Venture Capital

Improvements in purification technology are needed to help researchers determine the structure and function of enzymes and other proteins that play key roles in diseases, and a Madison biotech firm has received a federal grant to enable such improvements. Semba Biosciences will get $107,000 from...

GenTel Biosciences, a Madison-based protein chip maker, has acquired the protein chip platform assets of GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. The platform will position GenTel to compete for drug-screening deals in the range of $1 million to $3 million. ...

The venture capital picture in Wisconsin, while improving, still lags behind other states that also are trying to grow knowledge-based economies, but venture capitalist Paul Carbone is among the optimists. Carbone, managing partner of Baird Venture Partners, says some historical perspective is needed to accurately...

For the second consecutive year, Milwaukee-based ZyStor Therapeutics has been selected to present at the annual InvestMidwest Venture Capital forum. The company, which is developing enzyme replacement therapies to treat rare genetic disorders, is looking to raise $15 million or more for Phase I clinical...

Despite the sparse attendance at a recent Midwestern biotechnology conference, columnist Michael Rosen believes there is room for a major bioscience cluster here. In this edition of Yer Biotech Blues, he examines the key ingredients necessary to have a successful world-class bioscience cluster in the...

Two Wisconsin companies have been selected to make presentations to potential investors during the annual Cleantech Venture Capital Forum in San Francisco. The companies, Orion Energy Systems of Plymouth and Best Energies of Madison, will present before a forum that has raised more than $700...

Gregg Fergus is probably the only professional who has ever flown from Madison to Silicon Valley just to reach the office, but his weekly commute is over. Fergus, who recently was named to the executive teams at Baird Venture Partners and Caden Biosciences, is counted...

The prospect of technology firm OneProspect coming to southeastern Wisconsin have improved dramatically now that the Potawatomi Business Development Corp. has purchased the remaining interest in the business. It is the Potawatomi's third investment in a technology firm in the past year. ...

Two Wisconsin firms have filled key executive positions with the same man, biotechnology executive Gregg Fergus. Fergus will join Baird Venture Partners and one of its portfolio companies, Caden Biosciences, which was relocated to Madison as part of $5.8 venture financing deal led by Baird. ...

Governor Jim Doyle has unveiled a package of economic initiatives called Grow Milwaukee that includes several technology and biotechnology spending initiatives. Chief among them is an $8 million funding commitment for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Research Growth Initiative, but the overall package has one lawmaker...