Spokes
Want to learn more about entrepreneurship? Already have an idea and looking for validation and analysis? Or maybe you’re ready to scale the company you already have. No matter where you are in your founder journey, the Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Hub is here to support you. Spokes are a network of campus entrepreneurship programs that provide more tailored services to founders. Use this filterable table to find Spokes that fit your needs now.
Not sure where to start? Contact a mentor!
|
- Awareness and Inspiration
Individuals become aware that entrepreneurship is a viable career path and look for exposure to founders, ideas, events, and innovation opportunities - Idea and Discovery
Founders identify problems worth solving, explore potential concept opportunities, and begin assessing customer needs and market potential. - Validation and Formation
Founders validate the problem and solution through customer discovery, build a minimal viable product, prototype, and demonstrate early evidence of product-market fit. - Launch and Traction
The venture begins acquiring customers, generating measurable traction, refining its business model, and securing resources for growth. - Growth and Scaling
The venture builds repeatable systems, augments its team, expands its customer base, raises capital as appropriate, and scales operations.
- Business Strategy & Company Development
- Developing Business Operations
- Business Planning
- Starting a Business
- Startup Business Counseling
- Business Plan Consulting
- Feasibility Studies
- Commercialization
- Business Succession Planning
- Board Development
- Economic Development
- Design Thinking
- Funding, Finance & Investment
- Financial Modeling and Analysis
- Financial Resources and Assistance
- Grant Funding
- Equity Funding
- Venture Capital
- Budget, Financial Statement and Cash Flow Training
- Government Contracts
- Competitions & Awards
- Marketing, Research & Customer Discovery
- Marketing & Sales
- Market Research
- Market Plan Development
- Company Research
- Industry Research
- Demographic/Census Data
- Libraries and Research
- Mentorship, Networking & Entrepreneur Support
- Mentoring
- Networking
- Pitch Events
- Accelerator
- Incubator
- Online Resources
- Product Innovation, R&D & Commercialization
- Product Design & Development
- Prototype Development
- R&D Support Technical Services
- Legal and IP Services
- Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights
- High-Tech Development
- Tech Transfer Student Research Projects
- Technology & Industry-Specific Development
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Biotechnology & Life Sciences
- Health Care
- Information Technology / Software
- Clean Energy & Sustainability
- Agriculture & Food Systems
- Financial Services
- Aerospace & Defense
- Consumer Products
- Transportation & Mobility
- Facilities, Infrastructure & Maker Resources
- Lab Space
- Wet Lab Incubator
- Office Space
- Makerspace
- Talent, Workforce & Education
- Training
- Professional Development
- Employee Development
- Workforce Training
- Internships
- Student Services
- Accelerated Masters
- Youth Entrepreneurship Education
Entrepreneurship Spokes
| Row ID | Program ↕ | Description | I am a _______ | My idea or company is at the ______ stage | I am looking for the following services |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wisconsin SBDC at UW–Madison | The SBDC provides no-cost consulting and affordable non-credit courses to help businesses from startup through growth. | public, other | Idea and discovery, Validation and formation, Launch and traction, Growth and scaling | Mentorship – Networking – Entrepreneur Support, Talent – Workforce – Education |
| 2 | StartUp Learning Residential Learning Community | StartUp is a residence hall-based program that provides capabilities, connections and confidence to student founders and the entrepreneurship-curious. | high school student, undergrad student | Awareness and inspiration, Idea and discovery, Validation and formation | Funding – Finance – Investment |
| 3 | Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship | Empowering UW students from all majors and levels to think like entrepreneurs through hands-on courses, inspiring events, and impactful programs. | undergrad student, graduate student, postdoc | Idea and discovery, Awareness and inspiration, Validation and formation, Launch and traction, Growth and scaling | Mentorship – Networking – Entrepreneur Support, Talent – Workforce – Education |
| 4 | Tech Exploration Lab | A venture engine for student founders. Explore emerging tech, build ventures, and connect with real industry partners and mentors. | undergrad student, graduate student, postdoc, faculty, alum, other, public | Awareness and inspiration, Idea and discovery, Validation and formation, Launch and traction | Marketing – Research – Customer Discovery, Mentorship – Networking – Entrepreneur Support, Product Innovation – R&D – Commercialization, Technology — Industry-specific Development, Facilities – Infrastructure – Maker Resources, Business Strategy – Company Development |
