She’s banking on an angel – Keating Heinemann, secretary of the Wisconsin State Department of Financial Institutions brings Angels together

It’s a vexing problem for Wisconsin’s economy: Researchers at UW-Madison turn out top technology, in fields ranging from stem cells to electronics, but entrepreneurs often have trouble finding the money to take those innovations to market.

But a new effort to organize angels, wealthy investors in early-stage technology companies, is providing some answers to that conundrum, said Lorrie Keating Heinemann, the state’s top banking and securities regulator.

Keating Heinemann, secretary of the state Department of Financial Institutions since 2003, has teamed her agency up with the state Department of Commerce and the Wisconsin Technology Council to form the Wisconsin Angel Network, which aims to connect scattered groups of investors from around the state.

"We would talk to some angel investors that had a large amount of deals and not enough capacity to fund all the deals, and we talked to other angel networks who were up and running for years and never really found any deals they wanted to invest in," she said.

So far, the network has brought together member groups representing more than 200 angel investors and created a confidential Web site, which came on line in June, where entrepreneurs have posted several dozen summaries of businesses seeking investment.

JASON STEIN [email protected]

Full Story: http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/biz/index.php?ntid=60556&ntpid=1

***

University to start Eau Claire angel fund

Companies founded by recent graduates to benefit

By KATHLEEN GALLAGHER
[email protected]

In a novel attempt to retain educated professionals and support local entrepreneurship, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Foundation is launching an angel fund that will invest in companies that are founded by recent graduates and located in the Chippewa Valley.
Advertisement

The Blugold Angel Fund already has commitments of $90,000 – $10,000 each from nine contributors – and hopes to make its first investment next summer, said Ray Hughes, director of the UW-Eau Claire business college’s entrepreneur program and an organizer of the new fund.

"Wisconsin needs early-stage capital and it needs strong connections between universities and business, and the UW-Eau Claire effort combines both," said Tom Hefty, a health care and government relations attorney at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren and co-chairman of the Governor’s Economic Growth Council.

Full Story: http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/nov05/368267.asp

***