By Judy Newman
The Wisconsin State Journal
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) Katie Brenner’s startup,”BluDiagnostics” and its’ “fertility finder app” continue to garner solid support from investors. Brenner founded BluDiagnostics in 2015 when she was a postdoctoral fellow in biochemistry at The University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The Wisconsin State Journal
Score one more victory for bluDiagnostics.
The Madison startup, developing a novel women’s fertility test that measures hormone levels in saliva, was one of three winners of the Women Startup Challenge in San Francisco in mid-June.
BluDiagnostics won a $10,000 investment from the Backstage Capital venture fund in California that says it focuses on “overachieving, underrepresented founders.”
“We’re really excited to be part of their portfolio,” said Katie Brenner, bluDiagnostics co-founder. She said the contest gave her a chance to “connect with new people who believe in this idea.”
SIRUM, a Stanford, California, company that matches unused medicines with people who need them, won $50,000. Blendoor, of San Francisco, a recruiting app that hides the applicant’s name and photo to prevent bias, won the Audience Choice award and $120,000 in computer cloud services.
Produced by Women Who Tech and craigconnects, a nonprofit created by Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, the pitch contest drew more than 400 entries.
In 2015, bluDiagnostics won the grand prize in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan contest; the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce’s Pressure Chamber; and the Doyenne Group’s 5X5X5 competition.
