Category: Wisconsin

Epic Building Tools to Help Patients Guard Their Health Data

New, Internet-connected devices—everything from watches that measure our steps and sleep to sensor-equipped inhalers able to track medication use—are starting to deliver on their promise of giving healthcare providers a fuller picture of what, and how, their patients are doing when they’re not in for a check-up. But the more gadgets and software applications patients … Continue reading “Epic Building Tools to Help Patients Guard Their Health Data”

Rivaling Google, Web-Mining Diffbot Opens Its Knowledge Graph to All

Diffbot, a tech startup that continuously scours the Web to assemble a “knowledge graph” of billions of facts in context, announced today that it’s opening up the searchable resource to the public—with starter rates as low as a cable TV bill. Mountain View, CA-based Diffbot gleans unstructured data scattered across websites, ads, blog posts, videos, … Continue reading “Rivaling Google, Web-Mining Diffbot Opens Its Knowledge Graph to All”

Epic, CEO Faulkner Confront Life as a Big Tech Company in 2018

Almost all of Epic Systems’ growth during the nearly four decades the healthcare software powerhouse has been in business has come from selling products and services developed internally, which founder and CEO Judy Faulkner has argued is preferable to expanding through mergers and acquisitions. “We’re a software factory. We build our own software. We do … Continue reading “Epic, CEO Faulkner Confront Life as a Big Tech Company in 2018”

Foxconn Creates $100M Venture Fund With Three Top WI Businesses

Foxconn Technology Group continues to make its presence felt in the Wisconsin business community. The latest move: The Taiwanese contract manufacturer is forming a $100 million early-stage venture capital fund with three of the Badger State’s leading companies and organizations. Advocate Aurora Health, Northwestern Mutual, Johnson Controls, and Foxconn will each contribute $25 million to … Continue reading “Foxconn Creates $100M Venture Fund With Three Top WI Businesses”

Puls Snags $50M to Grow On-Call Repair Service for Smartphones, IoT

Puls Technologies, whose on-demand technicians repair broken smartphones and install connected home devices, announced today it has raised $50 million to expand its reach as a unified source of device maintenance and consumer support. San Francisco-based Puls, founded in 2015, offers to dispatch technicians quickly to a customer’s home or office to replace malfunctioning parts, … Continue reading “Puls Snags $50M to Grow On-Call Repair Service for Smartphones, IoT”

UW-Madison to Upgrade Engineering Campus With $100M Foxconn Gift

Foxconn, a leading Taiwanese contract manufacturer constructing a huge electronic display assembly plant in Southeastern Wisconsin, announced a $100 million gift to the state’s flagship public university Monday. The company’s gift to the University of Wisconsin-Madison will support research and development of new technologies statewide, Foxconn said. The nine-figure gift from Foxconn is one of … Continue reading “UW-Madison to Upgrade Engineering Campus With $100M Foxconn Gift”

Foxconn, Doyenne, Socialeads & More: This Week’s WI Watchlist

Madison, WI, and suburbs west of the city have received record rainfall this week, and more storms appear to be headed for the capital city this weekend. Those forecasts have created fears of further flooding and road closures downtown, which sits on an isthmus between two lakes. Your correspondent retreated to his home office after … Continue reading “Foxconn, Doyenne, Socialeads & More: This Week’s WI Watchlist”

Bio Roundup: EpiPen Shortage, Bluebird’s Bet, Biotech IPOs & More

It’s back-to-school season and that means it’s time to load up on school supplies. For many students and schools, one crucial item is in high demand but hard to come by: the EpiPen. Some schools stock the epinephrine autoinjectors so they can respond quickly to a student’s allergic reaction to food. Though the autoinjectors are … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: EpiPen Shortage, Bluebird’s Bet, Biotech IPOs & More”

Gener8tor Creates Los Angeles Accelerator for Music Tech Startups

Gener8tor has its sights set on Hollywood. The organization, which since 2012 has held training and mentorship programs for entrepreneurs in its home state of Wisconsin and other parts of the Midwest, said Wednesday that it has teamed up with Capitol Music Group to launch a new music technology accelerator program in Los Angeles. The … Continue reading “Gener8tor Creates Los Angeles Accelerator for Music Tech Startups”

Exact Sciences Shares Rise After Company Unveils Pfizer Partnership

[Updated 8/22/18 3:22 p.m. See below.] Exact Sciences has recently been ramping up its efforts to market Cologuard, the company’s flagship diagnostic test that screens patients for colorectal cancer. Since the start of 2017, Madison, WI-based Exact has brought on recording artist Harry Connick Jr. and pro golfer Jerry Kelly as spokesmen, and announced a … Continue reading “Exact Sciences Shares Rise After Company Unveils Pfizer Partnership”

