Bankmybiz.com will hold an open discussion in which business owners and business lenders brainstorm ways to create better financial services products for small businesses. The free forum will also include time to network, and food and drink will be available at the Hudson bar. Click here to register. The event was previously billed as a “speed … Continue reading “‘Bankmybiz.com Live!’ Event at Hudson Business Lounge”
Category: Wisconsin
BioForward Monthly Breakfast at Thermo Fisher Scientific
BioForward’s monthly breakfast series kicks off 2014 at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where safety specialist Lia Klatt and application manager Tim Van Hoecke will discuss lab standards; biotechnological, chemical, and mechanical hazards; and the Globally Harmonized System compliance deadlines and solutions. For more information and to register, click here. You can also e-mail Brian Moeller at … Continue reading “BioForward Monthly Breakfast at Thermo Fisher Scientific”
EPA Taps Stemina to Screen Drugs for Possible Birth Defects
Stemina Biomarker Discovery has won a $10.6 million contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to screen drugs and chemicals for their potential effects on unborn fetuses. The Madison, WI, company announced the five-year agreement on Thursday. It’s part of the EPA’s ToxCast initiative begun in 2007, which uses automated screening processes to expose living … Continue reading “EPA Taps Stemina to Screen Drugs for Possible Birth Defects”
U.S. Biomedical Research at a Precipice
[Editor’s Note: this post was co-authored by Justin Chakma, Dr. Reshma Jagsi, and Stephen M. Sammut.] Since 1950, U.S. government funding has supported research underlying 84 percent of Nobel Prizes awarded in Medicine & Physiology. These scientific breakthroughs have resulted in new medicines and created significant economic value. For example, the discovery of gene silencing, … Continue reading “U.S. Biomedical Research at a Precipice”
Noah Technologies Aims to Keep Basement Floodwaters At Bay
It’s a homeowner’s nightmare version of the old tree-falling-in-a-forest conundrum: What happens if a pipe bursts in a bathroom and nobody’s home to hear the water sensor alarm? Sharper minds can sort out the philosophical question of whether a sound is made in this scenario, but the real-world result is clear: a flooded building with … Continue reading “Noah Technologies Aims to Keep Basement Floodwaters At Bay”
Stem Cell Maker Cellular Dynamics Strikes Deal With Nestle
The market for Cellular Dynamics International’s manufactured stem cells has so far consisted mainly of large pharmaceutical companies, stem cell banks, and other life science researchers. Now Nestlé will use the cells in nutritional research. Cellular Dynamics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ICEL]]), based in Madison, WI, on Wednesday announced a supply agreement with the Nestlé Institute of Health … Continue reading “Stem Cell Maker Cellular Dynamics Strikes Deal With Nestle”
Despite Benefits, Biogas Systems Face Challenges at Wisconsin Dairies
Wisconsin is already a leading producer of energy from dairy waste, and sunny industry reports suggest the opportunity for the number of digesters in the U.S. to grow more than tenfold in the next decade to a mature market worth nearly $3 billion a year. But today, the market for anaerobic digesters—covered lagoons or tanks … Continue reading “Despite Benefits, Biogas Systems Face Challenges at Wisconsin Dairies”
From MIT Robot Whiz to DoD Engineer: The Gener8tor Startup Founders
The fourth gener8tor accelerator program got underway this week with a blitz of “speed dates” between the entrepreneurs and a field of potential mentors. On Tuesday I hung out at gener8tor’s office in downtown Madison, WI, where the program’s winter crop of five startups shuffled between office suites in 15-minute individual sessions with mentors. The … Continue reading “From MIT Robot Whiz to DoD Engineer: The Gener8tor Startup Founders”
Reinventing Bandy—Innovation on Ice
Later this month, a team of Somali youngsters living in Sweden will travel to Siberia, to compete in the world championships of bandy, an exotic winter sport mostly played in the icier parts of Europe. Innovation often means moving something from one context to a new one, for instance, by applying a known technology into … Continue reading “Reinventing Bandy—Innovation on Ice”
Green Roof Tech Firm Offers Cloud-Based Fix for Cloud-Born Problem
The idea of blanketing buildings with living plants as a way to mitigate their environmental impact isn’t new, but Vegetal i.D. is adding a couple twists on the so-called green roof concept that company leaders think could shake up the industry. Chief among them: a cloud-based system that could allow the roof to work in … Continue reading “Green Roof Tech Firm Offers Cloud-Based Fix for Cloud-Born Problem”
