Category: Wisconsin

Wellbe Garners New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=da4f04b0-d898-4b6c-892a-691935fbb916 Date 7/1/2016 Company Name Wellbe Mailing Address 8040 Excelsior Drive Madison, WI 53717 USA Company Description Wellbe was founded in 2009 by James Dias, who has built a career in connecting the needs of real people to technologies that can improve their lives. Looking at a fragmented healthcare system that can’t … Continue reading “Wellbe Garners New Round”

Rowheels Obtains New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4bde840f-ae78-45c0-8fad-6b8a5c82f794 Date 7/1/2016 Company Name Rowheels Mailing Address 2895 Commerce Park Dr. Fitchburg, WI 53719 USA Company Description Rowheels Inc. was founded in 2011 with the goal of developing the reverse propulsion wheel concept into a commercially viable product that could help users suffering from repetitive stress injuries of the shoulder. Current … Continue reading “Rowheels Obtains New Funding”

Imbed Biosciences Secures New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2e6635a5-29d1-4247-8d34-806d70a51909 Date 7/1/2016 Company Name Imbed Biosciences Mailing Address 5520 Nobel Dr. Fitchburg, WI 53711 USA Company Description Imbed’s vision is to develop next-generation medical devices that can reduce patient pain and costs for management of burns, chronic wounds, hernia meshes, gastro-intestinal defects, and dural membranes. Website http://www.imbedbio.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “Imbed Biosciences Secures New Funding”

Murfie Receives New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=da206b72-1d8e-41e0-842e-e1655b37cf67 Date 7/1/2016 Company Name Murfie Mailing Address 7 S. Pinckney St. Madison, WI 53703 USA Company Description Murfie is part marketplace, part community; a throwback to your neighborhood record store with a digital update. Website http://www.murfie.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were … Continue reading “Murfie Receives New Round”

WISC Partners Raises $8.2M First Fund, Reveals Portfolio Companies

Wisconsin Investment and Strategic Capital (WISC) Partners, a Madison, WI-based venture capital group formed to support early-stage companies in the state, has raised $8.2 million for its first fund, according to an SEC filing. David Guinther, one of two general partners at WISC Partners, confirmed the raise in an e-mail message to Xconomy. “We have … Continue reading “WISC Partners Raises $8.2M First Fund, Reveals Portfolio Companies”

Riding Moonshot, FDA Will Revamp Its Cancer Practice. To What End?

As part of a national cancer “moonshot” initiative led by Vice President Joe Biden, the FDA said Wednesday it would retool the way it evaluates cancer treatments and tests. But to what end? The goals of the FDA’s new Oncology Center of Excellence remain vague, as does its structure. In a speech Wednesday morning at … Continue reading “Riding Moonshot, FDA Will Revamp Its Cancer Practice. To What End?”

No Stairway (Infringement) and the Importance of Shared Design Tools in Innovation

Led Zeppelin just won a major copyright case defending against infringement claims from the estate of Randy California—songwriter for the band Spirit. At first listen, the opening guitar part of Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven does sound a lot like California’s guitar part in the middle of Taurus. But as I explain in a longer blog … Continue reading “No Stairway (Infringement) and the Importance of Shared Design Tools in Innovation”

Fred Lee, The UW Radiologist With Startup Vision

[Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories on physicians at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics who have become full- or part-time entrepreneurs.] Fred Lee is not afraid to put himself out there. Lee is a radiologist at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, where his primary area of interest … Continue reading “Fred Lee, The UW Radiologist With Startup Vision”

Brexit and the Impact in the London Startup Industry

Editor’s note: Xconomy invited Marcelo Calbucci, a Seattle serial entrepreneur and startup stalwart who just announced plans to move with his family to London, to reflect on the Brexit vote. No, the skies are not falling. The U.K. vote to exit the European Union has passed, and there is an enormous amount of uncertainty right … Continue reading “Brexit and the Impact in the London Startup Industry”

Redox, Cellectar, Shine, & PeptiMed: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist

Stay caught up on all the latest news from Wisconsin’s innovation community with these recent headlines: —Redox, a Madison-based startup whose software helps other developers integrate their products with electronic health records (EHR) systems used at hospitals and clinics, revealed some of the companies and health systems that are using or plan to use Redox’s … Continue reading “Redox, Cellectar, Shine, & PeptiMed: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist”

Silatronix Lands $4,000,674 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f59ca356-289e-452c-b1eb-d176fb845160 Date 6/27/2016 Company Name Silatronix Mailing Address 3587 Anderson Street Madison, WI 53704 USA Company Description Silatronix is commercializing a new class of patented materials based on organosilicon (OS) compounds for use in energy storage devices, especially electrolytes for lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. Website http://www.silatronix.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $4,000,674 … Continue reading “Silatronix Lands $4,000,674 New Funding”

Silatronix Gets $8M Jolt From Japanese Investors For Battery Tech

Silatronix, a Madison, WI-based developer of silicon-based materials that can be used as electrolytes in batteries and other energy storage devices, has raised $8 million from investors, the company said in a press release. Participants in the equity funding round included Hitachi Chemical and Inabata, both of Japan, and previous investors, Silatronix said. Inabata will … Continue reading “Silatronix Gets $8M Jolt From Japanese Investors For Battery Tech”

Biotech Roundup: CRISPR’s 1st Trial, IPO Insiders, Zika & More

It’s a week for the history books. The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union last night, triggering worldwide financial fears and, perhaps, a breakup of the U.K. itself. Closer to home, Cleveland (pictured) celebrated LeBron James & the Cavaliers’ historic comeback that brought the city its first sports title in over 50 years. … Continue reading “Biotech Roundup: CRISPR’s 1st Trial, IPO Insiders, Zika & More”

Gener8tor Opening Minnesota Office, First Class to Start in Fall

Gener8tor’s westward march along Interstate 94 continues. The startup accelerator, which launched in Milwaukee in 2012 before adding programs in Madison, WI, said on Thursday that it plans to open an office in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and enroll its first class of early-stage companies there later this year. “We see a really robust market … Continue reading “Gener8tor Opening Minnesota Office, First Class to Start in Fall”

The Evolution of the App Stores

In many ways, Apple and Google are following similar paths. At their annual developer conferences, Google I/O, held last month, and Apple’s WWDC, last week they both announced updates to their development platforms. Google is making major improvements to Android Studio, while Apple is continuing to invest in Swift and announced Playgrounds, an exciting new … Continue reading “The Evolution of the App Stores”

Cellular Dynamics, National Eye Institute Announce Another Tie-up

Since Fujifilm acquired Cellular Dynamics International for $307 million last year, CDI hasn’t made any major declarations regarding when—or how—it would use products manufactured by its parent company. That changed on Wednesday, when CDI, the Madison, WI-based provider of human cells, said it had entered into a collaboration with the National Eye Institute (NEI), one … Continue reading “Cellular Dynamics, National Eye Institute Announce Another Tie-up”

Radicle Accelerator Fund Launches to Nurture AgTech Innovation

Radicle, a new accelerator fund focused on agricultural ventures, is launching today with plans to seed and nurture the next generation of agtech companies addressing global farming problems. The new accelerator will have locations in multiple states and around the world. Radicle, which takes its name from the botany term for the part of a … Continue reading “Radicle Accelerator Fund Launches to Nurture AgTech Innovation”

Inception Health President Talks Investment Strategies, Avia, & More

Taking investments from large health systems can be a way of killing two birds with one stone for early stage healthtech companies. This way, not only do the startups get the capital they need to fund operations and growth, they can also unlock the possibility of testing their products at these health systems, some of … Continue reading “Inception Health President Talks Investment Strategies, Avia, & More”

One Solstice Secures $450,000 Seed Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a01ac87b-22b2-48a8-81f5-e9c78aff138b Date 6/20/2016 Company Name One Solstice Mailing Address 30 W. Mifflin Street 6th Floor Madison, WI 53703 USA Company Description Our team got started by powering a unique, worldwide music festival that takes place in 800 cities on every continent. in some cities, this festival connects thousands of artists and venues … Continue reading “One Solstice Secures $450,000 Seed Financing Round”