Anchors and Diversity: Lessons From Philly at Madison’s Forward Fest

Archna Sahay was hired as the city of Philadelphia’s director of entrepreneurial investment in early 2015, after she had spent more than a decade working in investment banking. During her term, Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter and other city employees worked to make the city a place where more entrepreneurs would want to start and grow … Continue reading “Anchors and Diversity: Lessons From Philly at Madison’s Forward Fest”

Ohio Insurer Turns to Propeller Health for Digital Approach to COPD

Propeller Health said this week that it has partnered with an Ohio-based health insurer to help a group of its Medicare patients who have respiratory disease better manage their symptoms. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Ohio has begun recruiting patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to participate in a new program that … Continue reading “Ohio Insurer Turns to Propeller Health for Digital Approach to COPD”

Would Uber’s IPO Be a Revival or a Reckoning?

In its early years, Uber was a headstrong force knocking down preconceived ideas about transportation and, along with Lyft, sparking the imaginations of countless entrepreneurs who are now building a new industry called “mobility.” As it closes in on its first decade, Uber is a conundrum: A Silicon Valley unicorn with $7.3 billion in cash, … Continue reading “Would Uber’s IPO Be a Revival or a Reckoning?”

LUM Wins Startup Pitch Contest, Earns Shot at Silicon Valley VCs

Live Undiscovered Music, a Madison, WI-based startup whose software helps users discover new music and share it with friends, captured first place in one of the state’s more closely watched pitch competitions Thursday. The startup, which goes by LUM for short, won a contest known as “Pressure Chamber,” which is put on by the Great … Continue reading “LUM Wins Startup Pitch Contest, Earns Shot at Silicon Valley VCs”

Bio Roundup: Big Approvals, ICER Influence, Drug-Price Pushback & More

[Updated 8/17/18, 10:21 a.m. See below.] We’ll start the roundup this week with two drug approvals that came late last Friday. Both were landmarks for the companies receiving the nod, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Amicus Therapeutics. We also saw a new biotech emerge in the muggy New York heat, a couple deals for new flu vaccines, … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Big Approvals, ICER Influence, Drug-Price Pushback & More”

DoorDash Valued at $4 Billion After Adding $250M in New Funding

DoorDash has upped its valuation to $4 billion with a new $250 million financing round, five months after it raised $535 million to gain its “unicorn” status. The new $250 million funding round was co-led by Coatue Management and DST Global. CEO Tony Xu told Axios’s Dan Primack that the company hadn’t been actively seeking … Continue reading “DoorDash Valued at $4 Billion After Adding $250M in New Funding”

UW-Madison Engineering Prof to Co-Lead New Biomanufacturing Initiative

The University of Wisconsin-Madison said Wednesday that Bill Murphy, an engineering professor at the school who has also helped launch several startup companies, will co-lead a new biomanufacturing collaboration that will seek to promote technological innovation and job creation across the state. The collaboration, called the Forward Bio Initiative, will kick off in the fall, … Continue reading “UW-Madison Engineering Prof to Co-Lead New Biomanufacturing Initiative”

Best Buy Acquires GTCR’s GreatCall for $800M, Eyeing Aging Boomers

Best Buy is paying $800 million in cash for GreatCall, a San Diego-based healthtech company which private equity firm GTCR bought early last year. GreatCall operates a virtual mobile telecommunications network for a customer base of more than 900,000 elderly consumers. The company also sells gadgets, such as mobile devices with large screens and big … Continue reading “Best Buy Acquires GTCR’s GreatCall for $800M, Eyeing Aging Boomers”

To Avoid Trouble, Companies Must Support Harassed Employees First

When news breaks about sexual harassment at a company like Uber, the public is likely to believe that the entire business has a cultural problem. In contrast, the same isn’t true for other issues, such as financial misconduct, which the public tends to see as a “bad apple” situation. That’s according to a study released … Continue reading “To Avoid Trouble, Companies Must Support Harassed Employees First”

Goal of Epic Summit for Non-Clients Is Better Health Records Sharing

For years, the patient records software company Epic Systems has held an annual conference, which attracts thousands of leaders from hospitals and clinics that use Epic’s software to the company’s headquarters in Verona, WI. The customer conference, known as Users Group Meeting, or UGM, has now inspired a spinoff, Epic says. On Sept. 26, the … Continue reading “Goal of Epic Summit for Non-Clients Is Better Health Records Sharing”

