Round one of this year's Inno Madness startup competition saw a massive upset, with one of New Mexico Inno's 2024 No. 1 seeds falling by a substantial margin. That upset means the second round is wonderfully poised for more drama — see the updated bracket and cast your vote in round two below!
The friendly, bracket-style contest got underway last week, with 16 New Mexico startups facing off after being selected from reader nominations and New Mexico Inno editorial team input. Readers voted based on one primary question — who would you invest in?
In a stunning first round result, No. 8 seed Tartle, the Santa Fe-based data sharing startup, defeated No. 1 seed and last year's Inno Madness champion, Terra Vera. And the result wasn't particularly close — Tartle beat Terra Vera by 644 votes, garnering close to 80% of all votes in the head-to-head battle.
It's not the first time a top seed has fallen in the first round of Inno Madness. New Mexico Inno's inaugural startup contest in 2022 saw Teeniors lose to Merek Security Solutions in a No. 2 versus No. 15 seed matchup — a No. 1 versus No. 8 seed equivalent match.
Our 2024 competition's first round had two other upsets by relatively slimmer margins. VisionQuest Biomedical, a No. 5 seed, took down BabyQuip by 342 votes, and No. 6 seeded VastVision beat No. 3 seeded Circular Genomics in a real nail-bitter — VastVision won the match-up by merely 20 votes.
All other high seeds advanced to round two.
Nearly 1,150 people voted in round one of this year's competition. To see the full results, click here.
The goal of Inno Madness is to give a snapshot of the most promising tech companies in New Mexico. It's by no means a complete list of New Mexico's best startups, which is a testament to the growing tech scene in the state; it's meant to represent the full breadth and diversity of the ecosystem, including some of our 2024 Startups to Watch.
Below you'll find brief descriptions of the eight remaining startups in this year's bracket. Use the bottom in the bracket above, or the link here, to vote in round one.
Click here to read the contest rules.
Now, it's time for round two!
Solstar Space Co. — Our 2022 champion develops communications technology for satellites and other spacecraft to extend Wi-Fi capabilities in space.
Build with Robots — Offers automated robots that spray disinfectant to clean areas like ambulances or schools.
WaveOn Health — Last year's runner-up is creating an app-based digital athlete health management system.
Hoonify Technologies — Selling a high-performance computing software called 'TurbOS' with hardware options.
Both& — An apparel company and brand making clothes for transmasculine and nonbinary people.
VisionQuest Biomedical — Commercializing an AI-based peripheral neuropathy screening technology.
VastVision — Rolling out a software and RFID chip-based platform to help businesses track physical assets.
Tartle — Growing a platform that lets customers securely provide information about themselves that companies can pay to access.