Wisconsin Lab is at Nexus of Innovation for U.S. Forest Service
It takes an unusual person to get excited about the latest advances in such common building materials as medium-density fiberboard. Yet Michael Rains’ runaway enthusiasm comes tumbling through—even on a long-distance phone call from his office, where Rains does double duty as director of the U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station in Newton, PA (responsible … Continue reading “Wisconsin Lab is at Nexus of Innovation for U.S. Forest Service”
Propeller Health Takes Off With Digital Tracker for Asthma
The holiday season just past was a feast for the senses—decorations, scented candles, fresh-cut evergreens, and the happy faces of visitors. But all the household cleaning and holiday decorating can also set off an asthma attack, as some sufferers from the disease may have learned over the last month if they’ve been keeping careful daily … Continue reading “Propeller Health Takes Off With Digital Tracker for Asthma”
Bad Statistics, and Bad Training, Are Sabotaging Drug Discovery
One of the most widely read college textbooks in the 1960s and ‘70s was How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff. Despite the humorous title, the serious intent of the book (written by a journalist, not a statistician) was to illustrate how common errors in the use of statistics frequently lead to misleading conclusions. … Continue reading “Bad Statistics, and Bad Training, Are Sabotaging Drug Discovery”
Josh Boger Finds Beauty Off the Coast of Fiji, in Life After Vertex
What has Josh Boger been doing the past four years in his supposed “retirement” from Vertex Pharmaceuticals? Turns out, he’s found peace and beauty. He discovered it about as far away from the biotech grind as you can possibly get. Boger, as many readers know, is the founder and former president and CEO of Cambridge, … Continue reading “Josh Boger Finds Beauty Off the Coast of Fiji, in Life After Vertex”
Murfie Secures $390,003 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b2f37d14-0f63-4a91-bd3a-bfa1a3c6ff93 Date 1/6/2014 Company Name Murfie Mailing Address 7 S. Pinckney St. Madison, WI 53703 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 $390,003 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not … Continue reading “Murfie Secures $390,003 New Financing Round”
Edison DC Systems Garners $20,000 Seed Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f9cc523a-3ff4-4a15-ba99-9b1c98e55998 Date 1/6/2014 Company Name Edison DC Systems Mailing Address 519 Greenfield Dr. Grafton, WI 53024 Company Description Edison DC Systems was started to address the glaring problem with direct current implementations, that there are vendors of parts and pieces but there is little knowledge of how to create a working system. … Continue reading “Edison DC Systems Garners $20,000 Seed Financing Round”
Road Trip to Madison with Startup Milwaukee
From the organizers: “Join Startup Milwaukee on a road trip to Madison on the evening of January 22nd. The event held at Madison’s new Central Library will focus on brainstorming actionable solutions that will strengthen Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial community. There also will be plenty of time to network with entrepreneurs from Madison over free beer and other … Continue reading “Road Trip to Madison with Startup Milwaukee”
Gener8tor Goes International With Latest Startup Accelerator Class
Last summer, gener8tor’s startup accelerator class featured companies from outside Wisconsin, a first for the program. Now the Madison and Milwaukee-based startup nurturer has an international flavor. Five new startups have been accepted into the winter class in Madison that gener8tor is starting tonight. The companies hail from Mexico, Massachusetts, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin. From … Continue reading “Gener8tor Goes International With Latest Startup Accelerator Class”
Startups Poised to Make Their Mark Alongside the Big Guys at CES
Much of the technology world will descend this weekend on Las Vegas, bound for the annual spectacle of new gadgets known as the International CES. As soon as the Northeast digs its way out of the snow, I will be on my way for hands-on coverage of this carnival of consumer devices. Big companies such … Continue reading “Startups Poised to Make Their Mark Alongside the Big Guys at CES”
Scientific Reproducibility: Raising the Standards for Biomedicine
The vast majority of findings published in high-profile biomedical research publications can’t be reproduced by independent laboratories. Multiple groups have come to this same shocking conclusion in recent years, and it has deservedly generated considerable attention. It matters because the ability to reproduce a result is fundamental to establishing the legitimacy of a new research … Continue reading “Scientific Reproducibility: Raising the Standards for Biomedicine”
