# Thomas Shannon

> Thomas Shannon is a seed investor at BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation backing Medical and SaaS. See 4 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/brightstar-wisconsin-found)
- Location: Saukville, United States
- Total investments: 4
- Last investment: May 2012
- Lead investor: 75%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-shannon-166ba774

Thomas Shannon is a seed investor at BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation in Saukville focused on Medical and SaaS. Tom Shannon is President and CEO of BrightStar. He was board chairman and a lead investor in Proxim Diagnostics Corp., Somna Therapeutics LLC, and Aver Informatics Inc. and CEO of biotech company Prodesse Inc. Tom has also served as a director of the Wisconsin Angel Network, Promentis Pharmaceuticals Inc., Stemina Biomarker Discovery Inc. andOKANJO Partners Inc. He has earned the CFP credentials and is an inductee into the Wisconsin Investor hall of fame.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Medical | 2 | 50% |
| SaaS | 1 | 25% |
| Audio | 1 | 25% |
| Energy | 1 | 25% |
| Big Data | 1 | 25% |

14 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 2 | 50% |
| Angel | 1 | 25% |
| Series B | 1 | 25% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Somna Therapeutics | Founded in March 2012 in partnership with the Medical College of Wisconsin, Somna Therapeutics is a medical device company focused on improving the quality of life for the millions of people suffering from laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) / extraesophageal acid reflux disease (EERD). The Reza Band™, UES Assist Device is designed to be anon-invasive solution. In the near-term, Somna Therapeutics is planning to optimize product design and complete clinical trials to gain FDA clearance. We anticipate upon FDA clearance and product launch, to be selling to hospitals, physician clinics, and home health care. | $1.2M | Seed | May 02, 2012 |  |
| HarQen | HarQen unleashes the richness of information trapped inside conversations — transforming voice into actionable insights. Founded in 2007, HarQen's award-winning Intelligent Voice Services enables meetings, interviews and other conversations to be captured, enriched and shared, improving collaboration and productivity. HarQen is also afounding member of the Hypervoice Consortium. Hypervoice is an emerging model for organizing and navigating voice conversations. The technology within Symposia, HarQen's second application, showcases the first example of Hypervoice capabilities for use in enterprise social collaboration. | $4.3M | Series B | Oct 13, 2011 |  |
| Shamrock Energy Corp | Shamrock Energy uses nanomaterials to develop better ways to store and use energy. The company is headquartered in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. | $580K | Angel | Feb 08, 2011 |  |
| Prodesse | Prodesse develops molecular diagnostic reagents for a variety of infectious disease applications. Prodesse sells three FDA 510(k) cleared products in the United States, and two additional CE-marked products in Europe. The company's products can be used in conjunction with various nucleic acid extraction and real-time PCR (polymerase chainreaction) platforms, including Cepheid's SmartCycler(®) II System. | $1.5M | Seed | Jan 01, 2002 |  |

4 of 4 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Golden Seeds](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/golden-seeds) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Capital Midwest Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/midwest-capital-fund) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Phenomenelle Angels](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/phenomenelle-angels) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Wisconsin Investment Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/wisconsin-investment-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation

VC Fund · Milwaukee, United States

BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on funding for-profit early-stage companies. It works with works with government, educational institutions, other charitable organizations, angel groups, and venture funds to identify, invest or co-invest in, mentor, and promote fast growing early-stage companies to createtechnology-based jobs in Wisconsin.BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation was founded in 2013 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

4 contacts available at BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Andy Shrago | Investment Committee | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/andy-shrago |
| Jeffery Harris | Founder & Chairman | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jeffery-harris |
| Michael Malatesta | Investment Committee Member | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mike-malatesta-022a |
| Thomas Shannon | President and CEO | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/thomas-shannon |

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Thomas Shannon invest in?

Thomas Shannon invests primarily in Medical, SaaS and Audio startups, most often at Seed and Angel stage. Most of the 4 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Thomas Shannon last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Thomas Shannon closed in May 2012. Shizune tracks 4 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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