Creative entrepreneurs across the state have formed companies around their innovations. While they are in various stages of their growth, some have shown great promise. Here’s the scoop on some of the most exciting startups in Wisconsin:
Understory Inc.
Madison
CEO: Alex Kubicek
Traditional radar-enabled weather centers collect data by analyzing conditions observed in the atmosphere with their large radar dishes, often perched on a tower above trees and buildings.
Understory’s patent-pending weather stations sit at the ground level, where they can account for variances due to local features such as building density, land cover, elevation and terrain. The weather stations generate real-time weather data that senses hail, wind, rainfall, dew point, humidity, barometric pressure, wind chill, heat index and solar index.
The company is on its way to redefining real-time weather information for insurance, agriculture, academics, utility companies and other industries that rely on this type of data in their day-to-day operations.
The startup is also currently working on new technology that can collect data to identify areas with high pollution levels and offer recommendations to improve local air quality.
Wordzen Inc.
Mequon
Founder: Ajay Goel
The No. 1 Sales & CRM tool on Google’s G Suite Marketplace isn’t a Silicon Valley tech platform like Salesforce or HubSpot. It’s an email marketing tool called GMass created by Mequon company Wordzen Inc.
With more than 100,000 users and an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars, the email marketing platform built by developer Ajay Goel has taken off.
GMass is a program that allows users to mail merge and send mass emails using Gmail, and Goel said even Google’s own employees use it.
“We have customers at almost every major tech company,” Goel said. “I didn’t call them; they found me.”
Unlike some of its competitors, GMass can be used from within the Gmail interface, which is familiar to many people already, without logging in to and learning another platform.
FluGen Inc.
Madison
CEO: Paul Radspinner
FluGen aims to improve public health by developing a vaccine that can prevent disease caused by all forms of the potentially deadly influenza virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the burden of illness during the 2017-’18 influenza season was especially high, with an estimated 48.8 million people getting sick with the flu.
FluGen is developing RedeeFlu, an influenza vaccine that uses M2-deleted viruses to activate the body’s immune defenses, just like a wild-type influenza infection, without production of infectious viruses. The vaccine is designed to ignite multiple defense systems within the body.
The company believes the diverse immune response induced by RedeeFlu will lead to improved efficacy against routine seasonal influenza viruses, including those that have mutated, and in older adults. It recently announced preliminary data from a human challenge trial showing, for the first time, protection against a highly mismatched influenza virus.
ReNeuroGen LLC
Elm Grove
Founders: Kirkwood Pritchard & Stephen Naylor
KYC. Those three letters, which sound similar to a fast-food restaurant name, are the moniker for a therapy developed by a professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin that could help reverse the effects of stroke and multiple sclerosis.
Kirkwood Pritchard, who developed KYC with his team, described it as “a novel tripeptide that inhibits myeloperoxidase production of toxic oxygen radicals.” The drug has been shown to dramatically decrease, and speed recovery from, brain injury in trials in mice.
When Pritchard and his investigators saw the impact of the tripeptide – a 56 percent reduction in stroke lesions in animals – they knew they had to commercialize it. So he brought experienced biotechnology startup executive Stephen Naylor on board and the pair established ReNeuroGen LLC.
“With KYC, we have the potential to block 80 to 90 percent of the secondary brain injury that takes place in any neurodegenerative disease. I’m very excited about it,” Pritchard said.
Invenra Inc.
Madison
CEO: Roland Green
Invenra Inc. is a biotechnology company that is focused on discovering and developing early-stage immuno-oncology drugs for treating cancer patients.
Its technology uses a cancer patient’s own immune system to attack his or her cancer and hopefully minimize the damage experienced by otherwise healthy cells.
“Our B-Body multi-specific antibody technology has several important applications,” said Kimberly Kaufman, vice president of operations. “One is to create therapeutics that can selectively kill cancer cells and leave healthy cells alone using our SNIPER platform. Another is our ARCHER technology that mimics natural protein clustering to drive important biological pathways. Yet another is to connect cancer cell-specific targets to immune cells and turn on the immune system in the cancer environment.”
Kaufman said Invenra recently entered a collaboration with Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Dr. Paul Sondel, a pediatric oncologist, to identify new therapy for children with neuroblastoma.
Dianomi Therapeutics Inc.