Tax Credits, Remedy Analytics, & Fiserv: This Week’s WI Watchlist

Catch up on the latest news from the Badger State’s innovation community with these recent headlines: —Wisconsin lawmakers voted to move $8 million in tax credits out of a pool of credits earmarked for early-stage companies and their investors, the Wisconsin State Journal reported. The tax credits are “now part of a new business development … Continue reading “Tax Credits, Remedy Analytics, & Fiserv: This Week’s WI Watchlist”

Biotech Roundup: Kadmon Debt, Hemo Data, Loose Lips & More

Familiar biotech names—not necessarily familiar for the right reasons—made news this week in biotech. Data from a hematology conference stoked dreams of approval, though still on a far horizon, for a couple drug makers. Long anticipated, Walgreens officially cut ties with Theranos, and the FDA both gave and denied approvals. You think a Game 7 … Continue reading “Biotech Roundup: Kadmon Debt, Hemo Data, Loose Lips & More”

Apartment Rental Website Abodo Homes In On $3.3M In Funding

Abodo, a Madison, WI-based startup that has developed technology to help users search for apartments and contact property managers, has raised more than $3.3 million from 13 investors, according to a regulatory filing that was made public on Thursday. Alec Slocum, who co-founded Abodo in 2012 and serves as its CEO, confirmed the raise during … Continue reading “Apartment Rental Website Abodo Homes In On $3.3M In Funding”

One Solstice Raises $450K to Match Musicians and Concert Venues

Among other things, Austin, TX, is famous for its live music scene and yearly festivals, including South by Southwest and Austin City Limits. A lesser-known annual gathering in Austin that has nonetheless gained traction since it was first held in 2014 is Solstice Festival, which will take place this weekend at venues throughout the city. Since … Continue reading “One Solstice Raises $450K to Match Musicians and Concert Venues”

Outlook Improves For Exact Sciences After Task Force Tweaks Ratings

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force on Wednesday announced changes to how it classifies colorectal cancer screening methods, a shift that could have implications for Madison, WI-based Exact Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EXAS]]) and its flagship product, a stool-based DNA test for colorectal cancer. In October, the task force released draft guidelines that proposed identifying Exact’s test, … Continue reading “Outlook Improves For Exact Sciences After Task Force Tweaks Ratings”

Balancing Risks and Opportunities: The Board’s Perspective

People start a business for many reasons. Some do it out of sheer passion, while others do it to create wealth and economic growth. Yet, underlying it all is a willingness to take risks. Entrepreneurs and established companies make risky decisions every day in the hope that those risks will translate into better opportunities, better … Continue reading “Balancing Risks and Opportunities: The Board’s Perspective”

Patina Solutions Group Secures $3,450,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=77c99c38-5c8e-4d31-ac79-b0e58b0f3068 Date 6/15/2016 Company Name Patina Solutions Group Mailing Address 13890 Bishops Drive Brookfield, WI 53005 USA Company Description Since 2008, Patina has been helping organizations get more done and accelerate success. Patina’s Professionals are industry veterans with 25+ years of operational experience who deliver specialized expertise targeted to our clients’ unique … Continue reading “Patina Solutions Group Secures $3,450,000 New Round”

ImageMoverMD Helps Clinicians, Patients Transmit Photos Securely

[Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories on physicians at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics who have become full- or part-time entrepreneurs.] Software is eating the world, and solid-state storage will not be spared. In movies and television, streaming services like Netflix (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NFLX]]) are rendering DVDs obsolete. In music, … Continue reading “ImageMoverMD Helps Clinicians, Patients Transmit Photos Securely”

Biotech Roundup: ASCO, BIO, Drug Setbacks, Incubators & More

If you blinked, you probably missed something this week in biotech. The nation’s biggest annual cancer meeting took place in Chicago, while biotech’s trade group held its annual confab in San Francisco. In Boston, there were more twists for a closely watched Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug and a setback for a high-profile drug for multiple … Continue reading “Biotech Roundup: ASCO, BIO, Drug Setbacks, Incubators & More”

