Twelve entries, including eight from Greater Madison, will present live to judges in the Governor’s Business Plan Contest during the 10th annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in Milwaukee.
The contestants have survived three rounds of judging in the contest organized through the Wisconsin Technology Council, which produces the contest in conjunction with its partners and sponsors. The contest began in late January with 248 entries; some 2,100 entries have been received since the contest began in 2004.
This year’s top 12 will deliver seven-minute pitches on their business ideas beginning 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, during the conference. Winners will be announced June 6 during a closing luncheon – and all 25 finalists will be eligible for prizes.
Ideas from this year’s crop of finalists include products and ideas for electric motor innovation, several aspects of health care, flight training simulation, a tech-driven way for anglers to find fish, and nanotechnology tools for manufacturing.
Finalists for 2012 include:
• Ankit Agarwal, Imbed Biosciences, Madison
• John Bender, Simple Campus, Sussex
• Rimas Buinevicius, RoWheels, Madison
• Ryan Dover, Local Grown, Lake Geneva
• Chris Johnson, Pilot Training System, Middleton
• Christopher Kemp, Soil & Sediment Clean-up, Milwaukee
• Aaron Larner, Style Shuffler, Madison
• Nick Maris, Reza-Band UES Assist device, Mequon
• Frederick Montgomery, Novel Nitric Oxide Treatment, Middleton
• Dan Reed, Strategic Fishing Systems, Madison
• Justin Reed, C-Motive Technologies, Madison
• Robert Shimmel, NCD Technologies, Madison
Each plan describes the core product or service, defines the customer base, estimates the size of the market, identifies competition, lists members of the management team, and provides key financial data.
The finalists’ executive summaries as well as those filed by semi-finalists are available for inspection by accredited investors through the Wisconsin Angel Network, which has more than 25 member angel networks, private equity funds, or corporate strategic partners.
More than $200,000 in cash and in-kind prizes have been pledged thus far for the 2012 contest.
