Shark Tank, Blockchain, & Water Tech: This Week’s Wisconsin Watchlist

Madison, Wisconsin skyline stock image

Kick off the week by using trying out these up to date headlines from Wisconsin’s innovation neighborhood:

—MobCraft Beer co-founder Henry Schwartz seemed on Shark Tank—a express on the ABC network by which entrepreneurs pitch ideas to buyers—but there was no deal reached, the Wisconsin State Journal said. Kevin O’Leary, some of the “sharks” to whom Schwartz pitched, mentioned he disagreed with Madison-based totally MobCraft’s decision to construct its personal brewery in Milwaukee, slightly than renting out space at an existing facility. MobCraft was reportedly in quest of $ 400,000 in trade for a sixteen % fairness stake, which might have valued the startup at $ 2.5 million.

—venture Foundry, a Milwaukee-based totally edtech startup whose reliable name is Keystone Insights, Inc., closed its $ 1.25 million seed spherical, consistent with an SEC submitting. CEO invoice Mortimore prior to now informed Xconomy that his company deliberate to use the cash to double its eight-person personnel via December, and continue advertising and marketing its mission-based totally studying tool to schools and college districts.

—The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel profiled 23VIVI, a digital storefront for restricted variation artwork that makes use of blockchain expertise to make sure artists don’t have their work stolen and collectors don’t purchase fakes. An artist uploads a submission to the startup’s web site and, if well-known, 23VIVI makes 23 copies of the piece and makes an attempt to promote them on its marketplace. Pricing is reportedly incremental: the primary version costs $ 18, the 2d costs $ 19, and so forth. Madison-based totally 23VIVI is considered one of five startups in the Wisconsin accelerator Gener8tor’s present type; the corporate previously graduated from gBETA, a shorter, no-strings-attached accelerator that’s also run by Gener8tor.

—The Wisconsin Alumni research foundation, which manages patents and licensing for the university of Wisconsin-Madison, announced that efficient July 1, Erik Iverson will transform managing director. Iverson, 47, is at present president of industry and operations for the Seattle-primarily based Infectious disease research Institute, a nonprofit that helps lead quite a lot of global well being-associated analysis and construction initiatives. In an interview with Xconomy, Iverson said that anchors like UW-Madison and Epic programs might be key if Madison is to grow to be a expertise hub on par with Seattle.

—The Water Council’s accelerator—dubbed “industry. analysis. Entrepreneurship. In Wisconsin,” or the BREW—has dedicated to launching 75 water-targeted startups over the subsequent five years, consistent with a information unlock. The council mentioned its collaborators on the initiative are water heater maker A. O. Smith (NYSE: AOS) and water management company Rexnord (NYSE: RXN), each based totally in Milwaukee, and France-based Veolia, which helps purchasers handle water and wastewater, amongst different services. The pledge was made ultimate Tuesday as part of the White home’s inaugural Water Summit, at which greater than 150 U.S. organizations made water-associated commitments, The Water Council mentioned.

—Madison-based Propeller well being mentioned it has launched a brand new program as part of its partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim, a German pharmaceutical giant whose products embody the Respimat inhaler. the program is geared toward providing a model of the inhaler equipped with an add-on sensor developed via Propeller to certain sufferers who already use the Respimat to treat bronchial asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary illness. Joe Slavinsky, a vp at Propeller, stated that his company will work with Boehringer Ingelheim’s sales force to finalize a listing of health programs the place the two groups will attempt to sign up sufferers.

—greater than 24,000 of Wisconsin‘s residents work in the clean power industry, in keeping with a document from clean energy trust. The business is projected to develop four.eight % a year in the Badger State, sixth fastest among the 12 Midwestern states surveyed. “Wisconsin has a robust bioenergy subsector within renewable power generation, with over 20 % of renewable power coming from bioenergy,” in step with the file.

—Mount Horeb-based totally OneEvent technologies has raised $ 710,000 in convertible debt financing, and co-founder Kurt Wedig mentioned he expects that determine to succeed in $2.5 million via the end of April. based in 2011, OneEvent develops tool to make smoke detectors extra sensitive and grow to be them into versatile devices for monitoring business and residential structures. The pre-earnings firm has raised a complete of $2.5 million, Wedig stated, nearly all of which came from a $1.eight million equity funding spherical announced in September.

—Brookfield-based totally Connecture (NASDAQ: CNXR), which develops web-based totally tool designed to help shoppers searching for medical insurance, stated it has raised $52 million from traders in an try and make stronger its financial position. the two teams who provided the funding have been Francisco partners, a personal fairness agency based in San Francisco, and Louisville, KY-based totally Chrysalis Ventures. private funding in public fairness—or PIPE—deals such as this one often involve cash-strapped companies, in line with reporting by way of the Wall side road Journal.


Xconomy

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