FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Laura Strong, Forward Festival; Tech Council reports on first six months of 2024 investment activity

August 16, 2024

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Laura Strong, board member for Forward Festival.

Strong, a strategic advisor for Madison-based firm Archeus Technologies, previews next week’s Forward Festival — an annual celebration of startups and entrepreneurship held in and around Madison. The event series includes dozens of gatherings throughout the week, covering a wide range of topics from cybersecurity to AI and more.

“This is Wisconsin’s largest celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship, and we continue to expand every year and evolve, actually quite a bit,” she said. “This year, for example, we have a number of events around the more artistic, creative side of entrepreneurship — so improv, being an author, investing in art.”

One of the premier events happening next week is the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce’s Pressure Chamber competition, a pitch contest that gives startup leaders a chance to tell their story and earn a spot on an upcoming trip to Silicon Valley. Six finalists have been selected for the event, being held at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Majestic Theatre.

Of the more than 50 events happening next week, 42 are happening in-person, which is the most since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re really excited about that,” Strong said. “It’s great to have the online events as well, because it makes those more accessible … but having the in-person events, you get a lot more of those spontaneous connections.”

While some events are focused on a specific topic or trend, others are meant to facilitate social connections within the state’s entrepreneurial community.

Strong highlights the increased focus on artificial intelligence, noting “we as the Forward Festival don’t plan all of these events. We encourage people in the community to develop events around topics they’re interested in.”

Related events explore the impact of the technology on small businesses, how to develop AI-related skill sets and how to leverage human capabilities within this context.

See the full list of Forward Festival events.

Listen to the podcast and see the full list of WisBusiness.com podcasts.

— Wisconsin early-stage investment had a relatively strong start to the year with about $248.4 million raised through June 30, exceeding the total for the same period of 2023 by more than $100 million.

That’s according to the Wisconsin Technology Council’s Investor Networks, which yesterday provided an early update on investment activity in the first six months of 2024. This year’s total so far includes 36 deals, compared to 25 deals at this point last year totaling $147.1 million.

Tech Council President Tom Still notes the state “may once again be following a national early stage investing trend” as national investment activity was up in the second quarter of this year. That’s based on figures from the National Venture Capital Association.

“While it’s still too early to claim a rebound in deal activity, the market may have bottomed out,” he said in the release. “Companies that raised two or three years ago and had delayed more financing by cutting costs may be returning to the market for more financing.”

The average deal size so far this year is $6.9 million, compared to $5.88 million at this point last year. But the median deal size was $1.51 million, down from $2.33 million.

Investor Networks Director Joe Kremer notes 15 of the 36 companies raised less than $1 million, calling it “a good sign for young companies in Wisconsin” seeking investment capital.

“With the support of an ever-increasing early stage investment community, entrepreneurial activity will continue to increase statewide – especially as some of the overall economic conditions affecting the sector begin to sort themselves out,” Kremer said.

He also noted the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s $100 million Wisconsin Innovation Fund effort could drive up the total for this year.

Many of the top deals for the first half of 2024 were for health care-related companies, including: Elephas Biosciences, $55 million; Leo Cancer Care, $40 million; Moxe Health, $25 million; and Sift Healthcare, $20 million. About 60% of the funds raised so far this year were in this sector.

See the release and coverage of the Tech Council’s Wisconsin Portfolio covering last year’s deals.

— The head of Dairyland Power Cooperative says deploying advanced nuclear technologies will be critical for meeting future carbon reduction goals.

Brent Ridge, president and CEO for the La Crosse-based co-op, spoke yesterday during the Customers First Coalition’s Power Breakfast event in Madison. The organization’s power mix has shifted from 99% coal in 1999 to 37% in 2023, along with 16% wind and solar, 39% natural gas and 6% other renewables.

While the co-op plans to drop coal down to 24% by 2029 or 2030 and rely more on natural gas and wind and solar, Ridge argued development of small modular reactors needs to accelerate substantially in the coming years in order to fully eliminate coal.

As renewable energy makes up an increasing share of the energy system and coal is phased out, “I have an abundance of energy when the sun’s shining and the wind’s blowing … but then I’ve got to deal with providing safe, reliable energy at night … when the wind’s not blowing.”

Currently, those gaps in renewable energy reliability are filled with coal and natural gas, he noted.

“But if you take away the coal plants, then you’re left with limited options,” he said. “Battery storage frankly isn’t there yet and it might not ever be there. So that’s when we start to think nuclear.”

Ridge argued “if you’re against CO2 in the atmosphere from power, you probably need to be pro-nuclear.” He pointed to SMRs as one solution, given their smaller size and lower cost to create, adding “there’s clearly a window” for developing them safely and economically.

“But me and 100 other people can come up here and say that,” he said. “We have to do it. And that’s the key challenge, getting the first one done. And then getting the second, third, fourth and fifth … You’re going to have to start pretty quick if we’re going to get that done and meet even a 2050 goal.”

