Project Pitch It Season 5 moguls Jerry Jendusa, JoAnne Sabir, David Gruber and Peggy Ann. Milwaukee entrepreneur Christopher Perceptions is educating and providing cryptocurrency financial services to minority populations through his startup PerceptForm . PerceptForm was featured during Saturday’s episode of “ Project Pitch It ” on WISN-TV Channel 12. Perceptions revealed plans to launch the startup’s new product called PerceptPay , a social payment marketplace that allows users to pay for goods and services with bitcoin. With PerceptPay, users can also pay for physical goods and services through a mobile point of sale system, said Perception, who grew up in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park and Uptown neighborhoods. PerceptForm is also launching a cryptocurrency debit card connected to a bank account backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., as well as a tax service for cryptocurrency. Perceptions’ goal is to launch these products on Juneteenth (June 19th), which marks the day that Union soldiers reached Galveston, Texas with news of the Civil War’s end and that the enslaved people there were free. “I’ve always had an interest in art, technology and economics,” Perceptions said. “I’ve seen systematically there are barriers to wealth creation for minorities. The solution lies in blockchain technology, specifically bitcoin.”
Project Pitch It mogul JoAnne Sabir asked Perceptions to share more about the education component of the business because bitcoin can be hard to understand for the average person. “We actually are leading with education,” Perceptions said. “Our company has four pillars; finance, education, art and real estate…our platform also has educational videos and curriculum so that people are able to understand ‘What is bitcoin? What is blockchain?’” Perceptions said. “JoAnne, what are some of your thoughts,” asked mogul Jerry Jendusa. “The most pressing point is education because you don’t want folks to be left out on what could be or what is,” Sabir said. “Oftentimes when we think about community or (layman) who do not have an investment consultant, it’s important for there to be education and opportunity to participate. Because you don’t participate in what you don’t know.”
Perceptions was awarded $5,000 and free mentorship programming at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Lubar Entrepreneurship Center. Viroqua-based entrepreneur Dylan Bruce also pitched his startup SeedLinked during the episode. SeedLinked is an ag-tech crowdsourced data platform that connects regional plant growers and seed companies to strengthen biodiversity in agro-ecosystems. The startup uses smartphone technology and data analytics to create a tool that anyone can use to track, share and learn about regional seed and variety performance. “It’s really a true recommendation engine,” Bruce said. “We’re really context specific. That means we’re layering in not only when your frosts are or how much rain you receive, but also your preferences as a grower.”
SeedLinked is gearing up for either an interim fundraise of $1.5 million or a $5 million Series A round of funding, Bruce said. The startup plans to launch a variety of new products in this spring, a process Bruce says will help dictate SeedLink’s future goals. “It’s entrepreneurs like you that provide us with this level of hope, inspiration and passion,” Jendusa said. SeedLinked won the AmFam Award, which includes pairing the entrepreneur with a leader at American Family to support growth in all aspects of the business including marketing, IT, human resources and finance. New Berlin-based entrepreneur Susan Knutson, founder and CEO of The Naked Baker , pitched her brand of gluten-free baked goods during the episode. Knutson founded the company in 2016 when she realized how difficult it was for consumers to find gluten-free products that have a good taste. “We are free of anything artificial,” Knutson said. “We like to say we’re naked of all the bad stuff.”
The Naked Baker reaches consumers through three channels: grocery stores, Amazon and online direct to consumer sales through the startup’s webpage. “What I do know is this niche area is very crowded,” Sabir said. “I’m just thinking about your current sales to date and how you’re differentiating yourself in the market.”
Knutson says most gluten-free baked goods carry a shelf life of six months to a year and are sold in the middle of the grocery store. “Our (products) are merchandized in the fresh bakery section of grocery stores,” Knutson said. “When we sell on Amazon, we fulfill directly…so we’re able to control the product going fresh to the consumer.”
The Naked Baker products are manufactured, packaged and frozen within a two hour period before being delivered to the fresh bakery section of grocery stores, Knutson said. “There’s not really a lot of competition in fresh bakery and that’s where we’ve found our success,” she said. The Naked Baker is sold in 220 grocery stores and has over $400,000 in revenue. “Taste testing is so important and during a (pandemic) you can’t do taste testing and she was still able to grow,” Jendusa said. “And gluten-free, if you’ve mastered something that tastes good, that’s more than half the battle,” Sabir said. Moguls awarded The Naked Baker a $10,000 cash prize. BizTimes Media is a media partner of “Project Pitch It.”
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Sherman Park entrepreneur pitches social payment marketplace for bitcoin on ‘Project Pitch It’

