Fifty entries from 24 communities have advanced to the semi-final round of the 16th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, contest producers announced.

The contestants were selected from a field of about 200 qualified first-round entries by an independent panel of 95 judges organized through the Wisconsin Technology Council and its programs, the Tech Council Innovation Network and the Tech Council Investor Networks.

The semi-finalists reflect the diversity of Wisconsin’s economy and are spread among four broad categories: advanced manufacturing (15), business services (10), information technology (13) and life sciences (12).

Those 50 plans also represent the geographic diversity of Wisconsin, with 32 of 50 plans originating outside Dane County – a semifinal round record. Fifteen of 50 entrants are women.

Plans cover a mix of market sectors. Two plans are tied to Wisconsin’s emerging industrial hemp industry. Energy storage and batteries are also a recurring theme. Virtual reality robotics, on-site hydrogen production and a solar food dehydrator are other examples in the advanced manufacturing category.

Among entries that advanced are software, information or business-to-business systems related to child care, educational toys, construction safety, elder care, recreation, personnel management and using artificial intelligence.

Also moving on to the next round were plans tied to medical breakthroughs, such as mitigating strokes, improving medical needle disposal, better measuring dosages of radioactive therapies, a new system for organizing hospital and surgical room tubes and more.

“Trends reflected in the top 50 entries match up well with Wisconsin’s traditional and emerging strengths,” said Greg Lynch, chairman of the Tech Council. “Good ideas come from all high-growth sectors of the economy.”

The 50 entries competing in Phase 2 of the contest will write 1,000-word executive summaries. Each summary 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.

Once Phase 2 judging is complete in early April, the 50 entries may be made available for inspection by accredited investors through the Tech Council Investor Networks, which has about two-dozen angel networks, early stage funds or corporate strategic partners. About two-dozen plans will move on to Phase 3, in which contestants will write a full 15- to 20-page business plan.

The top dozen contestants will give live presentations at the annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference on June 4 at Venue 42 in Milwaukee. Category winners, as well as the 2019 Grand Prize Winner, will be announced during the BPC Awards Luncheon on June 5.

Sponsors are contributing cash, office space, legal assistance, accounting, marketing, web development, prototyping and more. About $2 million in cash and in-kind prizes have been awarded since the inception of the contest. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. is a major sponsor.

Additional lead sponsors of the 2019 contest thus far include:  American Family Insurance; AT&T; COLLABORATORcreative; Eppstein Uhen Architects; Hudson Business Lounge & Café; Iron Forge Development; Midwest Prototyping; Pieper Properties; Quarles & Brady; Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren; SCORE; University Research Park; Ward4; Whitewater University Technology Park; Associate sponsors include 100state; Aberdean Consulting; Applied Management; Cresa Madison; Murphy Desmond; Spencer X Smith and AmpliPhi. Additional sponsors are BloodCenter of Wisconsin;; Irontek; Madison Gas & Electric; Kinetic Compliance Solutions; Marshfield Clinic Health System; Neider & Boucher; OneNeck IT Solutions; Reverbal Communications; State of Wisconsin Investment Board; UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations; Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation; and Wisconsin Technical College System.

Here are the 2019 semi-finalists.  Reporters wishing to contact individual contestants may do so through the Wisconsin Technology Council by calling 608-442-7557.

 

TCARE, Inc. Aline Ahmadi Madison
4DFlow Aline Bakhshinejad Milwaukee
Muuze Aneysha Bhat Milwaukee
Herbal Circuit Travis Blomberg Shorewood
Cerberus Tactical Robots LLC Richard Bowman Racine
Kilter Rewards Seth Braddock Madison
Replace-A-Lace LLC Nancy Brekke-Jones Rhinelander
Skip and Co. Maritime Robert Carsey Fond du Lac
Impact Sports, LLC Joshua Cleveland River Falls
Drift & Row Brenna Davis Wauwatosa
Fervid Life Renee DeGrand Green Bay
UCHardChip, Inc. Ulysses Dinkins Madison
SpayVac for Wildlife Thoms D’Orazio Fitchburg
Seedlinked Nicolas Enjalbert Viroqua
ERbin Michelle Goetsch Kronenwetter
Voximetry Joe Grudzinski Middleton
Auto-Scope John Guequierre Madison
Next Generation Precision Calibrator George Hartman Monticello
PoWER Barbara Hastie Appleton
SafeLi, LLC Carol Hirschmugl Shorewood
Trinity Gunshot Alarm System, LLC Stacy Jax Baraboo
Energy Tech Innovations, LLC Bryan Johnson Milwaukee
DarkAero, Inc River Karl Monona
Udhavi Akshay Kumar Madison
Vivid Microscopy LLC Jayson Kurfis Hartland
AGent+ Cleaners & Protectants Jeffrey Lord New Berlin
Advanced Ionics Chad Mason Milwaukee
ReNeuroGen LLC Stephen Naylor Elm Grove
Papriik Andrew Ortman Madison
CityFixr, LLC JJ Pagac Madison
Universal Real Time Power Conversion LLC Debiprasad Panda New Berlin
RecruitChute, Inc. Chris Roche Whitewater
Medical Tubing Organizer (MTO) Lindsey Roddy Wauwatosa
clearTREND Research Mark Scheffler Appleton
Simply Solutions 2 Mark Schweiger Janesville
Blue Mangoes Joshua Shefner Milwaukee
Silicon Nanomembranes Jacob Sina Platteville
four1four Jeffrey Spenner Hubertus
The Virtual Foundry Tricia Suess Stoughton
Blexx Technology Erin Tenderholt Madison
PumpFive Fuel Delivery Service Talethea Thompson Milwaukee
Vytl Technologies Jesse Towle Weston
Estrigenix Therapeutics, Inc. Callie Troutfetter Milwaukee
All Brick Medical Joseph Ulbrich Madison
Hempire Farm Luke VandenLangenberg Madison
ezLien Bryan Williams Beloit
Park Smarter Jan Wodnicki Madison
ZERO BARRIER Evan Wolfenden Madison
GrowthChart Records Inc. Patricia Wooldridge Madison
OncoGone, Inc. Xiaoban Xin Rockville, Md./UW-Madison