The Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest – the nation’s first statewide, tech-based business plan competition – is accepting entries online for the 2007 competition. Entries will be accepted now through 5 p.m. Jan. 31, 2007. The contest’s Grand Prize is worth at least $50,000 in cash and services.

Wisconsin residents 18 years old and older are eligible, as are teams from Wisconsin-based businesses and organizations. Businesses or teams from outside the state are also eligible to compete so long as they plan to base their business in Wisconsin. Entrepreneurs may enter multiple ideas, so long as each idea is separate and distinct.

For their initial entry, contestants will submit 250- word idea abstracts online. Contestants who advance to subsequent contest rounds will have the opportunity to expand their plan or idea. More than 40 judges drawn from the finance, sales, marketing, research and specific technology sectors will score the entries and provide feedback. Visit www.govsbizplancontest.com to become a contestant, judge, mentor or sponsor.

Managed by the Wisconsin Technology Council, the contest sprang out of conversations with Gov. Jim Doyle shortly after he was first elected in 2002. The mission of the contest is to encourage entrepreneurs in the creation, start-up and early- growth stages of high-tech businesses in Wisconsin.

Click here to meet the 2006 winners.

Stemina Biomarker Discovery, a company with ties to the world-renowned human embryonic stem cell research program at UW-Madison, will begin operations early in 2007.

The company will be led by Chief Executive Officer Beth Donley, former executive director of the WiCell Research Institute and general counsel of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF). UW-Madison stem cell researcher Gabriela Cezar is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer.

The company will work at the intersection of stem cell technology and metabolomics, using human embryonic stem cells as a source of “biomarkers” for preclinical safety testing of pharmaceutical compounds and disease diagnostics. In addition, cancer stem cells should provide translational biomarkers for early detection of cancer and personalized medicine.

Scientists are excited about the potential for using biomarkers from stem cells and derivatives as a means to predict safety liabilities of compounds during drug discovery and preclinical development. Stem cells are the body’s building blocks, with natural abilities to differentiate into many different cells types in the body, such as heart cells, fat cells and neurons, to name a few.

In the second half of 2006, the Wisconsin Angel Network (WAN), a subsidiary of the Wisconsin Technology Council, has tracked and recorded individual private equity deals in Wisconsin. From June through mid-December 2006, WAN has recorded $43.2 million invested in 21 deals. Below you will find additional information on those deals.

Buycostume.com: Purchased by Liberty Media, Silicon Pastures* part of initial investment
Orion Systems: $4.5 million investment by Expansion Capital Partners of San Francisco
aOva Technologies: $3 million by Continuum Investment Partners* and angel investors
Virent Energy: $7.5 million by Cargill Ventures, Venture Investors* and others
Frozen Codebase: $270,000 investment by NEW Capital Fund*
Extract Systems: $200,000 debt- investment by MDC Venture Debt Fund*
Universal Separators: $150,000 debt- investment by MDC Venture Debt Fund*
Primorigen Biosciences: $2.45 million investment by Louisiana Fund 1 and others
NovaScan: $285,000 by angel investors
Imago Scientific Instruments: $3.4 million by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and others
Conjugon: $3.3 million by Wisconsin Investment Partners
Caden Biosciences: $5.85 million by Baird Venture Partners*
North Prairie Production: $1.8 million by angel investors and strategic partners
U.S. Trailmaps: $560,000 by Kegonsa Seed Fund* and Central Wis. Business Angels*
The Luggage Club: $250,000 angel investors
Orion Energy Systems: $500,000 by Capvest Venture Fund*
Jellyfish.com: $5 million by Kegonsa Capital Partners* and Clyde Street Investments
Renovar: $1.22 million by Wisconsin Investment Partners*, NEW Capital Fund* and others
BioIonix: $1.67 million by Marshfield Investment Partners* and others
TrafficCast International: $250,000 by Phenomenelle Angels Fund*
GrandCare System: $1 million by individual angels

*WAN Investor-member

Because some deals go unreported WAN is reaching out for additional information by calling on Wisconsin’s attorneys to help track aggregate investment amounts—no specifics on the deals. If you are an attorney who has lead a round for an entrepreneur, please click here to learn more. Or if you know personally of any deals that have gone unreported in the last six months of 2006, please feel email WAN at info@wisconsinangelnetwork.com.

• Wisconsin experienced a 19 percent jump in venture capital investment in 2005 over 2004.



• According to Cyberspace, a report published by the American Electronics Association (AeA), Wisconsin's high-tech industry employment grew by 600 jobs to 77,800 in 2004, the most recent data available. Good news considering tech industry jobs in Wisconsin pay 64 percent more than average private sector wages.



• Wisconsin remains a critical state for electromedical equipment manufacturing, with nearly 10 percent of all employment in this vital field being located in Wisconsin.



• In 2004, Wisconsin was home to 4,700 high-tech establishments, earning a ranking of 22nd among the nation's 50 states.



• High-tech firms employed 33 of every 1,000 private sector workers in 2004, ranking just 37th among the nation's 50 states.

Joining your local Wisconsin Innovation Network (WIN) Chapter offers networking connections with a variety of industries and professionals in high tech, law, banking, government, public relations, manufacturing, and local entrepreneurs. Your next client/customer/partner is only "six degrees of seperation" away.

Click here to join your local WIN Chapter or to learn more about us.