Wisconsin Inno’s second annual 50 on Fire list is here!
Today, we’re officially announcing the 50 people, companies and organizations that are heating up Wisconsin tech. You may be wondering, what exactly makes a company or individual on fire? Basically, it's people and businesses that have had a banner year—whether that’s new funding, product launches, big hires or innovative approaches to solving problems.
50 on Fire is a snapshot at some of the biggest movers and shakers across the state’s tech communities. Winners range from innovative upstarts to publicly traded tech giants to organizations looking to make Wisconsin’s tech scene more diverse.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll spotlight a few of these companies in stories and in our newsletter, The Beat.
We invite this year’s winners and their team, friends, family—and anyone that wants to network with Wisconsin's tech community—to join us Dec. 4 at South Second in Milwaukee to celebrate the 2019 winners as we honor the individuals and companies that continue to drive Wisconsin forward. At the event, we’ll also recognize seven honorees from the list as Inno Blazer winners, which are picked from a panel of esteemed judges. Get tickets here.
50 on Fire winners are sourced by nominations, selected by the Wisconsin Inno editorial team, and are listed below in alphabetical order.
Abby Taubner, Gener8tor: Taubner is a partner at Wisconsin-based startup accelerator gener8tor. She helped co-found gener8tor’s gBETA program, a free program for early stage companies. She initially joined gener8tor as an intern after graduating from UW-Madison in 2014, working her way up from program manager, managing director, and ultimately to partner in January.
AkitaBox: This Madison-based startup, which makes cloud-based facility management software, recently appointed a new CEO with a track record of tech success in Silicon Valley and Seattle. AkitaBox hired Matt Miszewski for the role. Miszewski previously worked at Microsoft, where he served as general manager of its global government industry. Prior to that, he was a senior VP for Salesforce. AkitaBox says it currently services over 250 million square feet of educational, commercial, healthcare and government facilities in the U.S.
Amanda DoAmaral, CEO and founder of Fiveable: DoAmaral is the founder and chief executive officer of Fiveable, a platform where teachers can broadcast live test-prep sessions for AP-level classes. The startup, which participated in gener8tor’s 2019 Madison cohort, received a $10,000 investment from Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis at a pitch competition earlier this year and announced it was relocating to Milwaukee. The startup has hosted hundreds of livestreams and connected tens of thousands of students and teachers.
Andy Richards, Director of UW–Madison’s Discovery to Product: Richards was named director of UW-Madison's D2P in 2018. D2P helps support and mentor faculty, staff and student entrepreneurs who are interested in moving their technology and innovations to the marketplace. D2P is spearheading the first UW-Madison Startup week in November. Richards previously served as chief of staff to the vice chancellor for research and graduate education.
Approyo: The Brookfield-based startup, founded in 2013, provides full SAP service technology to its clients. In 2019, Approyo says it doubled the size of its Wisconsin-based staff. The company also now has more than 300 SAP cloud environments around the world.
Blue Mangoes: Blue Mangoes, a Milwaukee-based startup that makes organic dried fruits while empowering rural women farmers in places like Uganda, Kenya and Haiti, was one of eight startups selected to this year’s Target Incubator program. Founded in 2016, Blue Mangoes partners with rural farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean to make organic dried fruits. The company makes passive solar dehydrators, which work without electricity, to make dried fruit from produce that would have otherwise gone to waste.
Brainchild Studios: Brainchild Studios is a digital content marketing agency that primarily serves brands targeting millennial moms, and nonprofits supporting women and children. The Milwaukee company, led by CEO Kiley Peters, says it has seen double digit revenue and profit growth year-over-year since it was founded in 2016. 2019 revenue is on track to exceed 2018 by 54 percent, and the company has doubled its employee count in 2019 and anticipates additional growth in 2020. Brainchild Studios is also starting a nonprofit, called the Brainchild Foundation, to support women and children in business and entrepreneurship.
Bright Cellars: In March, the Milwaukee-based wine startup raised an $8.5 million Series A round led by Revolution Ventures, a well-known Washington, D.C.-based venture firm led by AOL co-founder Steve Case. Since then, Bright Cellars has introduced its private wine label, Folk & Fable, to the Milwaukee market, and grown its staff to more than 50 employees.
C-Motive: The Madison startup says it has created the world’s first “commercially viable electrostatic motor,” which replaces things like steel, copper coils and rare earth magnets found in traditional electric motors with lightweight metals, plastics and dielectric materials. In April, the startup raised $2 million in a round led by Boston’s Prime Impact Fund.