A key benefit of the technology is dispatchability, he said, as these smaller reactors can come online to take more of the energy load when less reliable sources aren’t available. And they’re much smaller than traditional nuclear plants, giving them an advantage from a land use perspective, according to Ridge.

“There’s a possibility by the late 2030s that there are a number of small modular reactors operating in the United States,” he said. “And my goal, by the mid 2030s, late 2030s, is that we have a small modular reactor operating at one of our former coal sites.”

Watch the video.

— Gov. Tony Evers is touting a report detailing progress toward clean energy goals, which he argued is evidence the state doesn’t have to choose between addressing climate change and economic development.

“We shouldn’t have to choose between mitigating climate change and protecting our environment and good jobs and economic development, and this progress report shows that we can and are doing both,” the guv said.

Evers has tasked the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy, which he created by executive order in 2019, with creating a clean energy plan for Wisconsin. The Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy released a report yesterday detailing progress on that plan.

The plan includes goals such as creating 40,000 clean energy-related jobs by 2030, having all electricity in the state be 100% carbon-free by 2050, ensuring the state meets carbon reduction goals in the Paris Climate Agreement and reducing the disproportionate impact of energy generation on low-income people and communities of color.

The goal of creating 40,000 new clean energy jobs is “within reach,” according to the report.

The report states “decarbonization of the power sector” will be necessary in order to achieve carbon-free electricity by 2050 considering increased reliance on electricity for buildings, transportation and industry.

The state is on track to see “significant emissions reductions” from electricity, 58% by 2028 — an improvement from the 40% reduction reached in 2020 — according to the report. The report notes one key factor reducing emissions is a plan to retire three of the state’s seven utility-scale coal facilities.

The report also says the state will need to “drastically increase energy efficiency,” in order to reach its combined clean energy, economic and carbon goals, “which will require a significant ramp-up in investment.”

“Not only are considerably higher levels of energy efficiency critical to reaching these goals, but they are also necessary to keep costs as low as possible in a future where energy needs are met with high levels of clean, renewable energy generation,” the report says. “Energy efficiency is one of the only strategies that holds the potential to significantly decrease energy burdens among homeowners, renters, and businesses.”

Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee Chair Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay, in response to a request for comment on the report praised the Public Service Commission, state agency staff, RENEW Wisconsin, the Midwest Renewable Energy Association and leaders of the Focus on Energy program for their work on the energy transition.

“Sound energy policy should be apolitical, not a venue to push partisan narratives, and those nonpartisan folks involved day-to-day in the energy space are the ones truly making this change possible,” Cowles said.

He also said there should be “a broader emphasis at the PSC and throughout the state on cost, reliability, and cleaner generation in unison as our energy bills are some of the highest in the Midwest and our reliability is among the lowest.”

— Exact Sciences’ Cologuard test has identified more than 623,000 cancers and precancerous growths since being approved in 2014, resulting in an estimated $22 billion reduction in health care costs.

The Madison-based diagnostics business yesterday announced these figures for its colorectal cancer screening test, which has been used more than 16 million times over the past decade. Eighty percent of the cancers detected by the test during this time were early-stage, the release shows.

Cologuard is meant for adults aged 45 years or older who are at average risk for the disease, offering a noninvasive alternative to colonoscopies for eligible people. It can identify DNA markers and blood in stool that are linked to colorectal cancer and precancer.

Citing CDC data, Exact Sciences says Cologuard is the “primary contributor” to colon cancer screening rates increasing from 63% in 2015 to 72% in 2021 among U.S. adults aged 50-75. It’s been included in screening guidelines by the American Cancer Society in 2018 and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in 2021.

Exact Sciences Chairman and CEO Kevin Conroy is touting the “vital role” the test has played in making cancer screening more accessible and effective.

“With our next-generation Cologuard test currently under FDA review, we look forward to bringing patients a new level of accuracy and innovation in at-home testing,” he said in a statement.

The modeling data released yesterday also shows the test has helped health care providers spend less time screening people with average risk and no symptoms. The estimated time savings include 2.1 million scheduling hours, 3.5 million nursing hours and 1.1 million provider hours.

See more in the release.

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— Wisconsin’s unemployment rate ticked up to 3% in July, the state Department of Workforce Development reports.

The agency yesterday released the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, showing Wisconsin’s total employment hit a record high for the third month in a row with 3,049,700 people employed.

While the state unemployment rate is slightly above June’s rate of 2.9%, it remains below the national rate of 4.3%. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate remained the same at 65.5%, above the national rate of 62.7%.

See the release.

— Weinbrenner Shoe Company has announced plans for a $14.5 million manufacturing facility in Marshfield, with construction set to begin next month.

The 70,000-square-foot building is being designed and built by Stevens Point-based Ellis Construction, and is expected to open late next year. The project is expected to add 35 jobs to the shoe manufacturer’s current workforce of 120 people, according to yesterday’s release.

Jeff Burns, president of the 132-year-old business, says several states “tried to lure us away” but Wisconsin remains its home.

“We’re committed to investing in domestic manufacturing and take great pride in being a Wisconsin-based company,” he said in a statement.

See the release.

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