Madison-based NVNG Investment Advisors has launched an online database that aims to encapsulate all of the state’s startups. Called +Venture Wisconsin, the database was created to increase exposure of Wisconsin companies to national and international venture capital communities.
“In talking to other funds, we discovered that many were not familiar with the breadth and depth of startup activity occurring throughout Wisconsin,” said Grady Buchanan, NVNG managing director. “We hope this one-stop directory of emerging companies in the state will help Wisconsin startups and our many founders raise their national and global profiles.”
The profile content of +Venture Wisconsin is controlled by the startups themselves. Information that needs to be provided includes company name, website, a brief description and company contact information. Members of the NVNG community as well as anyone interested in discovering Wisconsin’s startups will be able to filter by the stage of the company, industry and sector focuses, current needs of the company, among others.
Other information that can be listed for each company includes capital raised to date, affiliations with VC firms, challenges, total number of Wisconsin employees and current investors.
The launch of +Venture Wisconsin is part of an overall strategy by NVNG to garner more interest and overall knowledge about the state’s startup scene. Last December, the firm announced plans to create a platform for its investors, venture capital funds and Wisconsin startups.
The vision of the platform is to create a space that would allow corporate investors to share what areas they are interested in, what problems they’re facing and what things they need. They would then also have a way to connect with the portfolio companies of the VC firms NVNG invests with. The VC firms also get access to corporations that could acquire or become customers of their portfolio companies.
“We are pleased to see +Venture Wisconsin launching to increase national exposure to Wisconsin’s startup ecosystem,” said Scott Zielski, Smartcare Software founder and CEO, a company that is already listed within the database. “The state has a strong early-stage business environment that is at various stages of go-to market strategy and raising capital. Having one place for the national investment community to find and learn about these companies will further strengthen venture investment in Wisconsin.”
