[Update: Round two voting has closed, but round three voting is open. Headhereto make your picks.]
March Madness kicks off Thursday in full force. Fortunately, we got you, dear fan, a pair of deluxe court seats, front and center …
… to BostInno’s Startup March Madness Bracket, courtesy of Brackify.(Don’t worry, you’ll still practically be able to smell the blood, sweat and tears.) In the spirit of the sporty season, BostInno created a little friendly competition of its own. We want to know: Who's going to be the most valuable Boston-based company in five years?
You made your picks for the first round of voting, chopping the seeded 64 companies to 32. And it wouldn’t be March Madness without a few underdog upsets and close calls.
No. 15 seed alcohol delivery startup Drizly dethroned cloud management company and No. 2 seed Actifio,906 votes to 588 in the first bracket. Looks like Boston’s betting on booze to still be delivered to their doors come 2019.
Professional skill testing startup Smarterer, seeded 16th, slammed Extreme Reach, the top seed and cross-media video advertising startup, 851 to 438. Now that’s what we call "schooling."
Big data marketing tech company DataXu, the first seed of the second bracket, was knocked down by hardware accelerator and crowdfunding platform Dragon Innovation, the 16th seed, in a tight match. The final score was DataXu with 1,080 votes, and Dragon with 1,145.
Another tight race went down between No. 2 seed and Drupal tool provider Acquia and Backend-as-a-Service startup Kinvey, who was seeded in the 15th spot. A mere 11 votes separated the two companies, but, in the end, it was Kinvey who prevailed.
Starting Thursday morning, both brackets will be divvied down to the Sweet 16. At the end of the event, the leader from both brackets will face down for the final championship round. Here's how the voting breaks down:
- Second Round Voting Ends: Monday, March 24, at 8 a.m.
- Sweet 16 Starts: Monday, March 24, at 9 a.m.
- Sweet 16 Ends: Thursday, March 27, at 8 a.m.
- Elite 8 Voting Starts: Thursday, March 27, at 9 a.m.
- Elite 8 Voting Ends: Monday, March 31, at 8 a.m.
- Final Four Voting Starts: Monday, March 31, at 9 a.m.
- Final Four Voting Ends: Friday, April 4, at 8 a.m.
- Championship Voting Starts: Friday, April 4, at 9 a.m.
- Championship Voting Ends: Monday, April 7, at 8 a.m.
- Winner Announced: Monday, April 7, at 9 a.m.
While basketball fans are forced to wait till noon today to witness the first tip-off of March Madness, you have the chance to place your bets on BostInno’s own bracket ahead of schedule. (Freeing you up to make that pre-game beer run, perhaps, or maybe place an order with fan favorite Drizly? )
Contending startups, best of luck. Leave it all on court. Smack talk is encouraged.
Vote now. You have until Monday, March 24, at 8 a.m.
