW-Milwaukee and BMO Harris Bank.

Asthmapolis, a Madison company with a mobile app for chronic respiratory disease, said Tuesday it has changed its name to Propeller Health. The company also said it is offering expanded mobile apps for asthma, COPD and other respiratory diseases, along with new sensors to snap onto inhaled medications that are pending regulatory approval.

Eso-Technologies Inc., a Middleton company that is developing a patented esophageal probe, said Tuesday it has raised $600,000 from Wisconsin-based angel investors in an oversubscribed offering. Eso-Technologies was the Grand Prize winner of the 2009 Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest.

It was dubbed "Finding Common Ground," a Sept. 5 summit to bring together state legislators, University of Wisconsin regents and other university leaders to talk about ways to mend fences after a series of trust-eroding episodes

The state Department of Administration has released a "Request for Qualifications" to select a qualifed fund manager for the recently enacted state early stage capital program. The program, passed as Assembly Bill 181 and signed into law as Act 41, will create a matching program for $25 million in state investment into a "fund of funds." Read the RFQ here.

Milwaukee's ambition to become a hub of water research and technology — aiming to lure new jobs and investment to the metro region by harnessing its stable of existing water-tech industries — reaches a milestone Thursday: Cutting the ribbon for a seven-story, $22 million, 100,000-square-foot technology and business incubator.

The planners of the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium are looking for innovative early stage companies from Wisconsin and other Midwest states to present in November at Madison’s Monona Terrace. 

The annual conference on Nov. 5-6 gives selected companies the opportunity to make presentations and meet with investors, along with other entrepreneurs and business leaders. Many firms have cited participation in the conference as a key factor for significant business growth.  Company applications are due no later than 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 23, 2013.

Speakers from General Dynamics, DRS Technologies, Altamira Technologies and Johnson Controls will discuss science and technology needs within the federal government and their own companies during the seventh annual “Resource Rendezvous” in Milwaukee. 

Bill Linton, founder of Promega and a member of the Wisconsin Technology Council board, is featured in a Sept. 5 Isthmus article on the company’s “unconventional vision. The story was written by contributing editor Marc Eisen.

AquaMost, Inc. officially unveiled its new SX PECO Reactor, enabling chemical-free water treatment. The system has already been deployed at multiple sites in Texas, Colorado and Utah and was well received by operators and service providers.

 Intel Corp., the international computer chip developer, opened a new office in Eau Claire Tuesday, a good sign for the local economy, said Gov. Scott Walker. Intel will develop new products at the office located at 1825 N. Clairemont Ave., which had previously housed Sitepro.

Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, will moderate portions of a Sept. 5 University of Wisconsin Regents conference on “Finding Common Ground: Governance, Funding and Partnerships for Wisconsin’s Public University System.” Still was invited by the Regents to help lead the discussion, which will involve key Regents, UW System chancellors and administrators and leading state legislators. Guest speakers will include Charles B. Reed, former chancellor of the California State University System, and P.J. Hogan, vice chancellor for government relations in the University of Maryland System.

Industry experts will offer insights on the future of military contracting opportunities at the seventh annual “Resource Rendezvous” in Milwaukee. The one-day conference is aimed at helping companies learn how to increase their chance of receiving federal grant dollars or research agreements. Produced by the Wisconsin Security Research Consortium and the Wisconsin Technology Council, the event will be held 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Union Ballroom on the UW-Milwaukee campus.

Allscripts announced the winners of the Open App Challenge as part of the kickoff of the 2013 Allscripts Client Experience. Winning the grand prize of the Allscripts Open App Challenge, is Healthfinch, a Madison-based company whose mission is to help increase quality and productivity by reducing non-reimbursable physician time and wasted staff time to zero. The winning Healthfinch Refillwizard application is on its way to achieving this mission by providing a solution that automates prescription renewal requests.

Abodo.com, a Madison start-up that offers online apartment listings, said Monday it has raised $325,000 from angel investors.

While most of the nation waits for the SEC rules for the JOBS Act, two states have moved ahead with crowdfunding on their own. Georgia and Kansas have taken the plunge; North Carolina and Washington state are considering similar state-based platforms. Joining the march, three Wisconsin legislators said this month they will introduce a bill to rewrite Wisconsin’s securities law to allow equity crowdfunding.

On the 100th episode of the show, Liz Schrum catches up with Mark Bugher, the show's very first guest, to discuss his tenure as director of University Research Park and his upcoming retirement. Also on the show, Tom Still explains why new SEC regulations could adversely affect angel investments in Wisconsin and across the country; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for late August covers home sales and Anchor Bank.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric, UW-Milwaukee and BMO Harris Bank.

Rebecca Blank, UW-Madison’s new chancellor and the former U.S. commerce secretary, says one of her top priorities is ensuring UW remains central to the state’s economic growth.

“We are working hard to do a better job of encouraging entrepreneurship [among students and faculty], helping them bring ideas from the lab to the marketplace, and working in collaboration with places like UW-Milwaukee and with the private sector and public sector to create ... an attractive environment for businesses to come in and to grow,” Blank said on "UpFront with Mike Gousha," produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com.

An angel group that formed in March has invested $500,000 into MCT Inc., a Milwaukee start-up with a sophisticatedtechnology for cutting printed materials. Wisconsin Super Angel Fund was impressed with the company's technology expertise and the rapid growth of its market, said Tom Schuster, managing general partner for the fund.