Plans for Future Food Center still in the works
https://www.biztimes.com/2018/industries/food-beverage/fab-wisconsin-bolsters-food-companies-with-third-annual-accelerator-new-food-safety-program/
When FaB Wisconsin wraps up its FaBcap Accelerator program in June, it will have graduated 30 Wisconsin-based food and beverage companies from the program since launching it in 2015. This year’s cohort of 10 up-and-coming small businesses was selected from almost 50 applicants, which is the largest-ever applicant pool the accelerator has attracted. The nine-month accelerator, which kicks off annually in September, is intended to assist companies to build “capacity and capitalization” by providing one-on-one financial coaching, access to investors, and group meetings and seminars – not to mention a $10,000 check and financial package upon graduation. An aerial rendering of The Future Food Center on Milwaukee’s near west side. Throughout the program, the group convenes to learn from industry experts about topics including food safety, sales, operations and finance. The most recent meeting focused on marketing. The program culminates with an opportunity for each company to make a pitch to a group of Wisconsin angel investors. Current participants include: The Honest Bison Inc., Little Food Co., Domeloz, Hempire Farms, Potter’s Crackers, Saffi Foods, Drink Zyn, Bittercube LLC, Bioionix Inc. and The Naked Baker LLC. The class mainly consists of consumer goods manufacturers, but each year it also includes one technology-based company; this year it’s McFarland-based Bioionix, which has engineered an electrochemical system that disinfects liquids used for processing and manufacturing food. “The path to success is a bit convoluted for a food and beverage business, so wrapping them with real industry experience is what we have found the cappers going through the program appreciate most of all,” said Shelley Jurewicz, executive director at FaB Wisconsin, which was formed five years ago. For each class of “cappers,” and especially for food and beverage technology companies, the program provides resources that go above and beyond those of a traditional accelerator program, she said. This is because there are certain nuances to the food and beverage industry that present challenges for companies attempting to grow, requiring steep investments of capital to reach the next level, Jurewicz said. These nuances range from the industry’s product distribution channels to its pricing structure. But with new regulations brought on in recent years by the federal Food Safety Modernization Act, the issue of food safety has presented significant roadblocks. As part of the act, which was first passed in 2011, all food production workers or anyone who enters a food production facility were recently required to have documented annual training in food safety. Previously, such training was required but because documenting it wasn’t lawfully necessary, the industry’s manufacturing sector lacked access to affordable basic training, she said. That’s why FaB recently rolled out a new initiative, called FaBsafe Certificate, which is a four-hour food safety training course for food and beverage manufacturers. It launched over the summer as a pilot program, but starting in 2019 will be offered monthly at a handful of universities throughout the state. Companies can also bring FaB in to train their employees on-site. “It not only fulfills this annual requirement of training, but it also serves as a doorway into the industry for young talent,” Jurewicz said. “This is a certificate that you could get as a senior in high school and then start your career with a food and beverage business.”
Amidst new and ongoing initiatives like FaBcap Accelerator and FaBsafe Certificate, FaB Wisconsin continues to work toward the launch of an industry center of excellence, called The Future Food Center. It would be home to FaB Wisconsin, a research and development pilot center, and other offices for companies in the industry. The long-planned project has been proposed for the City Campus on Milwaukee’s near west side. Developer Rick Wiegand in 2016 purchased the three-building complex, located south of West Wells Street, between North 27th and North 28th streets, and is now working with FaB to open the center in the nine-story former Family Hospital building at the corner of North 28th and West Wells streets. Seventeen companies gathered at the site in July to discuss the center’s potential for their operations, and at FaB’s annual meeting in November, David Lenz, chief operating officer of West Bend-based cookware manufacturer Regal Ware Inc., publicly announced the company’s interest in and support of the development. However, the center has yet to secure a committed tenant. “The challenge with the property is it’s a 100,000-square-foot building, so for us to come up with 80 percent of tenant commitments is pretty difficult for us to do on our own,” Jurewicz said. FaB isn’t planning to give up on the current site, but Jurewicz said it would consider other locations if enough companies committed to filling a smaller space – possibly to be located across from the similar-in-concept Global Water Center in Reed Street Yards. “It’s still advancing, it’s just not there yet,” she said. Share
