Twenty-five entries representing sectors as broad as recreational fishing to software development and innovations in manufacturing are competing in the finalist round of the ninth annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest.
The contestants have survived two rounds of judging in the contest organized through the Wisconsin Technology Council, which produces the contest in conjunction with the Wisconsin Innovation Network, the Wisconsin Angel Network and other statewide affiliates. The contest began in late January with 248 entries.
“The business plans in the final round reflect some of Wisconsin’s core technology strengths, as well as the fact that entrepreneurs can be found in emerging business sectors as well as familiar industries,” said Mark Bugher, chairman of the Tech Council.
The 25 plans selected for the final round include winners of the UW-Madison Burrill contest, the BizStarts collegiate competition and the Marquette University Kohler competition.
Ideas from this year’s crop of finalists include products and ideas for renewable energy, window manufacturing, electric motor innovation, several aspects of health care, flight training simulation, cyber-security, cloud computing, 3D printing and predicting behaviors of shoppers and trade show visitors. Entries were submitted in four categories: Advanced Manufacturing, Business Services, Information Technology and Life Sciences.
Contestants have 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.
About $200,000 in cash and in-kind prizes have been pledged thus far for the 2012 contest. Prize winners will be announced June 5-6 at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in Milwaukee.
Sponsors of the 2012 contest so far are: 5Nines/Matador Consulting, Aberdean Consulting LLC, American Transmission Co., Baird Venture Partners, Compass Properties LLC, Cornerstone Office Corporation, Earth Information Technologies, Economic Growth Associates, Flaherty & Associates, Madison Gas & Electric, MasterCard, Michael Best & Friedrich, Park Towne Development Corp., Perkins Coie, Pieper Properties, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., Smith & Gesteland LLP, Starkweather Associates , State of Wisconsin Investment Board, University Research Park, Urban Land Interests, UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations, VentureLab, the city of Waterloo, WisBusiness.com, Wisconsin Angel Network, Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority, Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. and the 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.
|
Ankit Agarwal |
Imbed Biosciences |
Madison |
|
William Bazeley |
NexVex Home Services Exchange |
Whitewater |
|
John Bender |
Simple Campus |
Sussex |
|
Rimas Buinevicius |
RoWheels |
Madison |
|
Joshua Curry |
NutriGenix LLC |
Milwaukee |
|
Ryan Dover |
LocalGrown |
Lake Geneva |
|
Bill Finn |
BoothTag |
Milwaukee |
|
Mike Goodman |
Retail Prescription Filling |
Madison |
|
Brian Jensen |
Fishidy.com |
Madison |
|
Chris Johnson |
Pilot Training System |
Middleton |
|
Christopher Kemp |
Soil & Sediment Clean-up |
Milwaukee |
|
Aaron Larner |
Style Shuffler |
Madison |
|
Jeff Leismer |
VibeTech, Inc. |
Sheboygan |
|
Nick Maris, Tom Shannon |
Reza-Band UES Assist device |
Mequon |
|
Aleia McCord |
Waste 2 Energy |
Madison |
|
Frederick Montgomery |
Novel Nitric Oxide Treatment |
Middleton |
|
Connie Nadler |
Smart in a Box |
Madison |
|
Nathan Patterson |
PolarD – Radiant 3D Printers |
Madison |
|
Peter Petit |
V-Glass Vacuum Insulated Glass |
Pewaukee |
|
Dan Reed |
Revolutionary Fishing Software |
Madison |
|
Justin Reed |
Capacitive Exciter |
Madison |
|
Joseph Scanlin |
Scanalytics, Inc. |
Whitewater |
|
Robert Shimmel |
NCD Technologies |
Madison |
|
Woody Wallace |
Cloud Machine |
Madison |
|
Dave Westlake |
Print Command |
Delafield |
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