State pledges $50K to NovaScan, Platypus

Madison, Wis. - The Wisconsin Department of Commerce has announced that it will provide funds totaling $100,000 to two Wisconsin businesses for technology development projects.

NovaScan, a Milwaukee-based company developing technology to measure the electrical properties of materials used to identify different tissue types, will receive a $50,000 technology venture fund (TVF) loan to develop and test a prototype for clinical application of its imaging technology. The total project cost is $171,500.

Platypus Technologies, a Madison company established in 2000 to develop, produce and market nanotechnologies for the life sciences, will receive a $50,000 technology matching grant (TMG) for working capital, which supports a federal grant of $850,000. The TMG will be used to complete a project involving the biophotonic detection of West Nile Virus antibodies in multiple species.

Biophotonics refers to a combination of biology and photonics, or the direct manipulation of photons, or units of light.

The TVF program provides low-interest loans to Wisconsin high-tech companies with fewer than 100 employees that are seeking angel or other seed capital investment. The TMG program provides state funding to enhance the federal funding applications of small Wisconsin businesses. Gov. Jim Doyle announced the grants as part of his "Grow Wisconsin" plan.

"We are helping entrepreneurs turn their ideas into high-tech businesses that create good-paying jobs for our state," Doyle said in a release. "We need to keep Wisconsin moving forward to compete at the high end, and these two companies have great potential."

Related stories

• NovaScan qualifies for investor tax credits

• NovaScan decides against tax credits

• Platypus keeps gathering federal funding with $750,000 for defense research

• Platypus Tech fights cancer with $400,000 SBIR grant

• Platypus gets $1.6 million grant for liquid crystal tech