Hyde‘s Inflatable Life Vest Wins WI Governor’s Business Plan Contest

Many pitch competitions award in-kind services and cash to startups, which often struggle to keep their heads above water financially. Hyde Sportswear, which on Wednesday was announced as the overall winner of the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, is itself in the business of helping people stay afloat—literally. Milwaukee-based Hyde’s flagship product is Wingman, which co-founder … Continue reading “Hyde‘s Inflatable Life Vest Wins WI Governor’s Business Plan Contest”

Stemina, Connecture, & Epic: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist

The weather is heating up, and so is activity within Wisconsin’s innovation community. Stay in the know with these recent headlines: —Stemina Biomarker Discovery, a Madison-based startup that’s developing a blood-based test for diagnostic autism spectrum disorder, raised another $2.4 million from investors, co-founder and CEO Elizabeth Donley said in an e-mail. The new money is … Continue reading “Stemina, Connecture, & Epic: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist”

Redox Picked to Join Cisco’s Entrepreneurs in Residence Program

Redox, a Madison, WI-based healthtech startup whose software helps other developers integrate with patient record-keeping systems used at hospitals and clinics, said on Tuesday that it has been selected to join Cisco’s Entrepreneurs in Residence program. Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CSCO]]) runs the six-month corporate venture program, which will take place near the company’s headquarters in … Continue reading “Redox Picked to Join Cisco’s Entrepreneurs in Residence Program”

Strata Oncology Closes $12M Round, Aims to Increase Tumor Sequencing

Ann Arbor, MI-based precision medicine startup Strata Oncology announced last week that it has raised a $12 million Series A round. Arboretum Ventures and Baird Capital led the financing, with participation from Michigan eLab, a returning investor. Strata is on a mission to make tumor sequencing for cancer patients more accessible. As personalized genetic therapies … Continue reading “Strata Oncology Closes $12M Round, Aims to Increase Tumor Sequencing”

Ring’s James Siminoff Talks “Shark Tank,” Crime Prevention, and More

You might recognize Ring CEO James Siminoff from TV commercials, or maybe you’ve seen his company’s high-tech doorbells on display at stores like Best Buy, Costco, and The Home Depot. But hearing Siminoff narrate the story of his Santa Monica, CA-based company in person reminds you just how much of a rollercoaster the life of a … Continue reading “Ring’s James Siminoff Talks “Shark Tank,” Crime Prevention, and More”

Biotech Roundup: Deals Gone Wrong, Ethical Red Flags & Bay Goodbyes

It was fitting this week that, in the lead-up to two of biomedicine’s biggest self-celebrations, we were served ample reminder of the industry’s expensive decisions gone wrong. This weekend, much of academia and industry involved in cancer will gather in Chicago for the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology conference. Thousands of others will head … Continue reading “Biotech Roundup: Deals Gone Wrong, Ethical Red Flags & Bay Goodbyes”

7 Steps Online Companies Can Take to Manage Sales Tax Exposure

States have been fighting to collect sales taxes from online retailers since the dawn of the e-commerce age. But today, online companies that sell services rather than merchandise also need to be concerned about state sales taxes. Even though most services are usually not subject to sales tax, some states are now asserting that certain … Continue reading “7 Steps Online Companies Can Take to Manage Sales Tax Exposure”

TierPoint Talks Milwaukee Data Center Overhaul, Competing With Amazon

A Milwaukee data center that changed hands twice in the past two years before undergoing major renovations was unveiled to the public on Wednesday. The facility is owned by St. Louis-based TierPoint, which acquired it in March as part of the company’s purchase of Omaha, NE-based Cosentry. At the time the deal was announced, Cosentry … Continue reading “TierPoint Talks Milwaukee Data Center Overhaul, Competing With Amazon”

Ethoplex Eyes Residential Customers for Fast Internet Service

Last month, federal antitrust regulators officially cleared the $65 billion merger between Charter Communications (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CHTR]]) and Time Warner Cable, two of the country’s leading cable and Internet service providers (ISPs). The deal will bring some minor changes for residential Internet users in the Milwaukee area, where Time Warner had amassed significant market share. For … Continue reading “Ethoplex Eyes Residential Customers for Fast Internet Service”

