2020 kept us busy at Wisconsin Inno, as we've worked to keep our readers up to speed with everything happening across the state's tech and startup scene. To recap the year that was, we wanted to take a look back at some of the biggest headlines of the year.
These were the stories that shaped Wisconsin tech in 2020.
Exact Sciences acquires Boston's Thrive Earlier Detection Corp. in $2.15B deal
Madison-based biotechnology and diagnostics company Exact Sciences Corp. orchestrated another billion-dollar deal in 2020, this time acquiring Cambridge, Massachusetts-based cancer detection company Thrive Earlier Detection Corp. in a cash and stock deal valued at $2.15 billion.
In addition to announcing its deal for Thrive in October, the company also announced it had acquired Cambridge, England-based Base Genomics for $410 million. Base Genomics is a company working in DNA methylation analysis.
The acquisitions were the company's fourth and fifth in the last two years and largest since its acquisition of California’s Genomic Health in a cash and stock deal valued at $2.8 billion in 2019. In early 2020, the company's CEO said the business was acquiring Phoenix-area med tech companies Paradigm Diagnostics Inc. and Viomics.
Exact Sciences, which makes the Cologuard colon cancer take-home test, said the acquisition of Thrive is anticipated to close during the first quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory approval and the satisfaction of other conditions.
FluGen works on Covid-19 vaccine
Shortly after the pandemic began, the Madison biopharmaceutical startup began working with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and India-based Bharat Biotech to develop and test a vaccine for Covid-19.
Since its founding in 2007, FluGen has been developing vaccines to fight mutating strains of influenza around the world. And that flu vaccine candidate, known as M2SR, which is currently being tested in human clinical trials, is being used as the template to develop a Covid-19 vaccine called CoroFlu.
FluGen is constructing the CoroFlu vaccine by inserting gene sequences from SARS-CoV-2 into M2SR so that the new vaccine will induce immunity against the coronavirus. FluGen was one of several Wisconsin companies developing diagnostics and tests kits for Covid-19 testing.
Employees, people of Dane County, oppose Epic's decision to bring workers back to campus
Epic, the Verona-based electronic health records technology giant and one of the largest privately held companies in Wisconsin with roughly $3 billion in annual revenue and 10,000 employees, most of which work from the company's 1,000-acre Verona campus, announced in August it was planning to bring back employees to its Verona campus in September. That decision was received unfavorably by employees.
Employees at Epic, along with residents of Dane County, expressed their opposition to Epic's initial decision to return employees to campus through a statement made public by the Madison Industrial Workers of the World general membership branch, saying the plan to bring workers back to its campus is a risk that will cause harm to residents in Dane County.
After talks with officials, the company modified its return-to-work policy "so that at this time staff are not required to return," and eventually stated employees could work from home until at least the new year.
Epic's innovations offer several Covid-19 solutions
Staying with Epic, the company announced multiple partnerships and new technology in 2020 to help the health industry battle the spread of the virus. Here's a look back at some of those developments:
Epic works with University of Minnesota researchers on Covid-19-finding algorithm
Epic System algorithms help health systems prioritize rescheduled visits
Epic Systems creates COVID-19 screening and preparedness app
SHINE Medical raises $80M, begins selling cancer therapeutics
The Janesville-based nuclear technology company announced in November it had begun selling a therapeutic isotope it produces that's used to treat cancers.
In addition to neuroendocrine cancers, the isotope, called Lu-177, can be used to treat metastatic prostate and other cancers, the company stated.
SHINE is producing the isotope on its production campus in Janesville. Once a large-scale facility built solely for the production of Lu-177 is completed, the company says it will be capable of producing more than 300,000 doses of the isotope per year.
In September, the company said it had secured $80 million in a Series C financing round. SHINE is building a facility in Janesville for its production of molybdenum-99, or Mo-99, which decays into technetium‑99m used in more than 40 million medical imaging procedures each year.
The Janesville facility is expected to be completed in 2021 with commercial-scale isotope production starting in 2022. SHINE has off-take agreements with three of the world’s largest Mo-99 distributors for the future supply of Mo-99. Since being founded in 2010, SHINE has raised close to $300 million in capital.
Milky Way Tech Hub launches $50M fund
In June, Jet Constellations, a Milwaukee-based software firm, announced it was launching a $50 million fund to invest in tech companies founded by Black founders and other underrepresented entrepreneurs. Run by the company's social impact arm, The Milky Way Tech Hub, and led by CEO Nadiyah Johnson, The Milky Way Tech Hub Fund will invest in industries like 5G, AI and internet of things – all while focusing on Black and Brown entrepreneurs in Milwaukee.
Along with investing in diverse Milwaukee founders, the fund also plans to back underrepresented startups outside of the city that either commit to relocating to Milwaukee or plan to invest significant resources into the area.
One of Wisconsin's most heavily invested tech companies moves to Arizona
Fasetto Inc., the company that developed Forum, a software that allows people to share and join business presentations from anywhere if they have a Wi-Fi-enabled mobile device, announced in March it was moving its headquarters to Scottsdale, Arizona.
Since its founding in 2013, Fasetto, which also developed Gravity, a software for internet-connected products, had raised over $39 million, making it one of the most heavily invested startups in Wisconsin.
“The Phoenix area, due to the rise of the tech sector here, means that there are deeper software developer resources available,” Coy Christmas, Fasetto CEO, previously said about the relocation. “Plus, we have top universities that have amped up their curriculum to meet the needs of the local economy.”
The company stated it planned to hire up to 60 employees in Scottsdale by the end of the 2020.
Packers, Microsoft build steady economic pipeline from Green Bay with TitletownTech
The TitletownTech Venture Fund was certainly one of the most active Wisconsin-based funds in 2020.
June marked the one-year anniversary of the Green Bay Packers and Microsoft partnering to launch a $25 million venture fund. In its first year, TitletownTech backed more than a dozen startups — the majority of which are based in Wisconsin — and has lured two companies to relocate their operations to Green Bay.
During the 12-month period, TitletownTech invested in 14 startups, but has increased its portfolio to about 20 since the summer.