H2Oscore Pushes Water Conservation Via Software, Utilities, and Beer
It can be challenging enough to change water consumption habits built up over years, like leaving the faucet running while brushing one’s teeth or taking long showers. Now try encouraging conservation in a water-rich area like Milwaukee, nestled against the largest collection of fresh water bodies on Earth. That’s the task McGee Young is tackling … Continue reading “H2Oscore Pushes Water Conservation Via Software, Utilities, and Beer”
The Future of Education: 10 Trends To Watch
It is that time of the year when we tend to pause, reflect, and look forward. What have we achieved in the year just passed? What are the highlights of culture, business, technology, and trends that we have observed around us? For me, the most exciting and positive movement at present is in the domain … Continue reading “The Future of Education: 10 Trends To Watch”
New Online Services Put You Back in Command of Your 401(k)
If you’re still in search of a New Year’s resolution, here’s one you’re free to borrow from me: Become a more active and self-reliant manager of your retirement investment accounts, using some of the affordable new tools available online. This week I’ve been exploring two of the leading services, Jemstep and Personal Capital. After just … Continue reading “New Online Services Put You Back in Command of Your 401(k)”
Luminex Finds Growth in Diagnostics Along a Texas-Wisconsin Corridor
To paraphrase the self-help saying, the first step in curing a problem is knowing that you have it. And Austin’s Luminex (Nasdaq: LMNX), with the help of its R&D team in Madison, WI, says it has found a way to help clinicians and researchers diagnose disease faster and more efficiently by enabling them to look … Continue reading “Luminex Finds Growth in Diagnostics Along a Texas-Wisconsin Corridor”
Here’s What Mobile Industry Insiders See Ahead for 2014
By now, you should know the truly big stories in the mobile sector: Samsung’s rise to challenge Apple, Microsoft finally acquiring Nokia, Google leaping into wearables, more moves toward carrier consolidation. But if you want to get a jump start on some of the biggest trends shaping up in the mobile industry, you could do … Continue reading “Here’s What Mobile Industry Insiders See Ahead for 2014”
Tech Bubble Leaks Air, Healthcare Bests Biotech, & More for 2014
The coming year will see some good news and some bad news in tech. Here are five predictions. • IPOs: This past year witnessed an extraordinary resurgence in IPO activity for venture-backed companies. It felt much like 1999 right before the crest of the wave. With modest growth, unsustainably high valuation multiples, little excess left for … Continue reading “Tech Bubble Leaks Air, Healthcare Bests Biotech, & More for 2014”
Microbe Detectives Brings DNA Sequencing to Water
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett wants southeastern Wisconsin to be known as the “Fresh Coast.” Others have thrown around the phrase “Silicon Valley of water.” Marketing verbiage aside, the conversation around turning this region on the shores of Lake Michigan into a fresh water business hub continues to grow louder. Southeastern Wisconsin is home to the … Continue reading “Microbe Detectives Brings DNA Sequencing to Water”
The Year in Innovation: Xconomy’s Top 13 Stories of 2013
If you only have time to read a few of our articles from the past year, these are the ones. These are editor’s picks (mine). They are not based on Web traffic, but rather on a subjective weighting of their impact, significance, and representation of our mission and geographies. Xconomy is now in 9 regions … Continue reading “The Year in Innovation: Xconomy’s Top 13 Stories of 2013”
Remembering James L. Vincent, Longtime Biogen Leader
Are they making innovators quite like James L. Vincent any more? This question, spurred by Vincent’s death on Dec. 5, has more edge these days as we worry how Americans are going to keep inventing, making, and selling new things to earn a good living in a sharply competitive world. More bluntly, do the innovators … Continue reading “Remembering James L. Vincent, Longtime Biogen Leader”
Help Wanted: Houston vs. Austin and the Search for the Best IT Talent
Last May, we announced that we were moving Datafiniti to Austin. A big reason for our move was the lack of a suitable talent pool from which to hire. There was a lot of skepticism—perhaps surprisingly so—around our reasoning. At the time, we provided what I thought was a healthy dose of data to back … Continue reading “Help Wanted: Houston vs. Austin and the Search for the Best IT Talent”
