Ideadvance Seed Fund pursues past and present UW System colleagues

MADISON, Wis. – Innovators with current or past ties to the UW System are invited to apply to the Ideadvance Seed Fund with business ideas that could contribute to Wisconsin’s “knowledge economy.”

The Ideadvance program provides business funding and mentoring toward a scalable, profitable business model. Grant dollars are earned by teams after they demonstrate key learnings toward their commercialization goals.

Past awards have gone to a range of ideas, including an app that incorporates physical activity into schoolwork and a small, simple tool that could save a firefighter’s life.

The deadline to apply is April 27. Diverse teams from all parts of Wisconsin are invited to connect early with the program to take advantage of resources that can guide them through the application process. An introductory YouTube video is available as well as hands-on assistance from Ideadvance consultants.

The program is open to UW System staff, faculty, students and alumni. At this time, teams consisting of only UW-Madison founders are not able to apply. However, hybrid teams with founders from UW-Madison and other UW System schools are welcome to compete.

Ideadvance, launched in 2014, has awarded grants to 49 Stage 1 teams and 16 Stage 2 teams, totaling over $1.8 million in funding. Stage 1, with funding up to $25,000, focuses on achieving commercialization milestones to reduce risk and determine need in the marketplace to solve a problem. Stage 2, with follow-on funding up to $50,000, helps a select few to advance their business models to deliver customer solutions and attract investors.

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