Craig Dickman, Managing Director, TitletownTech: Dickman heads up TitletownTech, an initiative to spur startup growth and innovation in Green Bay that officially launched this year. TitletownTech is a plan kickstarted by Microsoft and the Green Bay Packers to launch an innovation lab, venture studio and $25 million VC fund in Green Bay. TitletownTech’s first fund is expected to invest in 18 startups, writing checks between $100,000 and $1 million.
Dianomi Therapeutics: Founded in 2017, Madison-based Dianomi develops treatments for inflammatory diseases such as osteoarthritis. Its technology, licensed from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), harnesses the natural property of mineralized tissues (like bones and teeth) to extend the therapeutic life of biological drugs. Earlier this year, the startup raised $3 million in funding following a partnership with publicly traded drug company Ligand Pharmaceuticals.
Direct Supply: Founded in 1985, Direct Supply is distributor of equipment and services to the senior care industry. At roughly 1,200 employees, it’s one of the Milwaukee area’s largest employers. Direct Supply creates both software and hardware products to help seniors, and it recently unveiled a $9 million renovation of its Innovation and Technology Center on the campus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Disrupt Madison/Disrupt Milwaukee: Disrupt Madison/Disrupt Milwaukeeis a nonprofit event focused on disruption and digital transformation. It started in Madison in 2016 with 10 speakers and a community of 100 people, and has now grown to over 70 speakers and a community of over 1,500 with international following in the U.K., India, Spain, Germany, Canada and elsewhere.
Exact Sciences: Madison-based Exact Sciences, a company that is helping people more effectively and rapidly detect cancer, has become one of the state’s fastest-growing public companies. Roughly 3 million people have used the company’s Cologuard take-home test to screen for colorectal cancer, and in July, Exact Sciences announced it was acquiring California’s Genomic Health in a cash and stock deal valued at $2.8 billion.
Fetch Rewards: Founded in 2013, the Madison-based startup has created a mobile shopping platform that gives users rewards when buying groceries. Fetch Rewards recently raised $25 million from investors such as Greycroft and eVentures, and plans to use the financing to double its workforce by the end of 2020.
FIT Oshkosh: FIT Oshkosh, a nonprofit organization located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, aims to lift up entrepreneurs of color. They offer a variety of trainings and workshops to help companies increase the racial literacy of their organization and employees.
Frontdesk: Founded in 2017, Frontdesk offers short-term rental suites for business and leisure travelers. To help grow the company, the startup recently raised a $2.75 million round of funding led by travel industry veteran Bill La Macchia, the CEO of La Macchia Enterprises.
GreenBay Technologies: This Madison AI company that’s using artificial intelligence and machine learning for data management landed an investment from Informatica this year. GreenBay Technologies is based on work started by a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and two PhD students.
Headway: Headway, a Green Bay-based web design and development firm, helps companies build technology products. Its clients include the University of Illinois and several Silicon Valley startups. Founded in 2015, it works with organizations to build software through business and product strategy, design and development.
Health Payment Systems, Inc.: Health Payment Systems, founded in 2005 in Milwaukee, makes a tech platform that simplifies the healthcare billing and payment experience. It has more than 200 clients in Wisconsin.
Highview: The Madison-based provider of B2B cloud solutions has developed a blockchain-based solution for B2B transactions. Just last month, Highview raised $500,000 in its first round of funding. Milwaukee venture fund CSA Partners LLC led the round.
Holos: The Madison-based startup that makes virtual reality and augmented reality training programs landed two contracts with the U.S. Air Force this year. The first was worth $50,000, while the second brought in $750,000 for the company. As part of the contracts, Holos is helping the Air Force develop VR maintenance and repair training programs, as well as prototypes for the Air Force’s Multi-Domain Command Control system.
ImageMover: The Madison-based startup making software for the healthcare industry raised $4 million earlier this year in a round led by Bain Capital Ventures, Cultivation Capital and Health X Ventures. Founded in 2014, ImageMover makes software for the medical imaging industry that allows physicians to streamline their workflow by integrating enterprise imaging and electronic health record systems.
Jackie Hermes, Founder and CEO, Accelity Marketing: In 2013, Hermes founded Accelity, a Milwaukee-based marketing company that works with B2B SaaS startups. Six years later, she has grown the company to more than 15 employees, with clients like Venado Technologies, Cognistx and Dynamis.