Why Angels Should Keep Their Distance from Crowdfunding in 2014
There’s certainly been a lot of uncertainty in the angel and venture capital arenas over the past decade, and understandably so. Add to that, the lure of crowdfunding—a nearly $3 billion business in 2012—and it’s led some angel groups to consider if there is a role for individual investors in crowdfunding their deals. My advice … Continue reading “Why Angels Should Keep Their Distance from Crowdfunding in 2014”
Why Business and Personal Email Are Not the Same
We all carry certain expectations about email from our private lives into a corporate setting. Some of those expectations are met, but in other ways business email is very different from consumer email. These differences can be confusing at best and, at worst, lead to major problems for organizations. The Inside and the Outside To … Continue reading “Why Business and Personal Email Are Not the Same”
Good, Business, and Good Business
Here in the 20-teens, the roles of for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, government, NGO’s, foundations, investors and philanthropists are beginning to blur together. We are quickly finding ourselves in a world where it is not only possible to do good while doing business, but expected. This is quite a change from the “Friedman Doctrine” that claimed … Continue reading “Good, Business, and Good Business”
4 Tech Trends That Will Impact Risk and Compliance Efforts in 2014
Once business organizations reach a certain size, their leaders have to start thinking systematically about how to structure reporting relationships to ensure vital information reaches the top; how to identify and account for the internal and external risks that could hobble the company; and how to ensure the organization is complying with a skein of … Continue reading “4 Tech Trends That Will Impact Risk and Compliance Efforts in 2014”
My Top Picks in Bio-Venture Innovations, and Predictions for 2014
I am a biotech VC, but not a techie. So I don’t follow stem cells, gene therapy, and other similar “blockbuster” technologies in the life sciences. Rather than looking at all the gosh-and-golly stuff going into the biotech pipeline, I wait to see what is coming out of the other end. So far, very little … Continue reading “My Top Picks in Bio-Venture Innovations, and Predictions for 2014”
We Ask the Xconomists: Some Quick Predictions for the New Year
As 2013 drew to a close, we asked some of our Xconomists to ponder innovation, past and future, and to give us their predictions for the breakout innovations they expect to see in their respective fields. Here’s what they had to say: Texas Xconomist Blair Garrou, managing director at Mercury Fund in Houston: I’m excited … Continue reading “We Ask the Xconomists: Some Quick Predictions for the New Year”
How do Michigan and Wisconsin Compare in the Eyes of VCs?
It’s no surprise that Detroit’s civic problems would resonate most clearly with people around the Great Lakes region. And in Milwaukee, the discussion has been pretty pointed at times—questions about the city’s urban poverty, how Detroit’s bankruptcy might affect Milwaukee, and whether state policies could drive public employees into the suburbs. One thing they definitely … Continue reading “How do Michigan and Wisconsin Compare in the Eyes of VCs?”
Observations From Korea’s Creative Economy 2013 Conference
Innovation is one of those goals that transcends borders. Spurring technology innovation, and through it the creation of new industries that accelerate job growth, is always high on the agenda of any advanced economy. But what if you had to change the culture of an entire nation at the same time? That’s a major part … Continue reading “Observations From Korea’s Creative Economy 2013 Conference”
SnowShoe Makes Impression with High-Tech Software, Low-Tech Stamp
So how does SnowShoe, a four-person tech startup originally from Madison, WI, and now split between that city and San Francisco, plan to make it big? With a little plastic widget that’s about 2 inches long, 1 inch wide, less than an inch thick, and can be made by a 3-D printer for less than … Continue reading “SnowShoe Makes Impression with High-Tech Software, Low-Tech Stamp”
A Need to Know: Adding DNA and Geomedicine Data to Patient Records
It takes a lot of patience to be a patient. There are about 1.2 billion physician office visits annually in the United States, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The center, which has collected data on this subject for decades, also reports that patients wait an average of just “north” of 11 minutes … Continue reading “A Need to Know: Adding DNA and Geomedicine Data to Patient Records”
Age of Surprise
