Entrepreneurship & Small Business

Pordenone, Italy-based VDA Group, an international company providing technological solutions for room automation, has acquired 53% of Waukesha-based Telkonet, Inc. As part of the deal, VDA Group paid $5 million to Telkonet in exchange for the issuance of majority shares of common stock of Telkonet.

The Sherman Phoenix Foundation has named Stacia Thompson as its first executive director.

A new report from the PenFed Foundation that lists the top cities in 2021 for veteran entrepreneurs ranks the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis area 19th out of 390 metropolitan areas analyzed. Madison was ranked 17th. 

Milwaukee-based frozen pizza manufacturer Palermo Villa, Inc. has acquired a majority stake in Funky Fresh Spring Rolls, a Milwaukee-based business specializing in handcrafted spring rolls.

Drew Brees shared his thoughts on teamwork in football and in business in the January 2022 episode of the 21st Century Business Forum, a webcast that features monthly one-on-one interviews with some of the nation's most prominent business minds and thought leaders.

Slinger-based Weld-Fab Manufacturing remains a locally owned company after being acquired by two partners with extensive histories in the manufacturing industry.

Wisconsin companies raised more than $520 million in venture capital, a 72% increase in a year when U.S.-venture backed companies nearly doubled the amount they raised to $329.9 billion, according to a new report from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association.

Wauwatosa-based CyteGen has raised another $1.1 million to fund their research into extending human life and reversing age-related decline.

Seven small businesses from across the state are set to receive their share of $600,000 in state matching grants to commercialize their products.

Hustisford-based Berlon Industries, a portfolio company of Delafield-based private equity firm Blackthorne Partners, has acquired Viola-based Lowe Manufacturing.