Forty-nine entries from 25 different municipalities have advanced to the semi-final round of the 20th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, contest producers announced.
Contestants emerged in first-round competition involving an independent panel of about 70 judges organized through the Wisconsin Technology Council and its programs, the Tech Council Innovation Network and the Tech Council Investor Networks.
The semi-finalists are spread among four broad categories: advanced manufacturing (11), business services (13), information technology (15) and life sciences (10). Within those broad categories, plans range from green building materials to workforce solutions, and from medical innovation to software for security, management, education and more.
Those 49 plans also represent the geographic diversity of Wisconsin, with 28 coming from outside the state’s two largest cities. Fifteen of 49 entrants are women; 13 represent people from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
The 49 entries competing in Phase 2 of the contest will write 1,000-word executive summaries. Each summary 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.