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March 10, 2025
TITLETOWN – With just about a week left for start-up founders to throw their idea into play for TitletownTech’s (TTT) first-ever Start-up Draft, organizers said momentum is starting to build.
“The response to the Start-up Draft has been overwhelmingly positive,” Grace Murray, marketing and communications manager for TTT, said.
First of its kind
According to TTT Managing Director Craig Dickman, the goal of the Start-up Draft – which was launched in mid-February and includes a $1 million award for the “draft pick” – is to celebrate all Wisconsin has to offer beyond its storied sports legacy.
“The draft coming to Green Bay gives us an opportunity to share everything our region has to offer,” he said. “Things that you’ll expect, like football and cheeseheads, and some things that you won’t, like creative start-ups, emerging technologies and collaborative partnerships.”
Just as aspiring draft picks learn their fate in Green Bay during the 2025 NFL Draft, Dickman said “another set of future stars – start-up founders – will also have the opportunity to hear their name called from right where we stand, in the shadow Lambeau Field here at TitletownTech.”
And just as future NFL players showed off their skills at the scouting combine held earlier this month, Dickman said start-up founders will also have an opportunity to showcase their skills at TTT’s combine.
“They will come to Green Bay for a combine where we will have an opportunity to connect with them as a team, have an opportunity to connect them into the marketplace and have an opportunity to really evaluate them, much like the NFL evaluates players,” he said.
Mark Murphy, president and CEO of the Packers, said since the draft began traveling to cities throughout the country, “each community that hosts the draft makes it kind of their own – makes it special.”
“In terms of the draft (coming to Green Bay), the excitement is palpable – you can feel it across the community,” he said. “This is the largest event ever held in Green Bay.”
Murphy said when Dickman first approached him with the idea of the Start-up Draft, “it was one of those, ‘Why didn’t we think of that sooner?’” moments.
“It’s a chance to showcase not only love for football, but the strengths of our community here in Green Bay and really the entire State of Wisconsin,” he said. “I think, for many of us, it’s been much more than a game.”
Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, said he’s excited for the NFL Draft to be held in Green Bay “for a lot of reasons,” and said he also wondered, “why didn’t we think of (the Start-up Draft) sooner?”
“I suspect this is going to be something that lots of other people are going to learn from,” he said. “We’ll probably see it copied or emulated, but it’s another first for TitletownTech, for the Packers, for Microsoft and for Green Bay, Wisconsin.”
Murphy said from his own experience with football – playing in the NFL for several years before moving into football operations, eventually becoming the Packers president/CEO in 2007 – he learned lessons of resilience and teamwork.
Particularly with the Packers, Murphy said “there’s a commitment to building something lasting.”
That same spirit, he said, drives innovation.
“And that spirit is exactly what we’re going to celebrate with the TitletownTech Start-up Draft,” he said. “This is an opportunity for founders to take the next step in building their companies.”
Murphy said he can’t wait to see the impact the Start-up Draft has leading up and during the NFL Draft.
“Founders, you are now on the clock,” he said.
The combine
Similarly to how the NFL combine provides an opportunity for aspiring players to showcase their skills on a national stage, Murphy said the hope is the Start-up Draft will provide the same opportunity for founders.
TTT’s Start-up Combine will take place April 3-4, which Dickman said provides an opportunity for start-ups to refine their pitch, receive market feedback and engage with TitletownTech’s team, portfolio companies and corporate investors – such as Ariens, Kohler and Schneider.
“I think part of the magic of TitletownTech has been not only the anchor partners for the Packers and Microsoft, but the fact that we do have 25 other companies primarily from around this region, who have invested in TitletownTech (by) providing capital, but more importantly, to become really active members of the network,” he said. “You’ll see them working with our portfolio companies on a regular basis. They give market feedback, they help us understand problems that exist in their marketplace that if solved really opens up an opportunity for those companies to compete at a higher level.”
Dickman said TTT anticipates an extension of that during the Start-up Draft.
“The draft is an exaggeration of what happens here every single day, which is active engagement and involvement from our network partners into the start-up community to create new value and new opportunities,” he said.
When TTT staff started discussing the possibility of hosting the Start-up Draft in connection with the NFL Draft, Dickman said they saw significant support from TTT’s network of anchor partners.
“We saw a lot of enthusiasm from them for the idea,” he said. “I think the thing that’s probably more meaningful is when you look at the NFL, at the Packers and at Microsoft as a core, the amount of trust and respect they have for each other, I think was really a big part in saying, ‘hey, let’s bring this thing to life.’ Those foundations are built on deep relationships and trust, and then when the moments (like this) come, that’s where the opportunities are created.”
Dickman said the Start-up Combine also provides finalists with increased visibility, mentorship and the opportunity to build strategic relationships that extend far beyond the competition.
The Start-up Draft, Dickman said, serves as a call to founders from across the country “who do extraordinary things” to compete for the $1 million investment, which they will receive on the same night the Green Bay Packers select their first-round draft pick.
Dickman said TTT’s choice will be selected live during a broadcast available at titletowntech.com.