For about 500 years, it seems that we’ve been living in an era of permanent surprise, of unanticipated discoveries like Columbus’ landfall in what he thought was an outpost of China. Ever since, we have been conditioned to expect the unexpected. And around 1760, about halfway through our age, we entered the factory era that … Continue reading “Age of Surprise”
SnowShoe Tries to Succeed With One Foot in Madison, Other in SF
To stay in the nurturing environment of the place where you were raised, or to strike out into the unknown to find your fortune? It’s a quandary even for startups—especially when they become the local favorites and standard bearers. An example is SnowShoe, a startup from Madison, WI. The four-person tech firm was born in … Continue reading “SnowShoe Tries to Succeed With One Foot in Madison, Other in SF”
Diverse Software Developer Talent—A Gift That Keeps on Giving
Here’s a fresh take on the spirit of giving: Ten Washington technology companies have agreed to “pay it forward” by supporting Seattle’s first not-for-profit coding academy focused on preparing women who show technical aptitude, but have little or no technical experience, to become software developers. During the Technology Alliance’s early days in the mid-1990s, Washington … Continue reading “Diverse Software Developer Talent—A Gift That Keeps on Giving”
10 Tips for Maximizing the JP Morgan Healthcare Experience
San Francisco, we’re coming. Of course, you are ready for the biotech onslaught. The cab drivers, hotel people, cops, security dudes, restaurant and bar staff—you all know the drill come January. So what about all the healthcare industry capitalists? Are you ready to make the most of this week when all the decision makers and … Continue reading “10 Tips for Maximizing the JP Morgan Healthcare Experience”
7Summits Obtains New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=61734194-c59b-4a94-b6f8-8a02aaf672ae Date 12/21/2013 Company Name 7Summits Mailing Address 1110 Old World Third St. Milwaukee, WI 53203 Company Description At 7Summits, we believe in unleashing people’s potential to create, innovate, and compete in entirely new ways. Combining our creative talent and strong business acumen, this philosophy has driven us to become a valued … Continue reading “7Summits Obtains New Financing Round”
News, Social Networking Meet in Prismatic’s “Interest Network”
Over the last 20 years, three new technologies have come together to reshape the way information enters our lives. First, of course, there was the Web, starting around 1993. Then came social networking, starting around 2003. And finally—hugely amplifying the effects of the first two—came broadband-capable smartphones and tablets, starting in 2007. Any one of … Continue reading “News, Social Networking Meet in Prismatic’s “Interest Network””
Wisconsin Cleantech Network to Spotlight Milwaukee Energy Partnerships
The January meeting of the Wisconsin Cleantech Network will focus on how the city of Milwaukee’s Property Assessed Clean Energy program and the Milwaukee Energy Efficiency program have partnered with the private sector to lower buildings’ energy use. Erick Shambarger, deputy director of the city of Milwaukee’s Office of Environmental Sustainability, will speak at the … Continue reading “Wisconsin Cleantech Network to Spotlight Milwaukee Energy Partnerships”
‘I-Q Corridor’ Investors to Talk Wisconsin Startup Scene
Investors from Milwaukee and Chicago will discuss how venture capital firms that scour the Upper Midwest’s “I-Q Corridor” for deals view Wisconsin and its early-stage companies. The invited speakers are: Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele from CSA Partners, a new venture fund in Milwaukee; Dan Palay of Tactics II Ventures, a venture firm in the … Continue reading “‘I-Q Corridor’ Investors to Talk Wisconsin Startup Scene”
How WARF Plans to Stay Relevant in Lean Times for Tech Transfer
Quick, name one of the oldest—if not the oldest—university tech transfer institutions in the country. If your brain automatically took you to a spot in New England or sunny California, think again. It’s the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, or WARF, which was founded nearly 90 years ago in 1925. What would become WARF started when … Continue reading “How WARF Plans to Stay Relevant in Lean Times for Tech Transfer”
Arrowhead Picks Up Where Roche Left Off, Jumps Ahead in RNAi
One of the big stories on the leading edge of drug development is unfolding at a small biotech company few people have heard of on the west side of Madison, WI. Arrowhead Research (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARWR]]) isn’t a household name in Madison, even in the local biotech community, as I discovered on a recent visit. But … Continue reading “Arrowhead Picks Up Where Roche Left Off, Jumps Ahead in RNAi”