Madison
CEO: Barry Kurokawa
Dianomi Therapeutics was formed in 2017 to develop the Mineral Coated Microparticle technology invented by its scientific founders. The technology, licensed from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, has the potential to improve efficacy and safety profiles of a wide range of drug molecules.
Martin Ostrowski, chief operating officer and general counsel, said Dianomi’s technology was designed to mimic the protective qualities of bone mineral and tissue to preserve and control the release of drug molecules. The company intends to apply its technology to improve drug durability and stability, and to increase efficacy.
“A unique attribute of our proprietary technology is its ability to provide sustained delivery of active therapeutic proteins and small molecules without losing functionality,” Ostrowski said.
The company intends to develop improved versions of approved products, which have already undergone significant R&D, clinical and regulatory development efforts.
“If we can successfully capitalize on these efforts and navigate an expedited development timeline, there is a real opportunity to significantly offset burdensome costs associated with drug development,” he said.
UAS Laboratories LLC
Wausau
CEO: Kevin Mehring
UAS Labs is a business-to-business premium probiotic supplier. Products from this Wausau-based company can be found in more than 45 countries around the world.
UAS strives to enhance wellness and quality of life through innovative probiotic solutions. It is one of the few fully-integrated probiotic suppliers, which means it controls the whole manufacturing process, from probiotic strain selection and fermentation to packaging a finished product. Its probiotic-only facilities enhance purity and stability, according to the company.
Additionally, UAS Labs is a company that prides itself on being built on scientific research. It employs gold-standard clinical trials and in-house laboratories to confirm the safety, efficacy and benefits associated with its probiotic strains and blends, the company says. UAS’ three proprietary “superstrains,” which gained the designation through rigorous clinical research, are at the forefront of its probiotic offerings.
In May 2018, UAS Labs unveiled a new probiotic fermentation facility in Windsor.
EatStreet Inc.
Madison
CEO: Matt Howard
Founded in 2010, EatStreet serves more than 250 metropolitan areas and 15,000 restaurants nationwide. The company employs more than 1,000 people, including approximately 150 in Madison.
EatStreet allows hungry diners to order food for delivery or pick-up from their favorite local restaurants. The app was developed after one of the co-founders experienced many frustrations with the tedious process he encountered while trying to order a sub sandwich – a process that resulted in an incorrect order.
Diners can either log on to the EatStreet website or download the app to review local restaurant menus and place an order. One can even read Yelp reviews, learn about the restaurant’s reward program or track a delivery in the app.
“People like to see the full menu, learn about the specials and pay with a credit card,” said Matt Howard, co-founder and chief executive officer of EatStreet. “We offer a better overall experience by simplifying the ordering process and removing complications like language barriers.”
Fasetto Inc.
Superior
CEO: Coy Christmas
Founded off a 2013 Kickstarter campaign, Fasetto is dedicated to closing connectivity gaps through powerful hardware and software solutions. The company’s founders, Coy Christmas and Luke Malpass, wanted to address local connectivity deficiencies. It’s a problem often experienced in rural regions, since telecommunications companies and wireless providers often focus more on areas with larger populations.
The company started as a cloud storage solution, allowing users to send a 1 GB file in an average of 10 seconds over a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection, or even between devices with no Internet connection.
Fasetto’s recent offerings include products such as Forum, an all-in-one presentation-sharing device that utilizes common technologies such as Wi-Fi and browsers to connect with the audience on any device. This product builds more opportunities for innovation in regions that were previously thought to be excluded as tech hubs.
Ionic
Madison
CEO: Max Lynch
Ionic was founded in 2012, when using web technologies to build native apps was still in its early stages. Today, Ionic is the world’s most popular cross-platform mobile development technology stack, powering companies in diverse industries, from startups to global brands.
Ionic’s technology makes it easier and faster for businesses to build apps, the company says. While Ionic doesn’t do any app development internally, its customers use the platform to build their own high-quality apps.
“Ionic is powering apps for major brands like Amtrak, AAA, GE, Burger King and Target,” said Max Lynch, Ionic’s co-founder and chief executive officer. “With several million developers using Ionic today, our platform has become a major way that app development gets done.”
According to Lynch, Ionic caters to the largest pool of developer talent in the world and offers a way to build one single app that works on iOS, Android, Windows, Mac OS X, and any device that runs a web browser. This makes it significantly cheaper and faster to build with, and much easier to hire for, he said.
