The Madison area’s strength in health-related technology and in data science and computer code might form the basis for a tech office here, Philosophos said. “The opportunity does exist to do that. It’s going to take the right group to put it together” and it will take time, he said.

Philosophos and Great Oaks managing partner Andrew Boszhardt are UW-Madison graduates. On a trip to town for a Badger football game a few years ago, Philosophos set up meetings with a few entrepreneurs and was surprised to find “a pretty vibrant and emerging tech ecosystem,” he said.

“There’s a lot happening here and the potential for a lot more,” Philosophos said.

Leaders of two of Great Oaks’ portfolio companies, Fetch Rewards and Plyfe, also spoke to the luncheon meeting, which drew about 75 people to the Sheraton Madison hotel.

Andy Walker, a Stoughton native and UW-Madison computer sciences graduate, said he returned to the Madison area in 2011 to raise his family after working for the U.S. Department of Defense and launching several start-ups in other parts of the country. Walker is now with Fetch Rewards, whose technology lets grocery shoppers scan the barcodes of products they are buying as they walk through the store.