‘Diligent Dozen’ selected to present live June 5th at Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference

Twelve entries representing diverse tech-based sectors in Wisconsin’s startup economy will present live to judges in the Governor’s Business Plan Contest during the 10^th annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in Milwaukee.

Read Wisconsin State Journal story here.

The contestants have survived three rounds of judging in the contest organized through the Wisconsin Technology Council, which produces the contest in conjunction with its partners and sponsors. The contest began in late January with 248 entries; some 2,100 entries have been received since the contest began in 2004.

This year’s top 12 will deliver seven-minute pitches on their business ideas beginning 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, during the conference. Winners will be announced June 6 during a closing luncheon – and all 25 finalists will be eligible for prizes.

Ideas from this year’s crop of finalists include products and ideas for electric motor innovation, several aspects of health care, flight training simulation, a tech-driven way for anglers to find fish, nanotechnology tools for manufacturing, predicting behaviors of shoppers, picking college roommates, environmental cleanup technology and more. Entries were submitted in four categories: Advanced Manufacturing, Business Services, Information Technology and Life Sciences.

Finalists submitted full business plans for review by a panel of more than 60 judges established by the Tech Council, which is the non-profit and non-partisan science and technology adviser to the governor and the Legislature. Each plan describes the core product or service, defines the customer base, estimates the size of the market, identifies competition, list members of the management team and provides key financial data.

The finalists’ executive summaries as well as those filed by semi-finalists are available for inspection by accredited investors through the Wisconsin Angel Network, which has more than 25 member angel networks, private equity funds or corporate strategic partners.

More than $200,000 in cash and in-kind prizes have been pledged thus far for the 2012 contest. Sponsors are: 5Nines/Matador Consulting, Aberdean Consulting LLC, American Transmission Company, AT&T, Attivo Technologies, Baird Venture Partners, City of Waterloo, Cornerstone Properties, Design Concepts, Earth Information Technologies, Exact Sciences, Flaherty & Associates, Flanagan Financial, Functional Biosciences, Kohner Mann & Kailas, Madison Gas & Electric Co., Marshfield Clinic Applied Sciences, MasterCard, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Microsoft, The Milwaukee Institute, Park Towne Development, Perkins Coie, Pieper Properties , Murphy Desmond S.C., Quarles & Brady LLP, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren S.C., Revelation, Rusk Prairie Consulting, Smith & Gesteland LLP, State of Wisconsin Investment Board, Starkweather & Associates, University Research Park, Urban Land Interests, UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations, VentureLab , Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., WisBusiness.com, Wisconsin Angel Network, Wisconsin Technology Council, Wisconsin Technical College System Foundation

To become a sponsor, contact Molly Lahr at 608-442-7557 ext. 27.

Finalists for 2012 are listed below; one-paragraph descriptions of each plan are available here. Reporters wishing to contact individual contestants may do so through the Wisconsin Technology Council by calling 608-442-7557 ext. 26.

Other highlights of this year’s conference include three headline speakers – Julie Wainwright, Bob Dorf and Dave Berkus; a speech by 2012 “Seize the Day” award winner Kay Koplovitz; 18 panel discussions of interest to entrepreneurs in different stages of company growth; and plenty of chances to network with investors and others. The regional meeting of the Angel Capital Association is part of the conference.