Forty-nine entries from about two-dozen communities have advanced to the semi-final round of the eighth annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, contest producers announced Monday.
The contestants were selected from a field of 220 first-round entries by an independent panel of nearly 60 judges organized through the Wisconsin Technology Council, which is producing the contest in conjunction with its membership subsidiary, the Wisconsin Innovation Network, the Wisconsin Angel Network and other statewide affiliates.
The semi-finalists reflect the diversity of Wisconsin’s economy and are spread among four broad categories: advanced manufacturing (14), business services (11), information technology (13) and life sciences (11). That proportion roughly reflects the mix of Phase 1 entries in the contest’s four categories.
Energy generation and management, other “cleantech” ideas, software solutions, industrial processes, health diagnostics, drugs and medical devices were specific sectors that drew a number of entries. The contests also attracted entries focused on products for children and older adults, as well as sports and recreation innovations.
“Wisconsin continues to build a pipeline of entrepreneurs,” said Mark Bugher, chairman of the Tech Council. “The quality of the ideas submitted was very strong again this year, supporting our belief that Wisconsin has the ideas, the innovative culture and the entrepreneurs necessary to succeed in the 21st century economy.”
The 49 entries competing in Phase 2 of the contest are writing summary business plans of no more than 1,000 words. Each plan describes the core product or service, defines the customer base, estimates the size of the market, identifies competition, lists members of the management team and provides key financial data.
Phase 2 plans will be filed online by 5 p.m. March 14; the next judging period will last about two weeks. All of the Phase 2 contestants were invited to a March 2 Business Plan Contest “boot camp” in Milwaukee to help them write their Phase 2 plan.
Once Phase 2 judging is complete, the 49 entries may be made available for inspection by accredited investors through the Wisconsin Angel Network, which has 28 member angel networks, private equity funds or corporate strategic partners.
About two-dozen plans will move on to Phase 3, in which contestants will write a full business plan. Four regional or collegiate contests will feed into the statewide competition for Phase 3. Those are the Mason Wells BizStarts Collegiate Business Plan Competition, the G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition at the UW-Madison, the Marquette University Kohler Center for Entrepreneurship Business Plan Contest and the Northeast Wisconsin Business Plan Contest.
First prize in the statewide contest is worth $50,000 in cash and services. Prize winners will be announced June 7-8 at the annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference, to be held at the The Pfister Hotel. The top dozen contestants will give live presentations at the conference – with judges scoring those pitches as a part of selecting the winners.
Sponsors of the 2010 contest and 2011 sponsors to date include: 5Nines/Matador Consulting; Aberdean Consulting LLC; Alliant Energy; American Transmission Co.; Associated Bank; Baird Venture Partners; Earth Information Technologies; Fitchburg Technology Campus; Foley & Lardner LLP; Forte Research Systems; Frontier Airlines; Functional Biosciences; The Gialamas Company; The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Journal Interactive; The Milwaukee Institute; Kollath & Associates, CPAs; The Luminis Group Ltd.; Madison Area Technical College; Madison Gas & Electric Co.; McAllen TECH Campus; Michael Best & Friedrich LLP; Mortenson Construction; Murphy Desmond; Perkins Coie; Quarles & Brady LLP; Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.; Ruedebusch Development & Construction; Rusk Prairie Group; Smith & Gesteland LLP; State of Wisconsin Investment Board; TDS Telecom; University Research Park; Wisconsin Department of Commerce; WisBusiness.com; Wisconsin Angel Network; Wisconsin Tech College System; Wisconsin Technology Council; WTN Media; and Xcel Energy. To become a sponsor, call 608-442-7557 or visit www.govsbizplancontest.com
Here are the 2011 semi-finalists in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest. Reporters wishing to contact individual contestants may do so through the Wisconsin Technology Council by calling 608-442-7557 ext. 27.
Ankit Agarwal Imbed Biosciences Madison
Marco Araujo InterMeds Green Bay
Suman Banerjee WiRover Madison
Joseph Beck Impedance-Based Cell Analyzer Madison
John Bender Simple Campus Housing Colgate
Erwin Berthier Painless Home Cholesterol Test Madison
Richard Bowers Matrix Reading Solutions Hobart
Andrew Brown HS Sports Madison
Douglas Buch PaveDrain Greenfield
Jonathan Cleveland Superior Analytical Belleville
Timothy Collins Curbside Home Tours Jefferson
Brian Curry Lumen Healthcare Pewaukee
Ivan Davis Revolution Recycling Jefferson
Carlos de la Huerga VeraTrue Delafield
Farzad Diba Next Generation Travel Search Mequon
Donato Diorio ThumbCast Oconomowoc
Greg Dockter Topical Bleeding Gel Cottage Grove
Katie Dogs Triton Fish Meal Madison
Ryan Dover LocalGrown Lake Geneva
Brennon Garthwait Renwig Custom Fort Atkinson
John Gillies Stop-Safe Madison
Rajesh Guntupalli Mold Detection Apparatus Auburn, Ala.
Jeff Hayes BreadSt-Your Ave to the Web Neenah
Patrick Heaney NCD Coatings for Micro Tools Middleton
Kyle Jaeger OilSTAT Oil Condition Monitor Kenosha
Pat James DEMET for better copper mining Madison
Aaron Larner VizChart EMR Madison
Jeff LeDuc SolarWindow Appleton
Jim Maerzke 21st Century Wheelchair Kenosha
Joan Martinie International Student Services Whitefish Bay
Nathan Patterson Mu – Games for STEM Education Madison
Jonathan Pearl Perceptral Racine
Bobby Peterson My Coverage Plan Madison
Peter Petit Vacuum-Insulated Window Glass Pewaukee
Thomas Primiano NanoOncology Madison
Amy Recob The BugaBees Middleton
Amy Reno Speechtails.com Wauwatosa
Tomas Roa-Lauby Accelerated Renewable Energy Monona
Brett Roth No More Smoke-Breaks Milwaukee
Abdalla Saad 3S Therapeutics-Drug Delivery Madison
Michael Saucier DropWatt Energy Management Madison
Ryan Schultz OpeningDesign Fort Atkinson
Brad Schwei PureTech Systems Neenah
Evan Sengbusch Modular Biologics Middleton
Jeremy Shafton Door-6 Madison Madison
Jeffrey Smith Kinetic Performance Systems Nashotah
Hans Sollinger Treatment of Type I diabetes Madison
Robert Steffes Flying Cart LLC Waukesha
Brandon Taff Birdieworld Neenah
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