MDC Raises More Than $6 Million for Venture Debt Fund

(MADISON, Wis.)—Madison Development Corporation’s (MDC’s) Venture Debt Fund, which provides financing for emerging growth companies in Dane County has successfully raised over $6.2 million for its sixth fund.

Since 2004, the MDC Venture Debt Fund has provided venture debt loans to over 60 Dane County companies that have created more than 1,400 high quality jobs in Dane County.

“Our goal is to keep high growth companies here in Dane County so they can create quality jobs that keep talent here in Wisconsin” said Lorrie Heinemann, Madison Development Corporation President & CEO and Venture Debt Fund Co-Manager.  “Our Venture Debt Fund continues to be a resource for many local companies when growth capital is critical.”

The Fund’s participants include MGE, Capitol Bank, Monona Bank, State Bank of Cross Plains, City of Fitchburg, First Business Bank, Middleton Area Development Corporation, Settlers Bank, Town Bank, Starion Bank, Bank of Sun Prairie, McFarland State Bank, Oak Bank, Old National Bank, Incredible Bank, Park Bank and MDC.

Companies that have received funding include TomoTherapy, Phoenix Nuclear, PerBlue Entertainment, EnsoData, Stemina Biomarker, Digsite and GrocerKey.

The MDC Venture Debt Fund typically provides financing for companies who reached revenue stage and have received an angel or seed round of funding. The venture loans are nondilutive to equity shareholders which allows companies to access capital at a predictable cost while maintaining ownership and control.

For more information about the MDC Venture Debt Fund program, visit https://www.mdcorp.org/venture-financing.

About Madison Development Corporation

Madison Development Corporation is a non-profit organization that owns and manages 305 affordable housing units in the Madison area and provides financing for hard-to-finance businesses in Dane County. Since 1977, MDC has provided loans to more than 450 businesses totaling over $35 million, helping to create over 5,000 quality jobs in Dane County.

Kraus-Anderson Construction completes new West Allis Infiniti dealership for Lupient

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (March 2020) – The Madison office of Kraus-Anderson Construction Company (KA) has completed construction of a new 31,726-square-foot Infiniti dealership for Lupient in West Allis, Wis. Located at 10595 West Arthur Ave., the new dealership is now open.

Infiniti of Milwaukee, owned by Lupient Automotive Group, will sell new and used vehicles. The new building includes 13 service bays to accommodate vehicle maintenance, a dual lane service reception area that accommodates up to six vehicles at a time, and an attached car wash facility.  

The unique design also boasts a large, custom glass feature wall at the front entrance, as well as a significant amount of glass and glazing on the inside and outside of the building.

Designed by Neenah-Wis.-based Gries Architectural Group, Inc., the new dealership is Lupient’s second in Wisconsin.  Lupient also owns and operates Lupient Kia of Milwaukee, located in Glendale.

Based in Golden Valley, Minn., the family-owned Lupient Automotive Group has become a leading auto group for drivers for more than five decades.  In addition to its Wisconsin dealerships, Lupient provides Minnesota dealerships in Golden Valley, Brooklyn Park, Bloomington and Minneapolis.

About Kraus-Anderson

Established in 1897, Kraus-Anderson® Construction Company (www.krausanderson.com) is one of the nation’s premier commercial general contractors and construction managers. Kraus-Anderson, an Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action employer, is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. and has regional offices in Madison, Wis., Bismarck, N.D., and Duluth, Bemidji and Rochester Minn.

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Wegner CPAs Named to The INSIDE Public Accounting’s 2019 All-Stars Specialized Niche Firms

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Gillware Digital Forensics Announces Rebrand to Tetra Defense and Secures $3 Million in Series A Funding to Accelerate Growth

MADISON, Wis.–Gillware Digital Forensics, Madison-based cyber incident response and proactive cybersecurity consulting firm, announces its rebrand to Tetra Defense and the close of a $3 million series A investment round. The rebrand and investment announcements follow a significant year of growth in 2019 and serve as the precursor for continued growth in 2020.

Mendota Venture Capital LLC led the funding round with participation from several investors. The investment is the first funding round by Tetra Defense since launching in 2016. The $3 million raised will help the company aggressively expand its team, sales and marketing efforts, as well as broaden and enhance product and service development. Nick Jackson, Principal at Mendota Venture Capital LLC, and Mike Victorson, President and CEO of M3 Insurance, will join the Tetra Defense Board of Directors.

“As cyberattacks and other incidents impact more organizations than ever before, Tetra Defense’s funding round and rebrand are well-timed to match the rapidly growing demand for cyber incident response and proactive information security services,” said Nick Jackson, Principal with Mendota Venture Capital LLC. “Tetra Defense is an exceptional provider of these services. We are thrilled to collaborate with and support them as they expand and continue to build an impressive organization in a growing industry.”

Tetra Defense, formerly Gillware Digital Forensics, helps organizations respond to and recover from cyber incidents like ransomware attacks, business email compromise and data breaches. Many victim businesses are brought to a grinding halt and cannot fully operate. Tetra Defense is one of the only incident response firms to assist with and prioritize restoration of operations to limit downtime. Additionally, Tetra Defense helps organizations develop effective information security programs and defenses to lessen the risk of a cyber incident with services including IT risk assessments, penetration testing, email phishing training, incident response plan testing and more.

“Businesses of all sizes are increasingly finding themselves at war with cyber criminals around the globe,” said Scott Holewinski, CEO. “This investment gives us the resources we need to build new and innovative tools and services to help our clients respond and defend against future cyber threats.”

About Tetra Defense

Tetra Defense, formerly Gillware Digital Forensics, is an incident response, cyber risk management, and digital forensics firm helping clients recover and restore from incidents like ransomware, business email compromise and wire transfer fraud. Services range from in-depth forensics investigations of intellectual property theft to the assessment and development of corporate information security programs. With offices in Madison and Milwaukee, the top-priority objectives for the Tetra Defense team are to help organizations get back on their feet after an incident and guide them through the process of building a more secure environment to lessen the risk of incidents in the first place. Tetra frequently works with insurance carriers and some of the nation’s largest and most respected privacy law firms to navigate cyber liability insurance claims and also works directly with businesses large and small to reduce their cyber risk.

Contacts
Lauren Reid
Director of Marketing
608-620-0482
lreid@tetradefense.com

Playground Gift Will Address Emotional and Developmental Needs

Madison’s historic philanthropic Attic Angel Association turned 130 in 2019 and held a fundraiser all year long to build a playground that will benefit children who experience trauma and other challenges. With the help of the community and a generous couple who provided a large matching gift challenge, nearly $75,000 in donations was raised and presented just before Christmas to The Playing Field early learning center in Madison.

The enormous gift – about 50% larger than planned – was greeted with excitement and gratitude from the children, teachers, parents and board members of the nonprofit child care center. With homeless children representing one-third of its enrollment, The Playing Field seeks to improve society by giving all children the start they deserve instead of letting them fall victim to circumstances. The special playground equipment will address the emotional and development needs of children who experience stress and trauma so that they and their families can learn appropriate coping mechanisms as early as possible.