A group of entrepreneurs and investors across Wisconsin have formed a new coalition they hope will improve the success and growth rates for early-stage companies in the state.
The Wisconsin Startup Coalition launched Thursday to coincide with the annual Startup Wisconsin Week activities. The coalition will be co-led by Matt Cordio, co-founder of Startup Milwaukee Week and founder of Skills Pipeline, and Peter Welch, the chief operating officer at lobbying firm The Welch Group in Madison.
One of the goals of the coalition, Cordio said, is to double the amount of funding rounds for early stage companies to roughly 100 by 2026, specifically the first capital raise offerings by Wisconsin startups.
In addition to more early stage investments, the coalition also aims to improve the rate of tech professionals transferring to Wisconsin, support academic entrepreneurs, retain tech talent, create more education around entrepreneurship, starting as low as elementary school, and launching re-skilling programs to grow the tech labor force, Welch and Cordio said.
Compared with neighboring states and venture capital activity across the U.S., Wisconsin trends toward the bottom in terms of value and deal activity.
Venture capital investment deals in the U.S. held steady during the recent third quarter, with $37.8 billion in deals going to companies across the U.S., according to PitchBook, a Seattle firm that tracks venture and private equity investment deals.
Of that total deal flow in the quarter, very little saw its way to Wisconsin, where a total of seven investments were made for a combined $17.29 million, according to PitchBook. Comparatively, there were 30 deals for Minnesota companies that quarter totaling $668 million, and 64 deals for Illinois companies totaling $703 million.
"Fostering an environment that enables entrepreneurs to start and scale new ventures is critical,” said Erin Clausen, investment manager at Irontek Beloit and a coalition board member. "The Wisconsin Startup Coalition will advocate for policies that will create new jobs in Wisconsin and continue to move the state’s economy forward."
The board of directors includes startup founders such as Kyle Weatherly, the CEO of Frontdesk in Milwaukee; Taralinda Willis, co-founder and CEO of Curate Solutions in Madison; Amanda DoAmaral, founder and CEO of Fiveable in Milwaukee; Lydia Zeller, CEO of Madison-based Kiio; and Troy Vosseller, co-founder of Wisconsin startup accelerator and venture fund gener8tor.