| 5 | Badger Tech Foundry | The Badger Tech Foundry is UW’s launchpad for ‘deep tech’ innovators. We help early-career researchers become serial entrepreneurs changing the world. | graduate student, postdoc, faculty, staff, alum | Launch and traction, Growth and scaling | Funding – Finance – Investment, Mentorship – Networking – Entrepreneur Support, Technology — Industry-specific Development, Business Strategy – Company Development |
| 6 | Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic | The L&E Clinic provides free transactional business legal services to entrepreneurs through the work of law students supervised by licensed attorneys. | undergrad student, graduate student, postdoc, faculty, staff, alum, other, public | Validation and formation, Launch and traction, Growth and scaling | Funding – Finance – Investment, Business Strategy – Company Development |
| 7 | UW–Madison Libraries Patent & Trademark Resource Center | UW–Madison Libraries Patent & Trademark Resource Center can assist with patent, trademark, and other intellectual property basics. | high school student, undergrad student, graduate student, faculty, staff, postdoc, alum, public, other | Awareness and inspiration, Idea and discovery, Validation and formation | Marketing – Research – Customer Discovery, Product Innovation – R&D – Commercialization, Talent – Workforce – Education |
| 8 | Institute For Clinical & Translational Research (ICTR) Dissemination & Implementation Launchpad | The D&I Launchpad team aims to launch proven health-related innovations from research to clinical and community practice in Wisconsin and beyond. | postdoc, staff, faculty, other, public | Idea and discovery, Validation and formation, Launch and traction, Growth and scaling | Funding – Finance – Investment, Marketing – Research – Customer Discovery, Mentorship – Networking – Entrepreneur Support, Technology — Industry-specific Development, Talent – Workforce – Education, Business Strategy – Company Development |
| 9 | Technology Entrepreneurship Office (TEO) | UW–Madison’s TEO offers workshops and mentoring to help students and researchers turn technology ideas into viable, real-world business ventures. | undergrad student, graduate student, postdoc, faculty, staff, alum, public, other | Awareness and inspiration, Idea and discovery, Validation and formation, Launch and traction | Funding – Finance – Investment, Marketing – Research – Customer Discovery, Mentorship – Networking – Entrepreneur Support, Product Innovation – R&D – Commercialization, Technology — Industry-specific Development, Facilities – Infrastructure – Maker Resources, Talent – Workforce – Education, Business Strategy – Company Development |
| 10 | UW Center for Cooperatives | Curious about collective entrepreneurship? Consider a cooperative! We help people start co-ops and convert existing businesses to the co-op model. | public, other | Awareness and inspiration, Idea and discovery | Funding – Finance – Investment, Mentorship – Networking – Entrepreneur Support, Business Strategy – Company Development |
| 11 | Institute for Clinical & Translational Research (ICTR) Learning Health System (LHS) | ICTR’s Learning Health System helps startups validate products through UW Health trials, gain their first customer, and get research-grade analytics. | faculty, staff, postdoc, other, public | Validation and formation, Launch and traction, Growth and scaling | Technology — Industry-specific Development |
| 12 | Entrepreneurship Science Lab | The ESLAB is a first in the world R&D operation that is applying data science to helping UW–Madison produce more companies. | undergrad student, graduate student, faculty, public, other | Awareness and inspiration | Mentorship – Networking – Entrepreneur Support, Talent – Workforce – Education |
| 13 | Wisconsin Center for Technology Commercialization (CTC) | CTC is here to help you to bring your innovative idea to market through access to our suite of programs and expert consultants in Wisconsin. | graduate student, postdoc, faculty, staff, alum, public | Idea and discovery, Validation and formation, Launch and traction, Growth and scaling | Marketing – Research – Customer Discovery, Mentorship – Networking – Entrepreneur Support, Product Innovation – R&D – Commercialization, Technology — Industry-specific Development, Talent – Workforce – Education, Business Strategy – Company Development |
| 14 | Center for Dairy Research ABID (Accelerate Biotechnological Innovation in Dairy) Program | The CDR's Pilot Plant is a food grade FDA certified facility that supports just about all things dairy from ideation, R&D to new product development | high school student, undergrad student, graduate student, faculty, staff, postdoc, alum, public | Idea and discovery, Validation and formation | Product Innovation – R&D – Commercialization, Technology — Industry-specific Development, Facilities – Infrastructure – Maker Resources |
| 15 | Entrepreneurship Association | Entrepreneurship Association, in partnership with the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship, provides ongoing value and support for students and alumni starting companies at UW. | undergrad student, graduate student, postdoc, alum | Awareness and inspiration, Idea and discovery, Validation and formation, Launch and traction, Growth and scaling | Business Strategy – Company Development, Mentorship – Networking – Entrepreneur Support |