Ford’s Autonomic Pairs With Alibaba Cloud On Mobility Hub for China

Ford—one of the automakers competing in China’s huge car market—is now making a bid to provide China’s leading software infrastructure hub dedicated to streamlining transportation by connecting cars and riders with mobility services. Ford’s recently acquired unit Autonomic, which co-created the automaker’s Transportation Mobility Cloud (TMC), inked a deal Tuesday to partner with Alibaba Cloud, … Continue reading “Ford’s Autonomic Pairs With Alibaba Cloud On Mobility Hub for China”

Race for Governor, Foxconn, Promega & More: This Week’s WI Watchlist

Voters in Wisconsin will head to the polls on Tuesday, Aug. 14 to cast ballots in primary races for governor and other elected offices. Read on to learn about connections between some of the candidates for governor and the state’s technology and business sectors, as well as other recent headlines from Wisconsin’s innovation community: —Gov. … Continue reading “Race for Governor, Foxconn, Promega & More: This Week’s WI Watchlist”

Bio Roundup: Medicare Drug Prices, FDA Moves, Gene Therapy News & More

Two imminent FDA rulings on two separate drugs aren’t just noteworthy for the patients they’ll help, but the long and winding road their developers have taken to get to this point. First is Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, which has spent 16 years and over $2 billion to try to bring an unproven form of medicine, RNA interference … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Medicare Drug Prices, FDA Moves, Gene Therapy News & More”

Midwestern BioAg CEO: Organic Label About Marketing, Not Nutrition

Midwestern BioAg has been in business for more than three decades, and during that time it has worked with thousands of farmers to implement the Madison, WI-based company’s recommended soil and crop care practices on about four million acres of farmland, says CEO Tony Michaels. Founded in 1983, Midwestern BioAg initially fueled its growth through … Continue reading “Midwestern BioAg CEO: Organic Label About Marketing, Not Nutrition”

Lack of Diversity Isn’t a “Pipeline Problem,” It’s a Network Problem

Recently, I was in Chicago for Paradigm IQ’s D&I Lab: Data-Driven Strategies to Attract & Hire Diverse Talent, a one-day workshop designed to equip attendees with new strategies for designing an inclusive organization. In a room full of people with titles like chief people officer, director of diversity and inclusion, and director of leadership and organizational … Continue reading “Lack of Diversity Isn’t a “Pipeline Problem,” It’s a Network Problem”

Bird Takes Scooters Off Milwaukee Streets, Agrees to Work With City

Five weeks after Bird put a fleet of about 100 motorized scooters in Milwaukee, the company says it’s pulling the vehicles off of the city’s streets until a framework is established allowing them to operate legally there. The City of Milwaukee and Santa Monica, CA-based Bird on Monday issued a joint news release saying Bird … Continue reading “Bird Takes Scooters Off Milwaukee Streets, Agrees to Work With City”

Blockchain Tomatoes & Edible Peels: Startups Innovate to Fight Spoilage

As much as 40 percent of food in this country is never eaten, yet 41 million people don’t have enough to eat, including 13 million children, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Some of that food insecurity is due to food spoilage, rendering billions of dollars’ worth of … Continue reading “Blockchain Tomatoes & Edible Peels: Startups Innovate to Fight Spoilage”

The Technology Behind Fighting California’s Fires & Other Disasters

As wildfires continued to burn across the length of California this month, Gov. Jerry Brown urged residents to stay on the alert and warned that the cost of fighting the climate-driven blazes will continue to strain future state budgets. Residents of the three Northern California counties hardest hit by wildfires last year have already learned … Continue reading “The Technology Behind Fighting California’s Fires & Other Disasters”

Exact Sciences, Harley, Frontdesk & More: This Week’s WI Watchlist

Catch up on news from Wisconsin innovation’s community with these recent headlines: —Exact Sciences said Wednesday that it completed a lower number of its flagship diagnostic test, which screens patients for colorectal cancer, during the three-month period ended June 30 than it had projected previously. The announcement sent shares in the Madison-based company lower in … Continue reading “Exact Sciences, Harley, Frontdesk & More: This Week’s WI Watchlist”

