This year's Inno Madness contest has been full of storylines. As the dramatic startup competition nears a close, it's time to have your say in which promising company should be named champion. See the updated bracket and cast your vote below!
The friendly, bracket-style contest got underway three weeks ago, with 16 New Mexico startups facing off after being selected from reader nominations and New Mexico Inno editorial team input. Readers voted in successive rounds based on one primary question — who would you invest in?
The biggest storyline in the 2024 Inno Madness competition has been the Cinderella run of Tartle, the eight-seeded data-sharing startup based in Santa Fe that's taken down last year's champion, an artificial intelligence-backed startup and, in the semi-final, a well-known Albuquerque robotics company — all by fairly hefty margins — on its path to this year's championship.
But on the other side of the bracket, one of last year's finalists has made its own strong run. WaveOn Health, an Albuquerque company developing a digital athlete health management system, has reasserted the fact it's one of New Mexico's most popular startups by defeating the 2022 Inno Madness champion in the semi-final, as well as a No. 7 seed and a No. 5 seed, on its way to the championship.
Exactly 1,800 people voted in the semi-final round, more than any other round in the competition's two-year history — click here to see the full results.
Now, Albuquerque's WaveOn Health and Santa Fe's Tartle will match up in the final.
To see how we got here and to cast your vote in the championship, check out the bracket below.
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 our two finalists. Use the button in the bracket above, or the link here, to vote on which you think should be named this year's champion!
Click here to read the contest rules.
WaveOn Health — Last year's runner-up is creating an app-based digital athlete health management system.
Tartle — Growing a software platform that lets customers securely provide information about themselves that companies can pay to access.
