More than a dozen angel and venture capitalists from four states will judge the second annual “Elevator Pitch Olympics,” to be held in two sessions Oct. 30- 31 during the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium.

Companies or entrepreneurs preparing to seek private equity financing are eligible to compete in the Elevator Pitch Olympics if they are registered for instructional tracks within the symposium. Prospective companies and early-stage firms may register here.

Up to 20 companies will be selected to present during the Elevator Pitch Olympics; all will be chosen from companies that take part in the VentureQuest training seminar or the symposium’s Technology Showcase.

The phrase “elevator pitch” is a familiar part of our language. It describes a sales pitch that is delivered in a short amount of time – such as an elevator ride in a tall building, or some place else where the “pitcher” has a captive audience.

The Elevator Pitch Olympics will allow entrepreneurs and early-stage business executives to deliver a 90- second pitch about their company or business idea to a panel of venture capitalists and angel investors. The two-part exercise is intended to be instructional, fun and relatively pressure free.

U.S. Trailmaps, Inc., a Wausau-based software company specializing in the development of novel mapping applications for “off-road” recreational travelers, has closed on its second equity financing this year. In July, U.S. Trailmaps finalized an angel round of financing totaling $160,000 with the Central Wisconsin Business Angels. This month, the company closed on a $400,000 venture round of financing with the Kegonsa Seed Fund.

Established in January 2005, U.S. Trailmaps’ current product offerings include a spectrum of interactive trail maps for snowmobiles, ATVs and other recreational vehicles in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Similar products for the New England, Mid Atlantic, and Midwest regions will be unveiled later this month. The maps, which detail more than 100,000 miles of trails and nearly 250,000 parking areas, restaurants, gas stations and other businesses along the trails, are meant to seamlessly interface with GPS and other location based technologies and can be uploaded to a personal computer.

U.S. Trailmaps is one of five high-tech, Wisconsin-based, or soon-to-be Wisconsin-based, companies reporting deals worth more than $180 million in September 2006. Among those other firms are: Berbee ($175 million buy-out by CDW); Caden Biosciences ($5.85 million by Baird Venture Partners); North Prairie Production ($1.8 million by angel investors and strategic partners); and, The Luggage Club ($250,000 by angel investors).

The Wisconsin Angel Network (WAN) recently unveiled its latest tool for entrepreneurs seeking private equity investment: ePlan. ePlan is an upgraded alternative to paper business plans utilizing cutting-edge, digital- media technology by Mediasite to record entrepreneurs’ presentations.

ePlan presentations are more versatile that paper business plans and can be made available to investors anytime by virtue of the fact that WAN produces multiple copies of the entrepreneur’s presentation and executive summary which are burned onto mini-CDs.

ePlan enables entrepreneurs to reach more investors in a timely, cost-effective, high-impact manner and to go beyond the black-and-white of a paper business plan by infusing their personality into their presentation. An ePlan package includes a one-and-a-half-hour recording session in WAN’s studio with on-the-spot expert feedback and advice from WAN.

Investors also benefit from the ePlan. They are able to “meet” the entrepreneur and can learn about the business in less time than it takes to thoroughly read a paper business plan and can access the presentation and executive summary at their convenience. As an added benefit, WAN investor- members have ongoing, round-the-clock access to ePlan presentations through WAN’s Deal-flow Pipeline.

• The University of Wisconsin-Madison remains the fourth largest research university in the country as measured by the amount of money spent on research and development, according to statistics released by the National Science Foundation (NSF).



• According to POLICOM Corp., an independent economic research firm specializing in analyzing local and state economies, the 2006 economic strength of Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis area has increased from 58th in 2005 to 37th in 2006. Racine moved to 187th in 2006 up from 221st in 2005 and Madison ranked a solid 20th among 361 Metropolitan Areas and 577 Micropolitan areas across the country.



• According to the American Electronics Association (AeA), high-tech products accounted for 23 percent of all Wisconsin exports last year, representing a growth rate of 34 percent, the sixth highest in the country.



• In 2004, the University of Wisconsin tied with Harvard University for first place in educating the most chief executive officers of companies included in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Each had 15.

The Wisconsin Innovation Network (WIN) holds regular educational and networking events in six regions around the state. So that our workshops more accurately reflect the regional economies in which they are held, let us know what high-tech sector you represent.

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