Bio Roundup: Alnylam’s Moment, Read on Rebates, Skinny Plans & More

Millions of people might be on vacation as we hit the dog days, but drug makers and politicians aren’t taking a break from the gamesmanship over high drug prices. After two years of blowing smoke, the Trump administration is threatening action on a few fronts, including against the powerful middlemen known as PBMs that decide … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Alnylam’s Moment, Read on Rebates, Skinny Plans & More”

HealthMyne, Developer of Health Records Analytics Software, Adds $15M

HealthMyne, a Madison, WI-based startup developing software that integrates medical imaging data and information from patients’ electronic health records, says it has raised $15 million in new funding. Ascension Ventures, an investment arm of the St. Louis-based healthcare provider Ascension, led the Series B funding round, HealthMyne says. Other participants included two Madison-based VC Funds … Continue reading “HealthMyne, Developer of Health Records Analytics Software, Adds $15M”

For Women Only: E-Retail Subscription Firm Athena Club Raises $3.8M

[Updated 7/31/18 7:46 am. The story and headline has been changed to reflect an updated amount.] Athena Club, a subscription program for feminine hygiene products, is the latest entrant into the direct-to-women e-commerce space and announced today that it has raised $3.8 million in funding. Co-founder Maria Markina says her New York-based startup gives women … Continue reading “For Women Only: E-Retail Subscription Firm Athena Club Raises $3.8M”

Ideawake’s Collaboration Tools Help Companies Identify, Solve Issues

In 1974, Arthur Fry, then a scientist at 3M, heard about a new type of glue his colleague Spencer Silver was developing. The adhesive was strong enough to make two things stick together, but weak enough for them to be easily pulled apart. As the story goes, Fry had been using small paper scraps to … Continue reading “Ideawake’s Collaboration Tools Help Companies Identify, Solve Issues”

Fiserv, Comply365, Open Data & More: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist

Stay current on news from Wisconsin’s innovation community with these recent headlines: —Fiserv Forum: That’s the newly unveiled name of the arena the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks will play at when the league’s season begins in September. The arena’s namesake is Fiserv (NYSE: [[ticker:FISV]]), a company headquartered in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield that provides banks, … Continue reading “Fiserv, Comply365, Open Data & More: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist”

10 Must-Read Stories From Xconomy (and Elsewhere) This Week

Ah, Friday: The gateway to a relaxing weekend. If you’re reading this, it’s likely you’re starting your Friday off the right way with some casual reading. Here’s a peek at some of the fine work Xconomy editors have put out in the last week—and a few from other publications, too, that are very interesting reads. … Continue reading “10 Must-Read Stories From Xconomy (and Elsewhere) This Week”

Bio Roundup: An Alzheimer’s Head-Scratcher, OUTBio, GSK & Gilead Shakeups  

The devil is in the details, and key clinical trial results made that abundantly clear this week. Eisai and partner Biogen released the highly anticipated details of an Alzheimer’s disease study they had already deemed positive, after an initial failure. In one sense, the study was the success they have claimed. A high dose of … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: An Alzheimer’s Head-Scratcher, OUTBio, GSK & Gilead Shakeups  “

OUTBio, a Biopharma LGBTQ Group, Grows Fast & Ponders Its Future

In June, Jennifer Petter, the founder and chief scientific officer of biotech startup Arrakis Therapeutics, got an e-mail from a stranger. His name was Ramsey Johnson, a biotech veteran who works in clinical operations at Boston startup Phoenix Tissue Repair. Johnson was writing about OUTBio, a networking organization for LGBTQ members of the biopharma community. … Continue reading “OUTBio, a Biopharma LGBTQ Group, Grows Fast & Ponders Its Future”

LevelUp’s Winding Path Pays Off With $390M Sale to Grubhub

LevelUp is the latest startup story to end in an acquisition. The company has gone through several transformations since it was founded a decade ago, eventually landing on mobile payments processing, customer loyalty programs, and data analytics tools for restaurants. Its journey ultimately led to Grubhub: the online food-ordering and delivery giant announced Wednesday it … Continue reading “LevelUp’s Winding Path Pays Off With $390M Sale to Grubhub”

Moonrise, New Service for Gig Workers, Shares Chicago Pilot Results

[Updated 7/27/18 9:44 a.m. See below.] American Family Insurance on Wednesday made public new details on Moonrise, a startup spun out by the insurer that has developed technology allowing people looking to make extra money to sign up for shifts at businesses near where they live. This year, Moonrise has been conducting a pilot of … Continue reading “Moonrise, New Service for Gig Workers, Shares Chicago Pilot Results”

