Blue Line Battery Inc., a startup that engineers modular lithium-ion batteries for industrial equipment, has raised $3.1 million in seed financing to support growth it says could amount to a billion-dollar valuation in as little as 24 months, the company said Thursday.

The importance of quality of life in economic development has been growing in recent decades. According to a recent post by The Brookings Institution, Whitewater, Wisconsin is “well positioned for new growth.” Authors John C. Austin, Amanda Weinstein, Michael Hicks, and Emily Wornell tell the story of today’s reality of two Midwests in the "Improving quality of life—not just business—is the best path to Midwestern rejuvenation" blog post.

Ideawake has raised another $1 million to expand its innovation-enabling platform into the health care field. The round was led by Madison's HealthX Ventures.

Ideawake recently closed an investment with HealthX Ventures as part of a $1,000,000 strategic round of funding, which will enable the company to accelerate its market expansion in Healthcare. Ideawake develops software that helps employers streamline the process of capturing, prioritizing, and taking action on ideas from frontline employees.

The CESA 2 Regional Bee will be taking place on February 22nd in an online format. Six candidates will move on to the online State Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 26, 2022.

Innovatrium and AUIX are now accepting nominations for its inaugural Developing Airmen with Games (DAWG) competition. The Air Force is looking for students of all sorts, along with game developers to develop mobile games utilized by the US Air Force to better our military collaboration, training, evaluation, and team-building.

Scanalytics, a leading provider of smart building technologies and Ardex, a leader in innovative building solutions, recently announced a collaboration in smart flooring that will provide solutions for both commercial and residential buildings.

Scanalytics Inc. recently announced that it received a plus-up contract from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) bringing the total amount awarded to just over $2.1 million since the start of the project. This continuation award will be used to further scale their proprietary sensor and software technology for improving utility usage and occupant comfort in buildings. Scanalytics is receiving this plus-up after successfully completing the first project in the ARPA-E SENSOR program.

UW-Whitewater Enactus students work to combat blindness and empower women in India As Jason Jaworski explains, “You can give a cataract surgery for $25, for 20 minutes, and someone has their sight back in 24 hours, That’s the driving purpose behind our team.’’

Kristen Holtan, Blue Line Battery co-founder and marketing director, ranked on Wisconsin Inno's annual Inno Under 25 list. "I like the challenge (of entrepreneurship), I like the ups and downs," Holtan said. "I've learned to like the unknown and I've learned to like what could be."

The Ice Age Trail Alliance’s popular Mammoth Hike Challenge will take place again in October. Participants are encouraged to download the StriveOn mobile app. With the power of a smartphone, StriveOn! will activate and connect hikers to unique places along the Ice Age Trail and communities they come across.

More than 125 startup founders attended the inaugural Founder/Fest Thursday, an event held at Penrod LLC’s headquarters that highlighted Milwaukee-area startups and the innovation brewing in the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Kristen Holtan, co-founder of Blue Line Battery was one of the founders who was interviewed and shared her entrepreneurial journey.

Safepro Technologies is one of 29 companies and nonprofit organizations selected as finalists for the 2021 Wisconsin Innovation Awards. The awards will be held on October 5th, 2021 in Madison, WI.

Accelerating change starts with an empowered workforce with foundational competencies, the right skills, and the drive to innovate. A team of six total force Airmen embodied that mindset while participating in an Air University and Innovatrium partnership, Project Mercury, March 16 - June 14, 2021.

The Poynette School District will continue to have a virtual option for its students during the 2021-22 school year. However, the virtual classes will be through JEDI Virtual School and students will not be taught by district teachers, as they were through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Whitewater Chamber of Commerce recently honored The Black Sheep with the 2020 Pandemic Pro Award. This award was presented to the business that made the most of the many opportunities to “pivot” their business practices and remain open for the community.

Blue Line Battery has closed a $1.5 million fundraising round led by Grey Collar Ventures. The company also has a patent-pending modular design that makes it easier to manufacture and distribute its battery systems to customers that are accustomed to using lead-acid batteries.

Whether it’s clean water, solar energy, eco-friendly materials, better power sources, forest management tools, improved farming methods or even consumer products, young Wisconsin companies are a part of the mix. SunPeak Solar, Pyran, Blue Line Battery, Xylome, Seedlinked, AmebaGone, C-Motive Technologies, American Provenance, ArgoGraph, and Forest Data Network are a few examples.

Four School District of Beloit District educators have received certification in New Teacher Center Mentor Training. According to CESA 2, “Research on the program has shown the students of new teachers, whose mentors are trained by the New Teacher Center, have an additional two to six months of growth in Reading and Math per year, as compared to other mentor programs. The research also shows a retention rate of more than 30% higher than in districts that use other mentor programs.

City and farm folks are invited to gather at Roden Echo Valley farm as part of Wisconsin's Farm to Table’s 7th annual event. The evening's creations will be prepared and presented by local chef and self-proclaimed farm kid, Tyler Sailsbery, the head chef and owner of The Black Sheep.