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When FaB Wisconsin wraps up its FaBcap Accelerator program in June, it will have graduated 30 Wisconsin-based food and beverage companies from the program since launching it in 2015. This year’s cohort of 10 up-and-coming small businesses was selected from almost 50 applicants, which is the largest-ever applicant pool the accelerator has attracted. The nine-month accelerator, which kicks off annually in September, is intended to assist companies to build “capacity and capitalization” by providing one-on-one financial coaching, access to investors, and group meetings and seminars – not to mention a $10,000 check and financial package upon graduation. An aerial rendering of The Future Food Center on Milwaukee’s near west side. Throughout the program, the group convenes to learn from industry experts about topics including food safety, sales, operations and finance. The most recent meeting focused on marketing. The program culminates with an opportunity for each company to make a pitch to a group of Wisconsin angel investors. Current participants include: The Honest Bison Inc., Little Food Co., Domeloz, Hempire Farms, Potter’s Crackers, Saffi Foods, Drink Zyn, Bittercube LLC, Bioionix Inc. and The Naked Baker LLC. The class mainly consists of consumer goods manufacturers, but each year it also includes one technology-based company; this year it’s McFarland-based Bioionix, which has engineered an electrochemical system that disinfects liquids used for processing and manufacturing food. “The path to success is a bit convoluted for a food and beverage business, so wrapping them with real industry experience is what we have found the cappers going through the program appreciate most of all,” said Shelley Jurewicz, executive director at FaB Wisconsin, which was formed five years ago. For each class of “cappers,” and especially for food and beverage technology companies, the program provides resources that go above and beyond those of a traditional accelerator program, she said. This is because there are certain nuances to the food and beverage industry that present challenges for companies attempting to grow, requiring steep investments of capital to reach the next level, Jurewicz said. These nuances range from the industry’s product distribution channels to its pricing structure. But with new regulations brought on in recent years by the federal Food Safety Modernization Act, the issue of food safety has presented significant roadblocks. As part of the act, which was first passed in 2011, all food production workers or anyone who enters a food production facility were recently required to have documented annual training in food safety. Previously, such training was required but because documenting it wasn’t lawfully necessary, the industry’s manufacturing sector lacked access to affordable basic training, she said. That’s why FaB recently rolled out a new initiative, called FaBsafe Certificate, which is a four-hour food safety training course for food and beverage manufacturers. It launched over the summer as a pilot program, but starting in 2019 will be offered monthly at a handful of universities throughout the state. Companies can also bring FaB in to train their employees on-site. “It not only fulfills this annual requirement of training, but it also serves as a doorway into the industry for young talent,” Jurewicz said. “This is a certificate that you could get as a senior in high school and then start your career with a food and beverage business.”
Amidst new and ongoing initiatives like FaBcap Accelerator and FaBsafe Certificate, FaB Wisconsin continues to work toward the launch of an industry center of excellence, called The Future Food Center. It would be home to FaB Wisconsin, a research and development pilot center, and other offices for companies in the industry. The long-planned project has been proposed for the City Campus on Milwaukee’s near west side. Developer Rick Wiegand in 2016 purchased the three-building complex, located south of West Wells Street, between North 27th and North 28th streets, and is now working with FaB to open the center in the nine-story former Family Hospital building at the corner of North 28th and West Wells streets. Seventeen companies gathered at the site in July to discuss the center’s potential for their operations, and at FaB’s annual meeting in November, David Lenz, chief operating officer of West Bend-based cookware manufacturer Regal Ware Inc., publicly announced the company’s interest in and support of the development. However, the center has yet to secure a committed tenant. “The challenge with the property is it’s a 100,000-square-foot building, so for us to come up with 80 percent of tenant commitments is pretty difficult for us to do on our own,” Jurewicz said. FaB isn’t planning to give up on the current site, but Jurewicz said it would consider other locations if enough companies committed to filling a smaller space – possibly to be located across from the similar-in-concept Global Water Center in Reed Street Yards. “It’s still advancing, it’s just not there yet,” she said.

FaB Wisconsin bolsters food companies with third annual accelerator, new food safety program

Deloitte

Incubator/Accelerator

The Naked Baker makes gluten-free cookies that are free of preservatives, additives, and GMOs.

Name	Susan Knutson
Work History	Deloitte
Title	Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Status	Current

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