Wisconsin Resources and Contacts

WAN's mission is to fuel the growth of entrepreneurial, early stage financing throughout Wisconsin. WAN produces and provides resources to the early stage investing community. Those resources include the "Deal-flow Pipeline," an online connection point for investors and entrepreneurs; assisting with angel network and early stage fund formation; facilitating collaboration between investors; on-demand videos, templates and other resources designed to help entrepreneurs seeking capital; and more.

Contact: Tom Still, (608) 442-7557

The Wisconsin Technology Council announces the launch of the 2012 Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Toolkit website. The Entrepreneur’s Toolkit provides business start-up information and assistance, networking contacts and technical resources. The information caters to individuals interested in starting any type of business including retail, service or technology companies. Visit the site here: witoolkit.com.

Elected state and federal representatives welcome input on matters of broad interest to their constituents. Entrepreneurs and others with a stake in Wisconsin’s high-growth economy are encouraged to reach out to their members of the Wisconsin Legislature (state Assembly and state Senate) and the U.S. Congress (House of Representatives and U.S. Senate) to communicate ideas, concerns and questions. Here’s how to determine who represents you.

This agency offers technology loans and grants to qualified companies, assists in site and location matters, and manages the Qualified New Business Venture (QNVB) program for investor tax credits.  

Contact:  Reed Hall, Interim CEO

(608) 210-6701 / sara.anderson@wedc.org

For Specific QNVB Information Contact:
Chris Schiffner / (608) 210-6826

chris.schiffner@wedc.org

WARF is a non-profit organization that supports research, transfers technology and ensures that the inventions and discoveries of UW-Madison benefit humankind. The UW-Madison is a premier research institution with world-class faculty and staff who attract more than $900 million in sponsored research each year. WARF receives about 400 disclosures per year and has taken an equity share in about 40 companies.

Contact:
Carl Gulbrandsen, Managing Director
(608) 263-2824
carl@warf.org

SWIB is the state agency that invests the assets of the Wisconsin Retirement System, the State Investment Fund and other state trust funds. As of August 2008, SWIB managed nearly $87 billion in investments.

Contact:
Chris Prestigiacomo, Portfolio Manager, Private Markets Group 
(608) 266-6723 
Chris.Prestigiacomo@swib.state.wi.us

WiSys is a non-profit WARF subsidiary established to identify innovative technologies developed beyond the UW-Madison campus, primarily within 11 other UW System campuses and Marshfield Clinic Applied Sciences. It helps to bring those technologies to the marketplace for the benefit of the inventors, their universities, Wisconsin’s economy and society.

Contact:
Maliyakal John, Director
(608) 316-4033
maliyaka@wisys.org

UW-Milwaukee researchers in engineering, business, the natural sciences, the social sciences and the arts and humanities are looking for partners to bring their discoveries to the world. The campus manages about $30 million in sponsored research each year.

Contact:
Brian Thompson, President
(414) 229-3397
briant@uwmfdn.org

Marshfield Clinic Applied Sciences promotes the exchange of knowledge between patient care services and research programs by helping to determine the commercial potential of advances. The division aligns research projects with health care needs and assists in the patent process. The clinic conducts about $25 million in sponsored research each year.

Contact:
Marsha Barwick, Assistant Director of Applied Sciences
(715) 389-3430
barwick.marsha@marshfieldclinic.org

The MCW Office of Technology Development is responsible for managing the discoveries, inventions and other intellectual property assets of the Medical College of Wisconsin and advancing these discoveries. The MCW conducts about $125 million in sponsored research each year.

Contact:
Joseph Hill, Vice President and Director
(414) 955-4381
jhill@mcw.edu

UW-Madison ranks with the likes of Stanford, UCLA and the University of California, San Diego when it comes to award-winning research talent. It allows for innovative collaborations among nearly 750 engineers, biologists, geneticists, neuroscientists, chemists, political scientists and others in the life sciences.

UW-Madison includes one of the leading technology transfer organizations in the world to help researchers bridge the gap between discovery and the marketplace.

DFI's mission is to ensure the safety and soundness of Wisconsin's financial institutions, to protect the consumers of financial services and to facilitate economic growth. The agency regulates and licenses financial service providers who do business in Wisconsin.

Contact:
Peter Bildsten, Cabinet Secretary
(608) 264-7800
peter.bildsten@wisconsin.gov

MIN introduces and coordinates funding rounds between its membership, which is made up of 16 angel networks and funds from across the Midwest.  Membership is open to any angel network, fund or early stage fund interested in syndicating Midwest deals. 

Contacts: Jeff Carter, jrcarter@me.com

MRUN is an alliance of professionals dedicated to facilitating growth of university technology spinout companies through start-up formation.  MRUN is built around the idea that regional cooperation in new business formation can foster commercialization of university research. 

Contact:  Allen J. Dines, Founder and President
(608) 262-2797 / ajdines@wisc.edu

BioForward is the independent, member-driven state association that is the voice of Wisconsin's bioscience industry.  It focuses on making innovation happen:  helping members find partners and funding, advocating for public policy that fosters innovation and growth, offering group purchase discounts and providing tools for recruiting and developing talent.

Contact: Bryan Renk, Executive Director
(608) 236-4753 / brenk@bioforward.org

PowerBuy 4 You is a newcomer to the Wisconsin business community and is using a variety of well-established business principles to help businesses in Wisconsin be more competitive.   These core ideas include collective buying power, thrift, economies of scale, service and member advocacy.  Membership in the consortium is free of charge and open to companies across a broad spectrum of industries. 

Contact: Becky Pharo

608-225-3350
becky@powerbuy4you.com  

Wisconsin has a number of high-quality banks, credit unions and other financial institutions that are experienced in dealing with small businesses. Here are some points to consider while determining what institution might be right for your business.

Many high-growth entrepreneurs eventually seeking angel or venture financing, and the Wisconsin Angel Network at http://www.wisconsinangelnetwork.com/ is a source of information. Entrepreneurs often start with other sources, however, such as fellow founders, friends, family and more. Here are some tips:

With the ascendance of the lean startup model, with its emphasis on early and constant customer feedback and startup pivots reflecting the same, more and more entrepreneurs are asking themselves, “Why bother with a business plan? It won’t survive long enough to be worth the effort to create it.” Paul Jones looks at why even lean startups should start with a business plan, even if the expected life of the same can be measured in months or even weeks.

Click here to view sample incorporation documents for technology oriented startup companies seeking investment dollars sometime in the first year after incorporation. These documents were prepared by AlphaTech Counsel, Madison. Their use is subject to certain terms and conditions outlined through the link. 

The facility provides scientists from UW-Madison, other universities, biotech and pharma companies a full range of fee-for-service drug discovery infrastructure and expertise including: high throughput screening (HTS) of chemical and RNAi libraries, biological profiling assays, synthetic chemistry, compound purification and identification, molecular modeling and virtual screening.

Contact:
Michael Hoffmann
hoffmann@oncology.wisc.edu

UW-Madison drug discovery and development services are seeking opportunities to work with Wisconsin companies.  Wisconsin companies now have a simple way to find relevant resources available to them at UW-Madison through this single website.  UW-Madison has invested in equipping and staffing several core laboratories to assist UW faculty and students and Wisconsin companies engaged in a broad spectrum of drug discovery and drug development research, from high throughput screening to pharmacokinetics for formulation to cGMP manufacturing.

Contact:  Michael Hoffmann
hoffmann@oncology.wisc.edu