The Milwaukee Regional Innovation Center has formed an angel fund to invest in Wisconsin startups.
The Milwaukee County Research Park campus. The TIC is in the center of the photo.
MRIC, which manages the Milwaukee County Research Park and its Technology Innovation Center business incubator, has contributed $100,000 to the fund, and has applied for a matching grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.’s Capital Catalyst Program for another $100,000.
The MRIC created the fund to help spur additional entrepreneurial activity in the state, said Guy Mascari, chief executive officer of MRIC and executive director of the TIC. MRIC is forming an investment committee, and plans to coinvest with other angel individuals or groups to fund early-stage startups, contributing $10,000 to $20,000 per investment.
Mascari is focused on startups that have developed a product that is ready for commercialization in the information technology, medical products and devices, agribusiness, food processing, automation and machinery industries, he said.
The MRIC’s TIC is at its highest-ever occupancy, 85% full with 60 tenants, about two-thirds of which are startup companies, Mascari said. But it also is home to anchor tenants and support organizations.
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