The buzz around Sector67, a collaborative "makerspace" on the east side, reached a new pitch last month when a group of entrepreneurs unveiled plans for StartingBlock Madison, a $13.5 million start-up hub proposed for a warehouse on East Washington Avenue. Sector67 — a hands-on haven in a digital age — would be an anchor enterprise.

The efforts to change the way public money is managed are motivated, in no small part, by the big fees and lackluster performance that many hedge funds and private equity firms have delivered to their biggest clients in recent years. In Wisconsin, the state’s $91 billion public pension fund, the nation’s ninth-largest, is looking for an employee to run a new program that will make private equity investments directly rather than through a fund. The fund has estimated it will save $19.3 million in fees over the next five years on the $500 million that will be put to work.

Investor interest in Orion Energy Systems Inc. had dimmed in recent years. Under new leadership since September, however, Orion has rebounded with higher sales, a new focus on profitability and an acquisition that positions the company for growth. That has reignited interest in Orion's stock, which hit a two-year high earlier this month.

Located in largely rural Marathon County, Wausau is a city of about 40,000 that absorbed several thousand Hmong immigrants beginning in the 1970s. Wausau was nonetheless the site of an Aug. 14 forum that demonstrated how the issue of immigration reform has become a district-by-district struggle for votes in the U.S. House of Representatives, where a Senate-passed reform bill faces an uncertain future.

Three Republican state legislators plan to introduce a bill to amend Wisconsin’s securities laws to allow online crowdfunding.

Using human pluripotent stem cells and DNA-cutting protein from meningitis bacteria, researchers from the Morgridge Institute for Research and Northwestern University have created an efficient way to target and repair defective genes.

Welcome to the SEC's tortured rule-making process for the federal "Jumpstart Our Business Startups" act. Dubbed the JOBS Act, the legislation was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama more than a year ago.

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.

Why two top venture capitalists left Silicon Valley for flyover country.

A forum for early stage investors will be held Tuesday, Sept. 10, at American Family Insurance Co. in Madison. Chicago investor Robert Okabe, president of the Angel Resource Institute, will speak on trends in raising early stage capital. Other speakers will address best practices and policy isses at the state and federal level. Attendance will be limited to investors; more information is available through Dan Blake, director, Wisconsin Angel Network, at dblake@wisconsintechnologycouncil.com.

A forum on federal immigration reform will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14, at the UW Center for Civic Engagement, 518 S. 7th Ave., Wausau, on the UW-Marathon campus. Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, will be among the panelists. To attend, respond to wisconsinbbb2013@gmail.com The forum is hosted by FWD.us, a coalition of tech-based companies, and Bibles, Badges and Business.

AT&T Corp. says it has acquired 32 cellular towers in its efforts to improve wireless service in northeast Wisconsin, including towers in Brown, Door, Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Kewaunee counties.

On the latest episode of “WisBusiness.com: The Show,” Liz Schrum speaks with Pepi Randolph of the Potawatomi Business Development Corp. about a new high-end data center being built in Milwaukee; Tom Still explains Wisconsin's continuing journey out of the recession; and the WisBusiness.com Stock Report for early August 2013 looks at the Madison-based company Stratatech.

The biweekly show, produced by Tweedee Productions for the Wisconsin Technology Council and WisBusiness.com, is sponsored by Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Madison Gas & Electric, UW-Milwaukee and BMO Harris Bank.

The always-upbeat entrepreneur Toni Sikes was even more buoyant than usual when I caught up with her driving back to Madison from a Minneapolis board meeting. The cause of her good cheer wasn't just that her latest startup, the Art Commission, has raised $950,000 in venture capital; it was that the business model had already morphed into something bigger.

The rise of coworking spaces downtown is solid evidence of Madison's growing tech scene. Now, two more downtown spots are offering the low-cost shared space for techies who want to leave their coffee-shop offices - Cresa Madison and 100 State Street.

NCD Technologies announced that their Nanocrystalline Diamond Pretreatment (NDP) an innovative and unprecedented process for applying diamond coatings to extremely small tooling, has been selected by R&D Magazine’s 100 list for technological excellence

Baldwin’s bill, the Small Business Innovation Act of 2013, would authorize the federal Small Business Administration to set up a fund for private investors seeking to support early stage business in biotech, clean energy and advanced manufacturing.

At long last, the Wisconsin Legislature has enacted a state-leveraged venture capital fund of funds. The $25 million program, which could be up and running by Jan. 1, 2014, and make its first investment sometime next year, will provide venture capital to qualified startup companies in the advanced manufacturing, engineering, agriculture, information technology, and medical-device industries. All of the funds must be invested in Wisconsin-based businesses.

After years of development, Engineered Propulsion Systems Inc. of New Richmond will put its upgrade on display when it test flies its new engine in the Mojave Desert this fall, the company said at the EAA AirVenture this week.

Educational software company Skyward will build a new headquarters valued at as much as $30 million and create 700 new jobs over the next decade in a project that could pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy. Skyward is a member of the Wisconsin Innovation Network.

We have built a secure resume database on the new Wisconsin Technology Council job board. Take advantage of this free resource and get connected to many of the key players in Wisconsin’s business community.

Speakers with hands-on knowledge will discuss the science and technology research gaps within the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Energy during the seventh annual “Resource Rendezvous” to be held Sept. 19 in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee tech startup, Find My Spot, is a service being provided to hundreds of new educators moving to Milwaukee through the Greater Milwaukee Committee’s new Teachtown MKE initiative.