At the Early Stage Symposium on November 5, the Tech Council Investor Networks track featured formal five-minute pitches from selected early-stage companies across Wisconsin and beyond. The session was moderated by Dr. Jessica Silvaggi, president of the UWM Research Foundation. In this session, founders presented their companies directly to an audience of investors, industry leaders, … ESS 2025: Tech Council Investors Network Pitches, Session I
On November 5, emerging businesses from across Wisconsin converged in Madison for the Early Stage Symposium, presented by the Wisconsin Technology Council. MKEStartup.News attended the Open Mic Quick Pitch, a high-energy session where 20 early-stage startups each had two minutes to introduce their companies to investors, mentors, and fellow founders. In this format, there were … ESS 2025: Open Mic Quick Pitches
Vendlot is one of the ten regional startups pitching this week at the KIN Pitch Perfect competition on November 12 at the Kenosha Innovation Center. When Wisconsin newcomer Yurii Baleha moved to the state in May 2025, he brought with him an entrepreneurial drive and a new idea for solving an old business challenge: helping … Vendlot connects vending machine owners with prime locations
The MKE Tech Hub Coalition will host its FOR-M Founder Showcase on Nov. 12 at the Wantable Cafe in Milwaukee. The event will highlight participants from the program’s summer and fall cohorts, Cycles 13 and 14, and give attendees the opportunity to vote for which founders will deliver live pitches. Launched in 2019 and co-founded … FOR-M Founder Showcase highlights emerging startups
Innovators from across the state gathered Tuesday at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center as the Wisconsin Technology Council presented the 2025 Wisconsin Innovation Awards. Founded in 2014 by Matt Younkle and Joe Boucher, the awards are designed to highlight groundbreaking ideas and accomplishments across Wisconsin’s business, nonprofit, education and research sectors. This year’s finalists … Wisconsin Innovation Awards honor statewide creativity and advancement
Waukesha-based startup Float is reimagining how artificial intelligence can make rapid, data-driven decisions in high-stakes environments. The company, co-founded by mathematicians Dr. John Stogin and Dr. John Wilshere Gordon, began with an ambitious goal: to teach AI to understand the “language of financial markets.” Now, as Float prepares to compete in the Elevator Pitch Olympics … Float applies AI to ‘high-frequency decision-making,’ beyond trading
When Patrick Tetzlaff describes the spherical canister he and his team developed, he starts with a disclaimer. “This is one of those products where on the surface, it doesn’t look very interesting,” he said. “It’s not flashy. It’s not exciting.” At first glance, it resembles a standard disposable suction canister used to collect fluids during … Redesigned medical canister could cut millions of pounds of plastic waste
Brookfield-based fintech startup Shake Defi is developing a secure escrow platform designed to make cryptocurrency transactions as safe and straightforward as traditional online payments. Co-founder Matthew Anderson will introduce the company during the Elevator Pitch Olympics on Nov. 6 at the Early Stage Symposium, presented by the Wisconsin Technology Council. Anderson, an experienced software developer, … Shake Defi aims to make cryptocurrency transactions safer
More than 60 emerging companies will take the stage during the 2025 Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, presented by the Wisconsin Technology Council, to share their ideas with investors, mentors and peers. Three different pitch tracks will showcase startups across Wisconsin’s innovation economy, from early-stage concepts to investor-ready ventures. Open Mic Quick Pitch The “Open Mic” … Dozens of Wisconsin startups to pitch at Early Stage Symposium
As part of MKEStartup.News’ exploration of Wisconsin’s regional startup ecosystems, we’re spotlighting standout innovators from the Madison Region this week. As of 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that about 9 percent of all water service lines in the United States are made of lead, amounting to roughly 9.2 million lead pipes nationwide. A survey conducted … Service ID offers faster, cheaper path to lead-free water