The first round of Albany Inno Madness was a somewhat staid affair as the higher seeds all advanced. The second round? Chaos.
Ecovative, the No. 1 seed? It was bounced by No. 8 seed UCM Digital Health in a heart-stopping one-vote victory.
Velan Studios, the No. 2 seed? Game over. Nuvalence, the No. 7, takes the Troy bragging rights.
Aptihealth, the No. 4 seed? Ring the alarm, because No. 5 Inspect Point pulled out the win.
That leaves No. 3 seed MyForest Foods as the highest seed remaining after flexing its (plant-based) muscle against No. 6 Levrx.
Check out the bracket below for the Round 3 matchups — and vote now. The second round will be open through March 23 at noon.
There are short descriptions of the companies below and read the contest rules here.
Inno Madness is a friendly, bracket-style challenge in which readers vote to advance companies based on one question: Who would you invest in?
The bracket is assembled based on reader nominations, as well as editorial input from the Albany Inno team. Seeding was determined in an order based roughly on the amount of funding each startup has raised.
The goal of Inno Madness is to provide a snapshot of some of the most promising tech companies in the Capital Region. It is by no means a complete list of the Albany region's best startups. Think of it as a fun way of shining a spotlight on some companies on the rise.
The Inno Madness winner will be crowned on March 31.
Here's the bracket so far.
Click here to make your picks now!
Meet the companies still in the challenge
MyForest Foods Co., a spinoff of Ecovative Design, makes a bacon substitute from mycelium.
Inspect Point has created a software platform to help fire protection companies more easily manage building inspections.
Nuvalence focuses on professional services in the cloud computing industry and plans to expand into three new offices and two new cities.
UCM Digital Health is a medical triage telemedicine platform meant to keep patients from visiting the ER when it's not necessary.
Read contest rules here
