We Mean Business: Entrepreneurs in This Midwestern State are Solving Real-World Problems A look at three innovative startups that are thriving in an entrepreneurial ecosystem unlike any other.

The Midwest region of the U.S. has long been known for its hard-working spirit, which drives many entrepreneurs looking to solve real-world problems to build businesses here. With a strong emphasis on research and development, coupled with a thriving manufacturing and burgeoning tech scene, the Midwest offers an ideal platform for companies tackling some of the biggest challenges facing our world today.

Located in the heart of the Midwest, Wisconsin businesses are taking on real-world problems and finding innovative solutions by leveraging its abundant resources. Boasting cutting-edge technologies, a highly skilled workforce, and so much more, Wisconsin provides businesses with the tools they need to make a positive impact in their communities and beyond. Here's what some Wisconsin-based founders and businesses had to say:

Reducing the carbon footprint of lithium-ion batteries

While working as a professor at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Carol Hirschmugl, along with a few colleagues, discovered a new material called Cophite which has the potential to revolutionize the battery industry. This unique material enhances the energy storage capacity of rechargeable batteries and results in faster charging, increased battery lifespan, and heightened safety, Hirschmugl says.

With this discovery, Hirschmugl and co-founder Marija Gajdardziska-Josifovska started Milwaukee-based COnovate with a vision to improve the future of battery power.

"I patented it and thought, maybe we have a business opportunity here," Hirschmugl explains. "Lithium-ion batteries are a significant part of life for many people and technologies, and our mission at COnovate is to reduce the carbon impact in our approach." Recently, the demand for lithium-ion batteries has dramatically increased and is expected to soar over the next decade, impacting the supply chain in several different ways.

Soaring demand for lithium-ion batteries is stretching supplies of raw materials, such as graphite, to a point where there will soon be more demand than supply. Plus, mined materials require substantial energy to extract and process. This is where COnovate's solution can make a significant impact.

"Not only can Cophite address this shortage, but it also performs better," Hirschmugl says. "It's a safer solution that can be generated from biomass from plants and trees, and it can be used as a drop-in with seamless adoption by the manufacturer."

And if you ask Hirschmugl, Milwaukee is the perfect place for her startup to power this innovation. "The battery industry has played a huge role in Milwaukee, so there's natural synergy with us being located here," she says. "We're also leveraging resources that are available from the university, and we're connecting with folks in the area that have interest in the battery space. So, we're part of an ecosystem."

In terms of funding to get COnovate started, Hirschmugl was familiar with research grant funding thanks to her academic background, but through the WEDC, she was able to learn the ins and outs of funding on the business side. "I learned about the SBIR program, and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation partnered with the Center for Technology Commercialization to provide insights into this entire process. WEDC and many other organizations in the startup ecosystem have supported us throughout our journey, and we've been able to get some amazing commercial business and scientific feedback that lets us know our business is worth pursuing."

Disrupting the packaged foods industry.

Toby Thomas and Bill Belias were working in R&D at Hefty Consumer Products in the early 2000s when they were asked to explore the age-old problem of how to keep food fresh longer. They learned quickly that there are certain foods that have components that don't spoil, and they attempted to incorporate these properties in new products. While they made strides in their work, the project was set aside because the prototypes altered the taste of the food. "We failed miserably," Thomas recalls with a laugh.

Their careers diverged over the following decades, but Thomas and Belias remained in touch, and they'd often reminisce about their "fresh food project" and toss around ideas. In 2015, Belias made some advancements in his discoveries that would lead to the pair applying for patents and starting a business, and in 2017, SoFresh was born.

"The inspiration behind SoFresh is to solve food waste," Thomas explains. "One third of all food produced is not consumed, and we wanted to make an impact on that number. If food waste is managed, food costs come down, food quality improves, fewer resources are used to make the same amount of food, and less food is dumped into landfills. We want folks to be able to eat everything that they purchase."

With SoFresh, Thomas and Belias have developed a packaging solution for food that's able to add shelf life and keep foods from spoiling longer than traditional packaging solutions–and ultimately cut down on the financial impacts of food waste.

Headquartered in Kenosha, Wisc., SoFresh is taking advantage of the resources that the state has to offer. Thomas says southeast Wisconsin provides access to the rich packaging history of the Fox River Valley, the printing expertise of local vendors in Milwaukee, food and ingredient expertise within the grain-belt, chemistry and biology expertise with great lab equipment at the local University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and even support from several local bakeries.

SoFresh received a Wisconsin Innovation Award in 2022 and is also a portfolio company of BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation, a mission-based non-profit focused on job creation by investing in Wisconsin startups. Brightstar first encountered SoFresh at a pitch event supported by WEDC to highlight startups and entrepreneurs outside of major metropolitan areas.

Changing the landscape of insurance and contracting in the roofing business.

With a 15-year career in insurance, Will Bazeley identified what he says was a major issue in the roof claim process and he made it his mission to solve it. And so RoofMarketplace was launched in 2017. Based in Whitewater, Wisc., it's a marketplace to help contractors, carriers, and homeowners get the right price and the right service to have a better claim experience.

"On average, carriers have been overpaying by over 30 percent on these losses, which ultimately hurts the homeowners," Bazeley says. "We want to help mitigate that issue."

As with many tech startups, the RoofMarketplace team has had to learn on the fly. In 2021, the platform relaunched with a focus on growth. This was helpful the following year in the wake of Hurricane Ian after it barrelled through Florida. RoofMarketplace was able to fill 7,200+ requests for people who were affected by the damage in a matter of days. "This proved a couple things for us: that our platform and process work and that, most importantly, it really does benefit the contractor, homeowner and carrier," Bazeley says.

Though Bazeley isn't a Wisconsin native, he found that Whitewater—about an hour west of Milwaukee—has been a great home for RoofMarketplace. "Not only is this state beautiful to live in, but there's just truly good people here. There's a great environment for our personal life, but there's also a great environment for tech startups here, and we've decided to stay in Wisconsin for a few reasons," Bazeley explains.

One of the top reasons for staying, Bazeley believes, is the WEDC's involvement in operations, such as with the Qualified New Business Venture (QNBV) program. "Their QNBV program helps investors come into Wisconsin and invest in tech companies like ours, but there's also so much to be said about their spirit of collaboration," he says. The QNBV program provides a 25 percent tax credit for investing technology and growth-oriented startups.

"The WEDC is doing amazing things for entrepreneurs in Wisconsin," Bazeley adds. "From providing investors with tax credits to running pitch contests, they're helping companies like us shift into full growth mode."

From improving the efficiency of lithium-ion batteries to revolutionizing the packaged foods and insurtech industries, these companies are tackling real-world problems through innovation and technology. And whether it's by providing access to capital or offering best-in-class support and resources, WEDC and its partners are committed to helping businesses like these prosper in the state of Wisconsin and beyond.

Click here to learn more about how the WEDC helps Wisconsin businesses start, grow, and thrive.