Innovation
EAU CLAIRE- Local effort targets startups
The nonprofit Innovation Foundation of Western Wisconsin for several years has been working to help early-stage companies grow.The challenge, according to the organization’s executive director, has been a lack of new businesses to help.
MADISON- Saliva-based fertility test company wins another award for innovation
The Madison biochemist and bioengineer who helped develop the first saliva-based fertility test for women won the 5X5X5 pitch competition held Thursday by the Doyenne Group.It is the second contest the company has won in two days.
MARSHFIELD- Biotech company wins Wisconsin Innovations Award
Microscopy Innovations, LLC was announced as one of 10 winners of the awards at the second annual Wisconsin Innovations Award ceremony. The company creates products that are used in applications ranging from electron microscopy to regenerative medicine and drug discovery.
Water Council gets additional funding for pilot program
The Water Council has announced it has received an influx of cash to ramp up its work on clean water technologies.
Paper-Less improves manufacturing efficiency with MV2 software
Paper-Less LLCInnovation: MV2 software1331 Capitol Drive, Oconomowocwww.paperlessllc.com Oconomowoc-based Paper-Less LLC is working to make manufacturing more efficient and competitive...
MADISON – Shareholder battle brewing at Promega Corp.
Promega Corp., one of the Madison area's most successful, homegrown and fiercely independent biotechnology companies, is in the midst of a hostile takeover attempt by two shareholders who want to buy a majority of shares and boot Promega's founder and CEO Bill Linton.
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Hatching a Business
Wisconsin was recently ranked dead last nationwide in business startup activity. While some take issue with what the ranking measured, the fact remains that Wisconsin isn't exactly known for churning out innovative new companies.
A place for peace: New Sojourner Center will be impactful project
When Sojourner Family Peace Center opens its brand new, 72,000-square-foot facility later this year, it will not only transform Milwaukee's approach to healing survivors of domestic abuse,
The Commons moves to Ward4
Entrepreneurial skills accelerator The Commons has moved from Walker's Point to the Ward4 co-working space in the Historic Pritzlaff Building near Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.
‘Making Deals:’ Einhorns target technology startups in Midwest
Daniel Einhorn isn't big on PowerPoint presentations. He used to give them, but found he never quite got all the way through his slides.
When an early stage company pitches him seeking an investment from his Mequon-based venture capital firm, Capital Midwest Fund, he likes to hear the initial presentation in about 10 minutes.
What Einhorn is most interested in at the first meeting is how the entrepreneur plans to get the product into the market. He asks a series of questions to which he expects thoughtful responses.
“What I'm trying to learn in that first meeting is critical thinking,” Einhorn said. “What I have learned in the last 10 years is it is almost exclusively about management. You have your product, you have your technology. You wouldn't have gotten to see me without having something there.”
He doesn't care whether the company does direct sales or distribution. What he cares about is why you chose one over the other and the thought process behind the decision.
Einhorn and his team at Capital Midwest are among a small group offering venture capital investments in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin companies completed 10 venture capital deals worth a total of $18.5 million in the first quarter of 2015, while California saw 420 deals totaling $8 billion, according to a MoneyTree Report by PwC and the National Venture Capital Association, which was based on data from Thomson Reuters.
It's safe to say Wisconsin doesn't hold a candle to Silicon Valley when it comes to venture capital investment. However, that figure is an improvement over the first quarter of 2012, when just two venture capital deals were completed in Wisconsin, totaling about $4.5 million.
When an early stage company pitches him seeking an investment from his Mequon-based venture capital firm, Capital Midwest Fund, he likes to hear the initial presentation in about 10 minutes.
What Einhorn is most interested in at the first meeting is how the entrepreneur plans to get the product into the market. He asks a series of questions to which he expects thoughtful responses.
“What I'm trying to learn in that first meeting is critical thinking,” Einhorn said. “What I have learned in the last 10 years is it is almost exclusively about management. You have your product, you have your technology. You wouldn't have gotten to see me without having something there.”
He doesn't care whether the company does direct sales or distribution. What he cares about is why you chose one over the other and the thought process behind the decision.
Einhorn and his team at Capital Midwest are among a small group offering venture capital investments in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin companies completed 10 venture capital deals worth a total of $18.5 million in the first quarter of 2015, while California saw 420 deals totaling $8 billion, according to a MoneyTree Report by PwC and the National Venture Capital Association, which was based on data from Thomson Reuters.
It's safe to say Wisconsin doesn't hold a candle to Silicon Valley when it comes to venture capital investment. However, that figure is an improvement over the first quarter of 2012, when just two venture capital deals were completed in Wisconsin, totaling about $4.5 million.
