Wisconsin has been achieving records in terms of startup funding, according to the most recent report by the Madison-based Wisconsin Technology Council. In 2019 alone, Wisconsin tech companies raised more than $454 million, the most amount of capital raised by state companies. Forty-three percent of companies raised at least $1 million, but larger deals from NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, Redox and SHINE Medical Technologies raised upwards of $75 million, $36.1 million and $132 million, respectively.
On top of hitting funding records, venture capital in Wisconsin also had wins in terms of equity in 2019. Last year, the number of woman-owned or woman-led companies that raised funding increased by 14 percent. That cannot be said for other states in the Midwest, according to a May 2020 Crunchbase study.
However, money alone is not enough for a startup to grow and succeed. Startups also need mentoring and connections to the right people. Wisconsin’s incubators and accelerators provide these kinds of resources and are a key ingredient in the success of the state’s early-stage companies.
WISCONSIN ACCELERATORS AND INCUBATORS
An accelerator is a structured, fixed-length program that mentors startup founders using programing and business coaching that helps them build out and develop their business. In contrast, an incubator program does not have a set timeline. Incubators generally give companies resources, such as office space, training and mentoring, though some may offer seed funding.
Wisconsin is fortunate to have accelerators and incubators located in all corners of the state that offer programming and financial support to empower early-stage companies. Here are a few of them:
Gener8tor, with offices in both Madison and Milwaukee, offers pre-accelerators, accelerators, corporate programming, conferences and fellowships. Its gBETA program for early-stage startups is located in Madison, Milwaukee and Beloit, as well as cities such as Detroit, Houston and Cleveland.
The Doyenne Group and Scale Up Milwaukee both have programs that support minority and female entrepreneurs looking for both funding and professional development.
Based in Green Bay, TitletownTech is an accelerator program formed in a partnership between the Green Bay Packers and Microsoft. Titletown Tech brings together industry leaders, tech experts, creative thinkers to both support startups and explore key market challenges.
IronTek, an incubator in Beloit, is a collaborative coworking space, small business center and tech hub where startups can connect and take advantage of entrepreneurial-focused programming.
The first location for VentureHome, a network of startup hubs, is in Eau Claire. It helps entrepreneurs access research from the University of Wisconsin System that is ready for commercialization and provides IP and legal strategy advice.