| 16 | Transcend UW | Transcend UW is the premiere student-led entrepreneurship organization at UW–Madison, helping founders launch ventures and compete for funding. | undergrad student, graduate student, alum, public, other | Awareness and inspiration, Idea and discovery, Validation and formation, Launch and traction, Growth and scaling | Business Strategy – Company Development, Funding – Finance – Investment, Mentorship – Networking – Entrepreneur Support, Talent – Workforce – Education |
| 17 | MS Design + Innovation | MD+I is an interdisciplinary human- and life-centered design graduate program where students work year-round on partners' real world challenges. | undergrad student, graduate student, faculty, other, public | Awareness and inspiration, Idea and discovery, Validation and formation | Marketing – Research – Customer Discovery, Product Innovation – R&D – Commercialization, Talent – Workforce – Education |
| 18 | Grainger Engineering Design Innovation Lab | The Design Hub offers hardware design coaching and design fee-for-service from concept to alpha. | undergrad student, graduate student, postdoc, staff, faculty | Idea and discovery, Validation and formation | Mentorship – Networking – Entrepreneur Support, Product Innovation – R&D – Commercialization, Technology — Industry-specific Development, Facilities – Infrastructure – Maker Resources |
| 19 | Isthmus Project at UW Health | UW Health’s innovation and commercialization hub, helping UW and UW Health innovators move health care solutions from concept to market. | graduate student, postdoc, faculty, staff, public, other | Awareness and inspiration, Idea and discovery, Validation and formation, Launch and traction, Growth and scaling | Funding – Finance – Investment, Product Innovation – R&D – Commercialization |
| 20 | Creative Destruction Lab - Wisconsin | We help growth-focused, seed-stage science & tech ventures with proven traction scale massively through high-impact, objective-driven mentorship. | undergrad student, graduate student, faculty, staff, postdoc, alum, public, other | Validation and formation, Launch and traction, Growth and scaling | Business Strategy – Company Development, Funding – Finance – Investment, Marketing – Research – Customer Discovery, Mentorship – Networking – Entrepreneur Support, Product Innovation – R&D – Commercialization, Technology — Industry-specific Development, Talent – Workforce – Education |
| 21 | WARF Accelerator | WARF Accelerator provides targeted derisking funding to help UW–Madison researchers advance promising ideas into commercializable products. | graduate student, postdoc, faculty, other | Awareness and inspiration, Idea and discovery, Validation and formation, Launch and traction | Business Strategy – Company Development, Funding – Finance – Investment, Product Innovation – R&D – Commercialization |
| 22 | WARF Ventures | We invest in companies commercializing WARF IP and technologies invented on campus and participate in venture-build activities. We are sector agnostic | undergrad student, graduate student, faculty, staff, postdoc, alum, public, other | Launch and traction, Growth and scaling | Funding – Finance – Investment |
| 23 | WARF Intellectual Property & Licensing | WARF’s IP & Licensing team evaluates inventions, protects IP, and enables commercialization through licenses to industry and startups | undergrad student, graduate student, postdoc, faculty, staff | Awareness and inspiration, Idea and discovery, Validation and formation | Product Innovation – R&D – Commercialization |
Spoke details and contact info
Badger Tech Foundry
Our focus is on “deep tech” innovation, which typically involves domain-specific technical knowledge and significant background IP.
🌐 Website (coming soon!)
✉️ Email
📍 Room M1050 Engineering Centers Building, 1550 Engineering Drive
Center for Dairy Research Accelerate Biotechnological Innovation in Dairy) Program
Creative Destruction Lab – Wisconsin
Entrepreneurship Association
Entrepreneurship Science Lab
Grainger Engineering Design Innovation Lab
Institute For Clinical & Translational Research (ICTR) Dissemination & Implementation Launchpad
Institute For Clinical & Translational Research (ICTR) Learning Health System (LHS)
Isthmus Project at UW Health
Engage at any stage with a health care innovation for commercialization guidance, connections or potential investment pathways.
🌐 Website
📍 University Hospital, 600 Highland Ave., K6/110
Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic
We do not handle litigation or controversy. Businesses should be at or near the stage of bringing a product or service to market to engage with us.
🌐 Website
📍 UW Law School, 975 Bascom Mall
MS Design + Innovation
StartUp Learning Residential Learning Community
Technology Entrepreneurship Office
Tech Exploration Lab
Transcend UW
UW Center for Cooperatives
Only engage with us if you are interested in cooperative business ownership.
🌐 Website
✉️ Email | Intake form
📍 3500 University Avenue, Madison
UW–Madison Libraries Patent & Trademark Resource Center
We offer consults, workshops, and other support by appointment. We cannot provide legal advice or assist in the application process.
🌐 Website
✉️ Email | Intake form
📍 Steenbock Library, Rm. 118, 550 Babcock Dr.
