This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with returning guest Jessica Martin Eckerly, CEO and co-founder of Forward BIOLABS.
The discussion explores the Innovation to Commercialization Pipeline program, one element of the broader Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub initiative that landed nearly $50 million in federal dollars in 2024 for projects to advance the state’s biohealth sector. That effort was supported by 2023 Wisconsin Act 96, which provided $7.5 million to lead partner BioForward.
“This has been a few years in the making and in the planning, so it’s really wonderful to have done round one, and announced these fantastic startups to receive this first round of non-dilutive funding,” Martin Eckerly said.
Forward BIOLABS and BioForward Wisconsin recently announced the 18 awardees, including companies in the life sciences, medical devices, pharmaceuticals and other industries. Each is getting between $25,000 and $75,000 for commercialization efforts, meant to help early-stage companies clear early milestones.
“What are their key things, what are investors asking about, and where can we put a small amount of capital to help them … If we give them an inch, they’re going to get a mile out of these dollars,” she said.
In choosing the awardees, the ICP committee weighed scalability, the company’s team, specific project goals and potential impact.
Martin Eckerly discusses the future of the program, which will issue a second round of funding this year, giving companies another opportunity to get support for reaching their goals.
She also explains how the initiative ties into the Tech Hub effort, which seeks to build on the state’s designation as a “powerhouse” around biohealth. That reputation was built in part by major players in the state, including Epic, Exact Sciences, Promega and GE HealthCare, Martin Eckerly said.
“The projects are aimed at helping our state grow the next set of companies,” she said. “It’s aimed at strengthening our expertise and our companies in this area of biohealth. It’s a big honor to be a state that has a designation.”
Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison:
