TUE AM News: NVNG Investment Advisors announces $50M fund close; DCF head says child care sector ‘begging’ for public solution

February 20, 2024

— NVNG Investment Advisors has closed on a $50 million fund of funds, the firm announced recently.

Investors in the fund include Exact Sciences, Baird, Johnson Financial Group, West Bend Insurance and A.O. Smith, according to a release from the Madison-based firm. NVNG Co-Founder Grady Buchanan says its mission is to make the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem globally competitive.

“This doesn’t happen without creating new ways of attracting capital and supporting an ecosystem here that is very much in transition and deserving of a venture capital network that we can provide,” he said.

NVNG had an initial fund close in 2021 after raising about $40 million, Buchanan said yesterday in an interview. The firm has now raised more than $50 million for its fund and an affiliated direct investment fund, he said, as one corporate investor upped its commitment since 2021 and others joined the fund.

That includes Milwaukee-based manufacturer A.O. Smith, which Buchanan praised for its “passion” for driving innovation through startup activity.

“The strategy has always been consistent,” he told WisBusiness.com. “We’re trying to invest in venture capital funds … but really trying to bridge the network of venture capital funds that are investing in things that are highly relevant to Wisconsin.”

He said funds in its portfolio are “highly driven” in the Midwest, or specialize in key industries for the region such as biotechnology and manufacturing. These specialties align with priorities for corporate innovation efforts in Wisconsin, Buchanan added.

The investment firm, which launched in November 2019, plans to make further strategic investments in both Wisconsin funds and startups based in the state.

See more at Madison Startups and the firm’s website, and listen to an earlier podcast with Buchanan.

— Department of Children and Families Secretary Emilie Amundson says the state’s child care sector is “begging for a public solution” as issues around cost and access continue to worsen.

The number of regulated child care providers in Wisconsin has dropped from 6,080 in January 2014 to 4,601 last month, according to a new DCF dashboard. Speaking on WisconsinEye’s latest Newsmakers program, Amundson noted the number of family providers has seen an even larger decline.

“So that tells me that very significantly less interest in running child care out of your home,” she said, noting these people only make about $8 per hour, compared to less than $13 per hour for employees of child care centers.

Northern and western Wisconsin are facing the worst shortage, Amundson said, noting about 70% of communities in those parts of the state are in a “child care desert.” That means for every three children under age 5, only one available spot exists.

Amundson said the agency is grappling with the problem of how to make child care an attractive profession in the long-term, and argued the Legislature has a role in addressing this problem. She touched on the Child Care Counts program, which launched in 2020 with federal pandemic aid funds and has provided more than $711 million to child care providers.

“It’s the question of, what is our will to solve this challenge?” Amundson said. “There are a number of bills out there floating around right now, none of them though do that holistic approach to help all of those users of the system at same time like Child Care Counts does.”

Dem Gov. Tony Evers had issued a proposal to continue funding the program, but Republican lawmakers opposed that call, calling it an unsustainable approach to the problem, Newsmakers host Lisa Pugh noted. Evers last year announced he would continue funding for Child Care Counts with $170 million in federal pandemic funds, extending it through 2025.

Recent GOP bills focused on the child care challenge have focused on deregulation, tax credits for businesses that support child care and loans for child care center renovations, Pugh said.

Amundson said holistic solutions are needed to address different aspects of the sector but said these proposals aren’t targeting “the razor-thin margins” that providers are facing.

“All of these proposals are part of that pie,” she said. “They could all help in various ways to create a more sustainable, long-term solution to child care. Without that big piece of the pie, around how do we help providers actually keep their doors open, I think we’re missing the mark.”

Watch the full interview.

— UW-Madison’s UniverCity program has announced partnerships with six more local governments in Wisconsin, bringing the total to 35.

The program helps partner communities achieve goals such as securing grants, planning developments, improving environmental sustainability and more, yesterday’s release shows.

The six new communities include:the villages of DeForest and Mount Pleasant; the city of Waupaca; and Chippewa, Jackson and Iowa counties. Jackson County applied in collaboration with the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, according to the release.

“Year after year, we are excited to work with Wisconsin local governments and pair them with UW-Madison’s faculty, staff, instructors, and students to jumpstart their goals,” UniverCity Managing Director Gavin Luter said. “Our primary aim is to listen to these local leaders and find the best match for their community’s needs.”

See the release.

— The number of farms in Wisconsin didn’t change between 2022 and 2023, marking the first time in at least four years the total hasn’t fallen on an annual basis.

That’s according to the latest report from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, which shows Wisconsin had 58,200 farms last year. While that number is unchanged from 2022, it’s down from 61,200 in 2021, 62,900 in 2020 and 64,000 in 2019.

Meanwhile, total farm acres was also unchanged over the year at 13.8 million acres, but is down from 14.2 million in 2019.

And the state’s average farm size also stayed the same over the year at 236 acres, though it’s risen from 222 acres in 2019, the report shows.

See the full report.

Top headlines from the Health Care Report…

— Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu is pushing back on assertions by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos that the Assembly’s medical marijuana bill is dead this session because Senate Republicans wanted “a more liberal version than the one we’re willing to pass.”

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

Sign up here.

— This year’s Wisconsin Economic Forecast Luncheon is being held April 10 in Madison.

The annual event will feature a keynote address Mark Eppli, director of the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at UW-Madison’s Business School. His remarks will be followed by a panel discussion on key issues such as workforce, wages and prospects for growth.

The luncheon is co-organized by WisPolitics, WisBusiness.com and the Wisconsin Bankers Association.

See event details and register here.

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