Khalif and Que El-Amin, who co-founded Milwaukee’s Young Enterprising Society to provide training and to foster startups, will talk about the program’s progress in Wisconsin’s largest city and beyond Nov. 4 at the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium.
The event will be held in-person at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison. General registration is also now open by clicking here!
Multi-million-dollar housing projects, science-related programming for middle- and high-school students and accelerator programs for youth and adults alike are among the projects undertaken by brothers Khalif and Que El-Amin since launching the Young Enterprising Society in 2012.
A major program of YES is The Blueprint, which provides seed capital, entrepreneurial training and technology to promising young companies. Since 2018, a succession of 12-week programs have been supported by the city of Milwaukee, Northwestern Mutual, Milwaukee Institute and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.
The Blueprint serves startups in the idea and pre-seed stage. Many young companies come from FOR-M, a free incubator for idea-stage entrepreneurs sponsored by the Milwaukee Tech Hub Coalition and run by We Pivot and The Commons. After startups complete The Blueprint, YES may refer them to other investors.
“The El-Amin brothers are helping to change the face of entrepreneurship in Milwaukee and beyond. It’s a story that deserves telling wherever entrepreneurship aspires to take root,” said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.
The Tech Council produces the two-day conference, which will feature other major speakers, panel discussions, workshops and company presentations. Investor groups attend the event to hear those pitches and meet with companies one-on-one.
Here are the investor groups so far participating in the Early Stage Symposium: 1915 Studios, 4490 Ventures, Bascom Ventures, Baird Capital, Bold Coast Capital, BrightStar Wisconsin, Capital Midwest, Cultivation Capital, Golden Angels Investors, Great North Ventures, HealthX Ventures, Hyde Park Ventures, Inventure Capital, Lancaster Investments, M25 Group, Madison Development Corp., Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Rock River Capital, Sandalphon Capital, TASC Ventures, TitletownTech, Tundra Angels, Venture Investors, WARF Ventures, Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., WISC Partners, Wisconsin Investment Partners, Wisconsin River Business Angels, Yahara Ventures and Ziegler Meditech.
The conference will feature many opportunities for young companies to learn:
- About 40 company presentations in two different segments and the “Investor Intros” speed-dating segment, which will include nearly 60 companies.
- Panel discussions and educational seminars featuring leading entrepreneurs, investors and others tied to the tech sector.
- Keynote speakers and targeted panel discussions featuring leading entrepreneurs, investors and others tied to the tech sector making an impact nationwide.
- Exhibit hall showcasing innovative Wisconsin companies.
- A Nov. 3 conference reception, two luncheons, two breakfasts and other networking opportunities, including an investors-only dinner.
The Tech Council produces the conference. Sponsors so far include: Aberdean Consulting, Advanced Materials Industrial Consortium, Advocate Aurora Health, American Family Insurance, American Transmission Co., AT&T, Baird Capital, Baker Tilly, BDO, City of Fitchburg, CUNA Mutual, Dedicated Computing, DeWitt, Exact Sciences, Findorff, Fine Point Consulting, First Business Bank, Godfrey & Kahn, Google, HealthX Ventures, Husch Blackwell, Idea Fund of La Crosse, KW2, M3 Insurance, Madison Development Corp., Madison Gas & Electric, Makin’ Hey Communications, Marquette University, Marshfield Clinic Health System, Michael Best, Mobile22, Morgridge Institute for Research, N29 Capital Partners, Neider & Boucher, One City Schools, Perkins Coie, Quarles & Brady, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, RSM US, Signature Bank, State of Wisconsin Investment Board, SustainableHR PEO, TASC, University Research Park, UWM Research Foundation, UW-Madison Computer Sciences, Venture Investors, Versiti, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity, Wipfli, WEA Trust, Yahara Software, Zendesk and Ziegler.
To learn more about sponsorship information, please reach out to Angela Schlobohm at angela@wisconsintechnologycouncil.com.
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