MADISON – Tim Keane, director of the Golden Angels Network and outgoing director of the Kohler Center for Entrepreneurship at Marquette University, will become chairman of the Wisconsin Angel Network advisory committee.
Keane, who recently announced his resignation as director of Marquette entrepreneurship after a successful 10-year run, continues to manage the 65-member Golden Angels Network – one of the largest investor networks in terms of members in Wisconsin.
The Golden Angels are a founding member of the Wisconsin Angel Network, which was created in 2005 to serve as a source of deals for Wisconsin investors, to assist with creating angel networks in Wisconsin, and to provide education and networking opportunities for angel investors.
Keane joined Marquette in 2001 after selling his company, Retail Target Marketing Systems Inc., and founded the Golden Angels in 2003.
“I am excited about this new leadership opportunity. It is a nature extension of my desire to grow Wisconsin’s early stage investment and entrepreneurial ecosystems,” Keane said. “I have worked with the Wisconsin Angel Network since its inception and I am enthusiastic about the future direction and pace of the organization.”
The Wisconsin Angel Network has more than two dozen members, ranging from small angel networks to venture capital funds and corporate strategic investors. It operates an automated “deal-flow pipeline” that helps introduce emerging companies to potential investors and manages events designed to showcase potential deals. It also helps keep Wisconsin investors in touch with their counterparts in other states.
WAN is part of the Wisconsin Technology Council’s overall effort to grow Wisconsin’s economy and has been directed since April by Zach Brandon, an entrepreneur and former deputy secretary of commerce who has also served in key leadership positions in state and local government.
Brandon was recently named to the 12-member Public Policy committee of the national Angel Capital Association. Brandon will attend the Illinois Venture Capital Association’s annual meeting this week and will also take part in a Chicago forum organized by the Midwest Research University Network. A number of regional investors will preview a sampling of new ventures emerging from some of the region’s major research universities and business accelerators.
In addition to Keane, other members of WAN’s advisory committee are: Toni Sikes, Calumet Ventures; Dick Leinenkugel, Northwoods Angels and former Wisconsin Department of Commerce secretary; Dick Leazer, Wisconsin Investment Partners; David Ward, angel investor and NorthStar Economics; Tom Still, Wisconsin Technology Council; and Todd Leonard, Minnesota Angel Network (ex-officio).
###
;