Jason Dietenberger, Entrepreneurship Professor, UW-Milwaukee: For many years, Dietenberger has had an impact on Milwaukee’s entrepreneurship and innovation scene. He has advised numerous local startups and recently started an internship program for students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Jeff Peterson, co-founder and CEO, Geneva Supply: When Peterson isn’t running operations at Geneva Supply, a supply chain startup that works with e-commerce companies like Amazon, he’s helping other young techies get acquainted with entrepreneurship. Peterson founded BizTank, a nonprofit and scholarship program that offers career exploration for high school juniors and seniors. He also created Got Interns, a new program launching this year that offers on-demand, project-based internships to college students.
LÜM: This Madison startup has built a streaming music platform and social network that helps up-and-coming artists grow their fanbase. This year, it raised $750,000 in a funding round led by Frank Productions, a Madison-based concert promoter. The funding brought LÜM’s total funding to $1.2 million.
Marine Dynamics Group: Founded in 2018 by Jarret Bryzek, Marine Dynamics Group works to develop and manufacture marine-based products that improve environmental sustainability. The Green Bay-based company has worked on several waterway cleanup projects and has partnered with 4ocean, one of the largest ocean preservation companies in the U.S.
Milwaukee Area Technical College: Focusing primarily on educating students from low-income families, the Milwaukee Area Technical College is helping to foster a new generation of tech workers that come from diverse backgrounds. The college offers a range of programs, including in technology and applied sciences.
Modern Hire (Formerly Montage): Earlier this year, Montage, the Delafield-based tech company that makes software to help businesses streamline their hiring processes, merged with Shaker International, a Cleveland-based company that provides predictive talent information. Just last month, the combined companies rebranded to Modern Hire in an effort to better convey their hiring software business. In addition to rebranding, Modern Hire also rolled out a new product that allows clients to more effectively and efficiently evaluate text, audio and video interviews.
Nadiyah Johnson, founder, Jet Constellations: Johnson is the founder of Jet Constellations, a consulting company and digital incubator that’s focused on making Milwaukee’s tech community more diverse through its Milky Way initiative. The program aims to make Milwaukee's tech scene more inclusive of people from different racial backgrounds. Johnson, a Milwaukee entrepreneur and former engineer at GE Healthcare, founded the organization in 2017.
Nobo: Founded in 2015, Nobo is creating a device called B60, which reports hydration levels to athletes and their trainers in real time. The device measures for both dehydration and over-hydration, synching with the B60 app to give athletes more data about their body as they perform. At the beginning of the year, the Milwaukee startup got the chance to pitch in Atlanta as part of the NFL’s startup showcase during Super Bowl week.
Northwestern Mutual: Since launching its venture capital fund in 2017, Northwestern Mutual has invested more than $50 million in 18 startups. And to make sure female founders are not overlooked, the company announced in October that it will dedicate $20 million of its VC fund to invest in startups founded by women. Northwestern Mutual backs startups that are involved in fintech, digital health, analytics and other technologies. It's also part of a new $5 million MKE Tech Hub coalition that aims to build Milwaukee into a thriving technology hub.
Penrod: Bootstrapped Milwaukee startup Penrod is growing quickly. In October it announced plans to expand into the Portland metro area as it prepares to double in size next year. Penrod, a company specializing in CRM solutions on the Salesforce platform, also has offices in Minneapolis and Dallas.
Phoenix: Nuclear technology company Phoenix opened a state-of-the-art neutron imaging center in Fitchburg this year, which spans 10,000 square feet and is the first such industrial radiography facility to provide both X-ray and neutron imaging services. Phoenix plans to open a new 50,000-square-foot corporate headquarters on the same plot in 2020, where it will add about 50 new employees to meet the growing demand for its accelerator systems.
Propeller Health: Propeller Health, a company that makes “smart inhalers” that use sensors to help patients better manage respiratory conditions, was acquired by San Diego-based ResMed late last year for $225 million in one of the largest Wisconsin tech acquisitions in recent years. The company also announced a major partnership with Walgreens that allows Walgreens customers to manage their asthma or COPD medication in the Propeller app, and it moved into a new office on the Madison Capitol Square.
Pythonic AI: Milwaukee-based Pythonic AI has created a solution to automate the medical records process using open source AI tools. In April, the startup won Northwestern Mutual’s second “Reverse Pitch MKE” event, earning a seed investment of up to $85,000.