“We think we will find this as an extraordinary way to showcase innovation that’s taking place from around the country,” he said. “(It) gives us a unique opportunity – or really more of a responsibility – to help shape the technologies that will influence our region’s future and show that exceptional commercial opportunities are going to be created and built right here.”
Dickman said TTT hasn’t yet decided on exactly how many start-ups it plans to invite to the combine – “that will be part of the fun.”
“We’ll invite as many as we think we can both handle here and that will provide really exceptional opportunities to collaborate with our marketplace – giving us a chance to really take a look (at them),” he said.
Dickman said as TTT continues to look at the applications received, “that will tell us exactly where we’ll go” for the next step of the initiative, knowing it will culminate with the $1 million award on draft day.
“We know the beginning, and we know the end and (we’re having) a lot of fun in the middle,” he said.
Momentum is growing
In terms of the number of start-ups TTT anticipates to receive, Dickman said “we’re expecting thousands.”
“I think if we set a target of 5,000 companies jumping into this, (that) would not be (surprising),” he said.
Though the number of applications is not being released at this time, Murray said momentum is growing.
“We’ve seen strong interest from across the country, with applicants representing 23 states and all four regions: West, Midwest, South and Northeast,” she said.
Murray said applications received span all TTT’s key focus areas – including manufacturing and construction; supply chain and logistics; agriculture; water and energy; digital health; and sports, media and entertainment.
Some of the most common questions TTT has received regarding the Start-up Draft, Murray said, are centered around relocation requirements and investment terms.
“While founders are not required to relocate to Green Bay, we do expect meaningful engagement with our team and network,” she said.
Regarding investment terms, Murray said TTT staff knew the Start-up Draft would attract companies at different stages of operation and across diverse industries – “so we’ve intentionally left flexibility to meet start-ups where they are in their journey.”
Murray said if TTT needs to set terms for the winning start-up, “we’ll likely use a SAFE (simple agreement for future equity) or a convertible note for the $1 million investment.”
“If the winning start-up is already raising a priced round and has a lead in place, we’ll invest on those terms,” she said. “Our goal is to keep the process straightforward and beneficial for founders while ensuring we can effectively partner with them.”
Eligibility for the Start-up Draft, Dickman said, is very simple – “we invest in early-stage companies.”
“We’re largely defining that as companies who have not received more than $10 million in capital – because that will help us understand what stage they’re in,” he said. “I think we’re going to find some companies that haven’t received any capital yet, to some who have received some capital and have been in the marketplace and are trying to use it to either extend or adjust in a way that’s meaningful.”
Dickman said the only other requirement is “they have to be from the U.S. or Canada.”
“So, I’ll say, if you are from the U.S. or Canada, you have $10 million of capital or less, you’ve got a really great idea and you want to really make a difference – we’re wide open,” he said.
Interested start-ups can review eligibility criteria and apply at titletowntech.com/titletowntechstartupdraft – with a deadline of Sunday, March 16, at 11:59 p.m. Central Standard Time.
“You never know where the next great idea is going to come from or how far it will take you – that’s really the magic of TitletownTech,” Smith said. “So frankly, the only way to lose is to fail to complete. So this is a great opportunity for people to jump in.”
Focused on making a difference
Being a community-owned and -based team, Murphy said, affords the Packers an opportunity to invest in “initiatives that make a difference.”
“With the Start-up Draft, we’re extending that impact to help fuel the next generation of entrepreneurs and will shape the industries (of) tomorrow.”
None of this, Murphy said, would be possible without the partnership with Microsoft, which has shared the Packers’ vision of TitletownTech and what it has aimed to accomplish since the beginning and “have been instrumental in helping us build something that is truly special and unique.”
Smith said the company’s investment in TitletownTech “has always been about more than money.”
“Though the money has obviously been important, we’ve been the technology sponsor (as well),” he said. “We have a technologist in residence – Matt Adamczyk – at TitletownTech to work with these start-ups every day. We pull in people from the corporate headquarters in Seattle to work closely with them and use our technology expertise and people to help evaluate applications (TTT receives on a regular basis).”
Smith said the same approach is being used for the Start-up Draft.
“We plan to really lean in and support the winner,” he said. “So not only is the winner getting an infusion of cash, but also technical assistance. And what is so important in the world of technology these days, is access to compute – access to AI, to cloud services. We’ll be providing $350,000 of credits to access our resources to the winner as well.”
As someone who grew up in Wisconsin, Smith, an Appleton native, said “I find it really gratifying (to be a part of TTT mission), because it shows how much talent there is in Wisconsin.”
“I’ll argue that there’s very few places in the country, or the world, where you can find so many good people who will roll up their sleeves and help their neighbors seize an opportunity or solve a problem,” he said.
Dickman said for start-ups, money is one thing – “and a million dollars is real money” – but the power of partnerships is the ingredient that can really make a difference between “a company who starts in, a company who thrives.”
“I cannot think of a better place or a better time with your start-up to jump in and be part of what I think is going to be an extraordinary event,” he said.