FDA Approves NorthStar Medical to Make Isotope Generator at WI Plant

A Wisconsin company seeking to become the first domestic producer in decades of a crucial medical isotope said Tuesday that it received another key approval from the FDA. NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes said the agency approved a still-to-be-built facility at the company’s Beloit, WI, headquarters to manufacture a device that could be key to supplying a … Continue reading “FDA Approves NorthStar Medical to Make Isotope Generator at WI Plant”

SnappyScreen’s Booths Protect People While They Have Fun in the Sun

Applying sunscreen while outdoors is a long-accepted way to help keep our skin safe from sunburn and cancer. Yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says less than a third of women, and even fewer men, report using it when going outside for more than an hour. “You should put it on more frequently … Continue reading “SnappyScreen’s Booths Protect People While They Have Fun in the Sun”

Announcing XCON 2018: A Conference on Technology and Transformation

This fall, we are convening exemplary business leaders, investors, and far-seeing technologists for an in-depth exploration of the innovation ecosystem and its impact on the future. Come join us at our newest interactive conference, XCON: The Xconomy Conference on Technology and Transformation. It spans three days, November 4-6, and three innovation venues in the Boston … Continue reading “Announcing XCON 2018: A Conference on Technology and Transformation”

Promega Breaks Ground on $190M R&D Building: Slideshow

Things have been booming at Promega—literally. The Fitchburg, WI-based life science supplies business on Wednesday held a groundbreaking ceremony for a 270,000-square-foot research and development facility that the company expects to open in late 2020. The event, which about 350 people attended, even included a daytime fireworks display. The fireworks were arranged to demonstrate the … Continue reading “Promega Breaks Ground on $190M R&D Building: Slideshow”

Epic Systems Pauses HQ Construction After 15 Years of Constant Growth

[Updated 7/22/18 12:48 p.m. See below.] The cranes are gone from Epic Systems’ corporate campus in Verona, WI. After more than a decade of near-perpetual expansion, the fast-growing healthcare software company is taking a break from new building construction, Xconomy has learned. Epic’s employee count has more than tripled in the past decade, from a … Continue reading “Epic Systems Pauses HQ Construction After 15 Years of Constant Growth”

Bio Roundup: Drug Prices, CRISPR Caveats, Rubius IPO Pop & More

After nearly two years of all smoke, no fire around President Trump’s promise to curtail drug prices, there’s finally some glimmer of action. Pfizer said last week it would halt its price hikes, and Novartis and Merck took similar actions this week. But we still don’t know the details of the administration’s drug-pricing policy, if … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Drug Prices, CRISPR Caveats, Rubius IPO Pop & More”

If the Shoe Fits: Luxury Shoe Club Launches E-Consignment Store

One in five pairs of shoes sit unworn in the average woman’s closet. So, why not sell these unused, or slightly used, pairs to someone who will wear them? That’s the view of Scott Van Valkenburgh, co-founder of Luxury Shoe Club, a Raleigh, NC-based startup that caters to women who want to buy and sell … Continue reading “If the Shoe Fits: Luxury Shoe Club Launches E-Consignment Store”

E.U. Slaps $5B Antitrust Fine on Google; Trump Blasts Back With Tweet

[Updated 7/19/18, 9:59 am. See below.] If top European leaders faced a testy President Donald Trump in a series of meetings this summer, imagine the mood when the president of the European Commission arrives at the White House next Wednesday. President Trump and the European Union’s top executive officer, Jean-Claude Juncker, are slated to discuss … Continue reading “E.U. Slaps $5B Antitrust Fine on Google; Trump Blasts Back With Tweet”

Moonshot Insights Bets on Algorithms to Address Biases in Hiring

In recent weeks, there’s been some local buzz about a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison students that’s getting set to participate in the 2018 Hyperloop Pod Competition, which will take place next week in Hawthorne, CA. This year, the team hopes to run its pod on SpaceX’s hyperloop test track, an opportunity it was denied … Continue reading “Moonshot Insights Bets on Algorithms to Address Biases in Hiring”

Walmart, Microsoft Deepen Partnership as Both Grapple With Amazon

The enemy of my enemy is my friend—even in the retail and cloud computing businesses. So says retail giant Walmart (NYSE: [[ticker:WMT]]) as it announced this morning a five-year partnership with Microsoft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) to use machine learning and other technologies, deepening an existing partnership between two of Amazon’s biggest rivals. “Whether it’s combined with our … Continue reading “Walmart, Microsoft Deepen Partnership as Both Grapple With Amazon”