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Wisconsin early-stage investing success stories:
Short articles on Wisconsin entrepreneurs succeeding against the odds 

Angel Investing in the News:

MADISON – The first private equity fund to focus exclusively on agricultural and clean technologies in Wisconsin has been launched.  “The AgTech Fund is poised to be one of the nation’s largest private equity funds focusing exclusively on agricultural technologies,” said Jason Smith, president of Peak Ridge Capital, a global alternative asset firm with a Midwest office in Madison .

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. - Although they took a dip in 2007, high-tech exports from Wisconsin have increased by 86 percent since 2001, the eighth largest export growth in the nation over that time period, according to an annual report from the AeA.

Some universities knock on many doors to find companies to license their patents.  Milwaukee School of Engineering didn’t knock on even one. An Elgin, Ill., company found the Milwaukee university instead.

Appleton, Wis. - Is the Act 255 tax credit program biased in favor of life science companies?  That's the belief of some in Northeastern Wisconsin, where the prototype business tends to be more manufacturing oriented than focused on biotech or information processing.

Jim Leonhart has a great job.  As head of the Wisconsin Biotechnology Medical Device Association, Leonhart serves as head cheerleader for what may be the fastest growing cluster in the state.

Many of Milwaukee’s largest companies were built a century ago by independent, self-reliant entrepreneurs, many of whom financed their companies themselves. If they needed additional capital, those entrepreneurs often turned to family and friends.

Using engineered adult stem cells from bone marrow to deliver a growth factor directly to atrophied muscles, scientists at UW-Madison have successfully slowed the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) -- also known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- in rats.

Whitewater, Wis. - Five individual Wisconsin innovation leaders will be honored for their outstanding work in promoting entrepreneurship and supporting inventor and entrepreneur clubs this year at the Oct. 1-2 “Ideas to Profits” Conference. The conference is sponsored by the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center (WISC) at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and will be held in Appleton, Wis., at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel.

Once a month in southeastern Wisconsin, three groups of inventors meet with people who want to help them.  At their core is a Milwaukee-area woman aiming to help change a culture.

As Wisconsin casts about for ways to reinvent its industrial past, a little-noticed cluster shows high-tech promise — medical imaging technology.

Madison, Wis. - A distinguished researcher from Purdue University with significant private and public sector experience will return to Wisconsin as the executive director of the new Morgridge Institute for Research, part of the twin Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.

Pete Shagory, a partner with Baird Venture Partners, is not taking his eye off investment opportunities in Wisconsin.

Yuzaburo Mogi reckons he has visited Wisconsin more than 200 times.  The chairman and chief executive officer of Kikkoman Corp., the globe-spanning Tokyo-based food company, began visiting the state more than 35 years ago to joust with zoning authorities in Walworth to set up a soy sauce factory.

Wisconsin’s new commerce secretary — the state’s chief liaison to state, national and international businesses — is someone who Joe Six-pack likely can appreciate.

Madison, WI – Today, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold met with Madison-area business and education leaders to discuss part of his “E4” Initiative, which aims to fuel job creation and enhance workforce development efforts.

In a city known for producing and consuming beer, two local entrepreneurs hope to put Milwaukee in the spotlight for a martini garnish they have developed as an alternative to the olive.

Peak Ridge Capital Group, a private alternative asset management firm that manages more than $1 billion, has closed on its first three investments in Wisconsin.

Milwaukee, Wis. - Gov. Jim Doyle said the state will provide a $250,000 loan and $380,000 in grants for assistance over three years to help MPP Group, LLC, a pharmaceutical development company, with its early-stage costs.

You need not hold a Ph.D. in microbiology or a subscription to “Nature” to have heard of Dr. James Thomson. He's the “father” of human embryonic stem cell research, internationally acclaimed for his work and arguably Wisconsin's most famous living scientist.

A Wauwatosa pharmaceutical development company landed a $630,000 package from the state Department of Commerce, Gov. Jim Doyle’s office said Wednesday.

Madison, Wis. - Caden Biosciences, a venture-backed biotechnology company that was relocated to Madison amid much fanfare, has closed its Fitchburg doors but executive leaders tell WTN they are not yet in a position to explain why.

During his two-year tenure as Wisconsin’s Commerce secretary, Cory Nettles worked to increase investment in the state’s industries, grow jobs and improve Wisconsin’s image in this country and abroad.   “Most of my time now is spent trying to walk the talk,” said Nettles.

Verona - The complex of buildings, set on the crest of a small hill against a backdrop of slightly rolling farmland, is a startling sight.  Epic Systems Corp. will have spent more than $300 million on the complex southwest of Madison when work on the most recent expansion ends late next year.

Chicago, Ill. - Baird Venture Partners, a venture capital arm of Baird Private Equity, has announced close of its third venture fund, which raised a total of over $170 million in capital.

Kelly Fitzsimmons admitted something that she probably wouldn’t have said to her company’s investors. Fitzsimmons, co-founder and CEO of the Wisconsin-based Comic Wonder, a web site dedicated to the fine art of joke telling, sheepishly confessed that she’s a rotten joke teller.

If nothing else, give the State of Wisconsin Investment Board credit for good timing.

The $87-billion pension fund, one of the nation’s largest, announced Monday it will invest $25 million in a venture capital fund managed by Baird Venture Partners and another $15 million in a fund to be co-invested, on a deal-by-deal basis, with Milwaukee-born Baird and other venture capital firms that have dealt with SWIB since 2000.

Baird Venture Partners will announce Monday that it has raised $170 million for a third venture-capital fund.  The Robert W. Baird & Co. affiliate exceeded by $20 million the amount of money it was aiming to raise, organizers said.

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board announced $40 million in new investments that will mean the entire $200 million allocated to the Wisconsin Venture Capital initiative will be fully committed.

NanoMedex will be a great addition to the business community in Dane County and Wisconsin. Their innovative method of making fat-soluble pharmaceuticals easier for people to take has broad application and unlimited potential.

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Aug 07, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- OpGen, Inc., a leader in single molecule DNA analysis, today announced a major expansion in Maryland that will create more than 80 jobs over the next two years. As a significant component of that expansion, Larry Wellman has joined the company as Vice President, Human Resources. This expansion and new appointment will help accelerate the company's global business plan.

In August's issue of Inc. magazine, the Wisconsin Angel Network is prominently featured as helping to expand the early-stage investment market and make it easier for entrepreneurs to find investors.

SAN DIEGO – Private dollars invested in Wisconsin start-up companies operating in high-growth sectors such as biotechnology grew substantially in 2007, according to a report released Wednesday.