RedFox AI: Madison-based RedFox AI helps brands connect with people by leveraging the power of AI and voice assistant technology. Through its “Voice-as-a-Service” model, the startup provides voice strategy and consulting, custom development and education services to small, medium and enterprise-level brands. RedFox AI was founded by CEO Nick Myers in 2017.
Redox: Founded in 2014, Madison-based Redox has built a platform that allows healthcare organizations to exchange patient data with each other. Earlier this year, the startup closed a $33 million Series C funding round and has been making strategic hires since. Over the summer, it added two new people to its executive team. Elif Eracar joined as the company’s chief customer officer and Ben Waugh joined as chief security officer.
Robert Cordova, CTO, Milwaukee Bucks: The Milwaukee Bucks are among the most tech-forward teams in the NBA. Leading the team’s technology charge is Cordova, the team’s CTO who joined the organization in 2018 from AT&T. This season, the Bucks announced that they will have the most advanced 5K high-definition camera system of any sports team in the world using Intel Sports' True View. Its 38 5K HD cameras provide 360-degree highlights and replays at Bucks home games. And last season the team introduced a service that lets fans order concession delivery right to their seat. Cordova also oversees the team’s cybersecurity efforts.
SHINE Medical Technologies: SHINE, a Janesville-based nuclear medicine company, is among the most funded tech companies in Wisconsin. This year it raised $50 million in a round from Oaktree Capital Management, and it has raised more than $200 million in investments and grants to date. Earlier this year, SHINE broke ground on its new production facility in Janesville, which will be completed in 2021.
Speakfully: Founded in 2018, Speakfully is an Eau Claire-based startup that’s created a documenting, reporting and resource platform for those experiencing workplace mistreatment. The company originally started with a free version for individuals to report incidents of mistreatment but launched its enterprise version for HR teams this summer.
Steve Stefanik, Principal Software Engineer, Milwaukee Tool: Steve Stefanik is the principal software engineer and iOS developer at Milwaukee Tool. He spearheads the company’s One-Key program, which is the a digital platform for tools and equipment designed to take smart tools to the next level. Stefanik’s team helped launch the Digital Torque Wrench, a connected torque wrench that features an on screen displays and reporting capabilities.
SwanLeap: Madison startup SwanLeap, the fastest-growing private company in Wisconsin according to this year’s Inc. 5000 list, is a logistics tech company that brings artificial intelligence to supply chains. The startup helps companies automate shipping decisions, like deciding whether an order should be shipped via freight or parcel delivery. The bootstrapped company did $162.6 million in revenue in 2018 and was the 35th fastest growing company in the U.S., according to Inc.
Titan Spine: In May, the spinal technology company based in Mequon was acquired by Medtronic, one of the world’s largest medical technology companies. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Titan Spine raised more than $50 million in funding since it launched in 2006. Medtronic says the acquisition of Titan Spine strengthens the company’s position as a procedural solutions provider for spine surgeries.
Understory: Founded in 2012, Understory has become one of Wisconsin’s most high-profile startups. The company makes solar-powered weather stations that collect weather data to help a range of industries detect risk and make better business decisions, and it raised $5 million in new funding this year to bring its total raised to date to $22 million. Its backers include Revolution’s Rise of the Rest fund, a VC fund led by AOL co-founder Steve Case.
Urban Misfit Ventures: Urban Misfit Ventures is an influencer marketing and events startup that helps organizations better reach their audience. They help individuals and brands such as Kohler build influence through video storytelling. The company’s co-founders are set to appear on an Amazon Prime TV show centered around entrepreneurship.
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC): The economic development group was named of the most active startup investors in the Great Lakes region over the last decade, according to data from Pitchbook. The WEDC was listed as No. 4, investing in 134 Midwest companies since 2008. The WEDC, Wisconsin’s economic development agency created by former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker in 2011, has invested in notable Wisconsin companies like Propeller Health, Fasetto and EatStreet.
Wisconsin Investment Partners: This Madison-based startup investor was also named among some of the most active startup investors in the Great Lakes region over the last decade, according to data from Pitchbook. Wisconsin investment Partners came in at No. 7, investing in 99 Midwest companies since 2008. Founded in 2000, it has invested in TAI Diagnostics, Fetch Rewards and ImageMoverMD.
Zywave: Zywave, an insurance tech company and the Milwaukee area’s largest SaaS provider, acquired Idaho-based RateFactory over the summer, its sixth acquisition to date. Terms of the deal were undisclosed, but the deal equipped Zywave with the industry’s only carrier-direct, multi-line small group quoting system serving insurance brokers.
Jim Dallke contributed to this report.
