A constant theme in 2020 was how Covid-19 accelerated the need for companies to adopt digital tech to not only communicate with employees, customers and clients, but to perform order intake, make sales presentations and complete transactions.
Adopting digital technologies, using internet-connected devices and applying automation have become essential to those organizations and those changes are now likely permanent functions of their operations, experts said.
Here's a quick look back at what experts said about the Covid-made digital transformation of 2020, and when those comments were made.
Covid-19 crisis accelerating digital transformation for several Milwaukee industries
April: Companies that already operate a modern, digital work environment are in a good position. Those that haven’t are struggling to react to the present remote working mandate.
Covid-19 forced massive adoption of technology throughout Wisconsin
August: After experiencing a decrease of about a million dollars in business in April, which represented between 10% and 15% of her company's revenue, Tina Chang, CEO of SysLogic in Brookfield, said business has since rebounded, partly due to some clients using government assistance to support their fiscal responsibilities.
The pandemic is accelerating adoption of automation and algorithms, Milwaukee experts say
September: With Covid-19 forcing employers to continue their operations without workers on site, companies are adopting remote technologies and implementing software to automate human work at an accelerated pace, experts say.
More investors, including Chelsea Clinton, back Milwaukee's Fiveable
In October, Fiveable, which operates live-streamed study sessions for high school students preparing for Advanced Placement exams, announced it had raised an additional $2.3 million from private investors. Those investors included Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Democratic presidential nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Earlier this year, the Milwaukee company, founded by Amanda DoAmaral, closed on a $1.2 million round of funding. With schools closed due to the pandemic in 2020, Fiveable increased the number of users on its site from a few hundred to more than 1 million.
The new round of funding was led by New York's BBG Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on investing in female founders.
Wauwatosa insurance tech company Zywave acquired by private investment firm
Zywave, the largest software company in the Milwaukee area when ranked by software engineers on staff, was sold in 2020 to another private investment firm in California.
Aurora Capital Partners in Los Angeles sold the company to Santa Monica, California-based Clearlake Capital Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Backed by new investors, Zywave, a Wauwatosa-based insurance software-as-a-service company, acquired two more companies in the later half of 2020.
Foxconn launches Industry 4.0 learning platform through Industrial AI Institute in Wisconsin
Foxconn Technology Group launched the digital platform for its its Industrial AI (iAI) Institute in July, which will serve as a training, development and consulting division of Foxconn Industrial Internet.
The institute, which lists offices at the company's North American headquarters in downtown Milwaukee and campus in Mount Pleasant, will focus on education for industrial big data, include a library of datasets, and offer data challenges and competitions centered around solving industry problems.
Milwaukee's Jet Constellations launches $50M fund
Through its social impact arm The Milky Way Tech Hub, Milwaukee-based software company Jet Constellations announced in June it was launching a $50 million fund for investing in tech companies founded by Blacks and other underrepresented demographics.
The fund is a partnership with IP Zone Co., a New York-based information technology and services company formed out of American Express.
Jet Constellations founder and CEO Nadiyah Johnson said the fund will target scalable tech companies that have substantial intellectual property and "a willingness to relocate or invest and partner with Milwaukee and its citizens."
Also in 2020, Northwestern Mutual said it would dedicate $20 million to Black entrepreneurs and is partnering with Wisconsin accelerator gener8tor on a 12-week accelerator program for those entrepreneurs.
Brookfield's HealthIO acquired by billion-dollar Seattle company
Brookfield-based and artificial intelligence startup healthIO Inc., which developed a platform for wearable, internet-connected devices to monitor a person’s health between clinic visits, was acquired in June by Seattle’s Milliman Inc., a consulting firm.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Through the acquisition, Milliman, which reported $1.19 billion in revenue in 2019, launched Milliman healthIO, a combination of the company’s predictive health analytics and healthIO's preventive health technology.
Yabuki steps down as CEO of Fiserv
In May, Brookfield-based financial services technology company Fiserv Inc. announced Jeff Yabuki, one of the highest-paid executives in the Milwaukee region and its CEO and chairman, was stepping down, ending his 15-year career with the company. Yabuki was succeeded by president and chief operating officer Frank Bisignano on July 1.
Bisignano was CEO and chairman of First Data Corp., the New York company Fiserv acquired in 2019 in a $22 billion all-stock deal. Yabuki will continue to serve as executive chairman of the Fortune 500 company's board for the remainder of 2020. Denis O'Leary was named the company's next chairman.
Northwestern Mutual launches venture studio for fintech, health startups
Northwestern Mutual, the multibillion-dollar financial services and life insurance company in Milwaukee, launched a venture studio where it will partner with entrepreneurs in the early stages of a business venture within the financial technology and health and wellness industries.
Through the studio, entrepreneurs and inventors will collaborate with Northwestern Mutual’s team of engineers and designers to transform the business ventures into commercialized, scalable products and services over a 12-month period.
Legal services technology company opening office in 3rd Ward, creating 75 jobs
A New York City-based software company specializing in legal information and services is opening an office in Milwaukee's 3rd Ward where it hopes to create as many as 75 new jobs over the next three years.
When announcing the news about The Expert Institute, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. added that the state agency is supporting the move with a $500,000 state income tax grant.
Former leader at IBM, Accenture named CEO of MKE Tech Hub Coalition
In January, Kathy Henrich, an experienced tech industry professional who previously held leadership positions at IBM and Accenture, was named chief executive officer of the Milwaukee Tech Hub Coalition, a newly formed alliance designed to attract and retain technology professionals and companies in the Milwaukee region.
In 2020, Henrich grew the coalition's membership to roughly 60 companies, including American Family Insurance and Molson Coors Beverage Co.
