Founders and Funders
A look back at 2024
It has been another exciting year for the Milwaukee startup ecosystem.
According to PitchBook, at last count, Milwaukee7 startups raised at least $134.76 million in venture funding, and we are not yet at the close of 2024.
Milwaukee’s startup funding trends mirror those of the nation. Across the board, venture capital funding is down. The number of deals is down, and deal sizes have shrunk, but it’s not all bad news. According to PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association, early analysis of the first half of the year indicates that startup funding has increased from 2023 rates.
Global powerhouse gener8tor had a hand in several of the 2024 deals. The venture fund continues to make an indelible impact on the startup ecosystem. Launched in 2012 in Madison, the organization now has accelerators in 41 different communities across the country and has expanded into the global market. To date, the startups in the gener8tor network have created 12, 934 jobs and raised more than $2.2 billion in funding.
Locally, the startup community is working diligently to create a stronger startup ecosystem.
The UW-Milwaukee Research Foundation, The Medical College of Wisconsin’s Office of Technology Development, and Marquette University’s Office of University Relations presented its Annual First Look Forum in April. The collaborative program, hosted by WEC Energy Group, was created to showcase innovations with the potential for commercialization being developed at the schools.
Another coalition that has joined forces to maximize resources are the organizers behind the annual Healthcare Innovation Pitch Competition. This annual event focuses on emerging HealthTech and device companies is presented by Bridge to Cures in partnership with the Medical College of Wisconsin’s CTSI (Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute) and AMPDNR (Accelerating Medical Product Development through Networked Resources) programs.
Speaking of collaborations, MKE Tech Hub Coalition, in partnership with Ward4, CSA Partners, MKEStartup.News, Midwest Founders Community and We Pivot worked together to host Founders Day, a day of co-working and networking for the startup community. The monthly event attracted over 400 founders and resulted in more than 1,300 hours of collaboration time in 2024. These monthly meetings will resume in 2025.
Additionally, the MKE Tech Hub’s FOR-M program completed its 10th cohort in 2024, graduating more than 300 founders from its incubator program. Additionally, Tech Hub launched its FOR-M Loan program to address the funding needs of the vast majority of startup founders this year. The revolving loan fund offers low-interest loans to qualified founders of revenue-generating companies. Founders may borrow up to $50,000 to support their growing businesses.
Also in growth mode is the Midwest Founders Community. Since rebranding, the organization reports it now has members from six different states across the Upper Midwest. This year, more than 2,500 members of the startup ecosystem attended an MFC event.
Another organization working to connect the Midwestern ecosystem is The Milky Way Tech Hub. WI Tech Month, presented by Milky Way Tech Hub and Latinos in Tech, supported hundreds of events throughout the Midwest during the month of October, including the Tech Innovators Pitch Competition. The winning pitches were delivered by Chad Johnson, founder of Tip a ScRxipt, Karen Renee, co-founder of eCourt Reporters, Inc., and Mitchelle Lyle, founder of International Travel Advisor.
Successful Midwestern collaborations are most evident at Summerfest Tech, which was launched in 2018 to celebrate the evolution of technology and Wisconsin’s growing reputation as a tech hub. The organization hosted four days of tech-focused programming featuring 98 speakers in 2024.
One of the most popular sessions of the widely anticipated event is the Summerfest Tech Pitch Competition, sponsored by Molson Coors, and produced by Young Enterprising Society, which offered founders the opportunity to compete for a portion of the $50,000 prize. Milwaukee-based medical device startup, RoddyMedical, founded in 2018 by Lindsey Roddy and Kyle Jansson, won second place in the competition and secured the Hometown winner award.
Milwaukee companies Atomix Logistics, Lotza and MUSample were also finalists in the hotly contested competition.
Summerfest Tech Pitch Competition was not the only news-making pitch event in 2024. The Wisconsin Technology Council hosted The Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest in June. In the 20 years since the launch of this competition, 4,805 Wisconsin-based businesses have participated in the contest, and contestants have raised more than $320 million in investor and grant funding. This year, the overall winner was Madison-based CranioSure, a diagnostic app developed by Dr. Daniel Cho identify skull abnormalities in infants.
Milwaukee 7 region finalists include non-alcoholic beverage manufacturer Lotza, sleep-aid inventor Luna, customized ice machine manufacturer Rockhopper Ice Collective, speech therapy software creator TRT Speech Labs, and rehabilitation device creator Venus Rehabilitation Technologies.
MKEStartup.News looks forward to following more startup stories in 2025. Follow us on LinkedIn for more ecosystem updates and sign up for our newsletter to ensure you never miss a startup story.
