Meet the 10 Winners of the Wisconsin Innovation Awards

Ten Wisconsin startups were named the most innovative companies in the state on Wednesday at the Wisconsin Innovation Awards.

The event, which took place in Madison at the Wisconsin Union Terrace, had a panel of 21 business experts from throughout the state pick the winners, which all hailed from different industries, ranging from software to healthcare to education.

“The Wisconsin Innovation Awards seek to celebrate and inspire innovation, and highlight the creative spirit from the state’s leading public, private and nonprofit sectors,” said Matt Younkle, the co-founder of the Wisconsin Innovation Awards and CEO of Cardigan, in a statement. “We want to congratulate all finalists and winners from the 2018 Wisconsin Innovation Awards and look forward to encouraging an even greater environment of innovation in the year to come.”

Here’s the 10 winners:

CORNCOB (Agriculture) The Waukesha-based startup develops a high-tech system that allows users to treat their wastewater at lower costs with less space. It can be used to treat water at breweries, landfill project and potato processors.

The Mill Events (Art) The Chetek-based company operates a modern industrial venue that is the former and historical Chetek Feed and Farm Supply. After sitting vacant for almost 15 years, The Mill Events rehabilitated the space and now rents it out for events, which have in turn brought economic benefits to the city.

TailoredCare (Business to Business) This Madison-based company makes a software that allows family caregivers to keep their aging relatives at home longer, rather than be placed in a nursing home, by using algorithms that create individualized care plans.

LAUNCH—School District of Elmbrook (Education) LAUNCH, a new program in Brookfield, connects a student’s academic knowledge to real-world business problems and projects for students in the Elmbrook School District. Juniors and seniors have the opportunity to pursue course strands designed to foster teamwork, develop professional skills, inspire creativity and entrepreneurship, and explore career pathways.

LAUNCH plans to create a regional hub for innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity with help from over 100 business, higher education and local community partners.

Propeller Health (Health) The Madison-based startup makes a software that helps patients better manage asthma, COPD and other respiratory diseases by using sensors that attach to a person’s inhaler and wirelessly communicate with their smartphone. In May, the startup raised $20 million in venture capital funding from Aptar Pharma, Safeguard Scientifics, Social Capital, and others.

Photonic Cleaning Technologies (Manufacturing) Photonic Cleaning Technologies, based in Platteville, has developed a contamination control technology that can be used for cleaning precision surfaces. The product is an easy-to-apply, low adhesion, residue-less, peelable coating that both protects and cleans surfaces.

Rebalanced-Life Wellness Association (Nonprofit) The Rebalanced-Life Wellness Association, based in Brooklyn, opened the nation’s first men’s health and education center to eliminate health disparities and bring preventative healthcare to men of color from a location that they trust and respect, Madison’s largest black barbershop.

SmartUQ (Professional Services) Madison-based SmartUQ makes a software that helps engineering firms save millions of dollars by allowing them to derive the maximum amount of information from data, accelerate design processes through analytics, anticipate uncertainty and mitigate risks.

MatchBack Systems (Software) The startup, based in Green Bay, is a logistics SaaS company that matches import shipping containers with export bookings, leading to lower costs and reduced emissions.

Torq Labs (People’s Choice) Torq Labs, a Madison startup launched in 2016, is developing a smart legging that they say will help prevent and decrease knee and hip injuries among athletes. Their leggings have pockets for small, light-weight sensors, which fall above and below the knee on each leg. The sensors monitor movement and activity, and search for changes and inconsistencies in the wearer’s running strides, pace and overall gait.