A Startup CEO Visits Cuba in Transition

I just returned from several days visiting Cuba with several of my BFFs. No amount of pre-reading prepared me for the wonderful experience. Americans cannot go as “tourists,” but must go on an approved people-to-people exchange. As such, we visited schools, farms, a university, children’s programs, museums, churches, a factory and the like. I’m sharing … Continue reading “A Startup CEO Visits Cuba in Transition”

In First Distribution Deal, StemBioSys Teams with Funakoshi in Japan

San Antonio — StemBioSys has signed a three-year marketing and distribution deal with Funakoshi Co. Ltd to bring its stem cell production products to Japan, the San Antonio startup’s first distribution deal. Funakoshi, which is based in Tokyo, distributes both advanced and basic life science research instruments throughout the country. The deal will allow Funakoshi … Continue reading “In First Distribution Deal, StemBioSys Teams with Funakoshi in Japan”

Flu Research, Propeller, & Stem Cells: This Week’s WI Watchlist

Catch up on some of the latest happenings in Wisconsin’s innovation community with these recent headlines: —Writing in the journal Nature Microbiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka and colleagues describe what they believe to be a better way of predicting the evolution of seasonal influenza strains, the university said. Their approach … Continue reading “Flu Research, Propeller, & Stem Cells: This Week’s WI Watchlist”

With Recruits Coming, Precision Med Effort Pledges $142M For Biobank

The Obama administration’s ambitious long-term health study, dubbed the Precision Medicine Initiative, has tapped the Mayo Clinic to build a repository for biological samples collected from the study’s participants. Through the National Institutes of Health, the administration has awarded $142 million over five years to the Rochester, MN-based Mayo Clinic for the so-called “biobank,” which … Continue reading “With Recruits Coming, Precision Med Effort Pledges $142M For Biobank”

UW Health Surgeon’s Startup Expanding Software to Monitor Patients

[Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories on physicians at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics who have become full- or part-time entrepreneurs.] Though he now works as a neurosurgeon, there’s always been a little bit of computer geek inside Josh Medow. While growing up in Illinois during the 1980s, Medow … Continue reading “UW Health Surgeon’s Startup Expanding Software to Monitor Patients”

117M LinkedIn Passwords for Sale: What You Should Do Now

Last week, a hack many of us had forgotten about shot right back into the headlines. First, the background: in 2012, LinkedIn acknowledged it had suffered a data breach that exposed the passwords of 6.5 million of its customers. What we discovered last week, however, was that the breach was actually much bigger than anyone … Continue reading “117M LinkedIn Passwords for Sale: What You Should Do Now”

Biotech Roundup: Duchenne Delay, Forum’s Fate, Califf, Ionis & More

Memorial Day weekend may be fast approaching, but don’t fire up those grills yet: there’s plenty of headlines to dig into first in our biotech trip around the Xconomy network. In New York, the nation’s most prestigious science competition changed sponsors for just the second time in its 74-year history. In Boston, one company’s controversial … Continue reading “Biotech Roundup: Duchenne Delay, Forum’s Fate, Califf, Ionis & More”

FDA Commish Califf to Big Data Crowd: Flood Of New Treatments Coming

New FDA commissioner Robert Califf said Wednesday that the recent spike in drug approvals is no temporary phenomenon, thanks to a better understanding of biology and continued adoption of sophisticated technology throughout healthcare. “I predict we’ll see of a flood of effective treatments”—not just drugs but combinations of drugs and data-enabled devices—“and we’ll have to … Continue reading “FDA Commish Califf to Big Data Crowd: Flood Of New Treatments Coming”

Local Ties Lead to Partnership Between Fetch Rewards and Kraft Heinz

Wes Schroll, the founder and CEO of Fetch Rewards, says that in early 2015, his startup received a call from a man who worked at Oscar Mayer, the meat producer known for its hot dogs, bologna, and Wienermobile. Schroll says the caller lived just outside of Madison, WI—where Fetch Rewards is based and also where … Continue reading “Local Ties Lead to Partnership Between Fetch Rewards and Kraft Heinz”