Assembly Okays $25M State-Run Venture Capital Fund

The state of Wisconsin would set up a $25 million venture capital fund under a measure that passed the Wisconsin state Assembly.

Last session, talk of a venture capital bill that could be as large as $400 million never went anywhere. With the price tag lowered to $25 million and plans for a more independent fund manager in place, this year’s venture capital bill received a broad bipartisan vote. Baraboo Assembly Democrat Fred Clark said venture capital was lacking in Wisconsin and the state needed to help.

“Government has a role to step in and do what’s necessary to assure that essential things happen. And to whatever extent the private sector may not be delivering that right now, we have a responsibility to complement that: to help make it happen.”

The venture capital fund that would be created under this bill would be focused on five industries: agriculture, information technology, engineering, advanced manufacturing and medical devices. Rep. Robb Kahl of Monona was one of several Democrats to question why bioscience was not on that list.

“We need to get biosciences at the table. We need to have biosciences and technology have an opportunity to make those investments.”

Republican Rep. Mike Kuglitsch of New Berlin said that with limited funds to invest, the state needed to focus on its core industries first.

“When we’re going to put state tax dollars in jeopardy or invest them, we need to make sure that the program we put in place has the best opportunity for success.”

Republican state Sen. Alberta Darling recently had a different take, telling the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel last month that social conservatives were worried about state money being invested in embryonic stem cell research. Only two lawmakers voted against the venture capital bill, which heads next to the Senate.