Past women who have won the Governor's Business Plan Competition have grown successful health tech companies despite the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs.
The Wisconsin Technology Council convened a panel of past contest winners in Wauwatosa yesterday to share their experiences with contests and entrepreneurship. The conversation highlighted the disparities in the male-dominated world of venture capital raising.
Joe Kramer, director of Tech Council Investor Networks, said that only 17% of companies that raised funding in Wisconsin last year were led or co-founded by women, and that women-led startups raised more than any other company in a year. He pointed out that it was only 10% of the total amount.
“That sounds bad, and it is,” he said. “We have to get better at it, but we are better than what we see nationally.”
Laura King, winner of the 2014 BPC, expressed similar concerns, calling this an “important, essential and monumental issue” in the business world. She said that in the United States, companies founded by women earn less than 2% of their annual venture capital revenue.
“I personally [limited partner,] “It means people who invest in venture funds and funds because they only fund companies that are led or founded by women,” she said. “Because if we don't make different choices, we will have the same consequences for our daughters and granddaughters.”
She described a previous venture called NeuWave Medical, which was built around technology that killed cancerous tumors in the liver, kidneys, lungs, and bones. After its founding in 2008, the company grew to $30 million in revenue and was sold to Johnson & Johnson MedTech for $300 million. She also mentioned another venture, Elucent Medical, which develops surgical navigation products.
Most recently, he founded another business called Acure Medical, which focuses on eliminating nail fungus and related health issues.
“It's not just about your toes looking great for a vacation in Florida. This affects people with diabetes and can also affect walking and mobility,” she said.
Another past honoree, Janet Phillips, founder of Vector Surgical, discussed her Waukesha-based company's tissue orientation system to improve cancer surgery. Launched in 2005, his product won a 2007 competition to help pathologists better understand the exact location of cancer cells.
“The goal of preserving healthy tissue is all achieved more effectively, the cosmetic outcome is better, and cancer outcomes are better,” she said. “It also reduces the number of re-excisions.”
The company has grown steadily since winning the competition and now serves 1,400 hospitals across the country, Phillips said.
The winners of this year's Governor's Business Plan Contest will be announced at the Tech Council's annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Conference in Milwaukee in early June.
Check out our coverage of last year's contest. The competition was won by another woman-led company, Madison-based Sixline Semiconductor.
