receive a 25 percent tax credit on investments in businesses that have been certified as qualified ventures, up to a certain threshold. Previously, that threshold was $8 million; the new law raises it to $12 million.
—A final piece of funding-related news: a Milwaukee-based investment fund created under the Badger Fund of Funds program to support local startups has a name—Bold Coast Capital—and a website. Veteran trader and investor Ross Leinweber is the fund’s managing director. Bold Coast Capital is the fourth “recipient” fund that has been formed under the statewide fund-of-funds program. Two of the other three recipient funds recently made their first investments in startups.
—Lynx Biosciences recently moved from Madison to San Diego, and has made a bit of a splash in its new oceanside home. The startup is seeking to commercialize a device that uses live cancer cells to determine how patients with multiple myeloma are likely to respond to various treatment regimens. Last week, LynxBio won the audience vote for best pitch at an event organized by EvoNexus, a tech startup incubator in San Diego. LynxBio has also been admitted to the JLABS innovation program, which works with biotech startups headquartered in and around the city.
—Disney (NYSE: [[ticker:DIS]]) and PerBlue, a Madison-based mobile game developer, plan to launch a new game featuring characters from hit Disney films sometime in 2018. The companies said they plan to make the game, “Disney Heroes: Battle Mode,” available for iOS and Android devices. Players will be able to choose from characters from film franchises such as “Toy Story,” “Zootopia,” and “The Incredibles,” PerBlue and Disney said.
—Johnson Controls (NYSE: [[ticker:JCI]]) said it acquired Smartvue, a Nashville, TN-based developer of software for managing video files and camera equipment, for an undisclosed sum. Johnson Controls was founded in Wisconsin over a century ago but is now headquartered in Cork, Ireland. In 2016, the company merged with Tyco, which sold fire protection and security systems, among other products. Smartvue founder and CEO Martin Renkis said in a news release that “integrating our technology and innovation with Johnson Controls’ leadership and global reach will deliver exponential new value to the [Internet of Things] and security industries.”
—The University of Wisconsin-Madison named Andy Richards director of Discovery to Product, a program that helps students, faculty, and staff at the school turn ideas into companies. Richards had served as interim director of the program since last fall, when longtime Discovery to Product director John Biondi stepped down from the position.
