Only four local companies remain in this year's Inno Madness bracket challenge — with this latest round being another one of close calls.
Charlotte Inno launched its bracket challenge two weeks ago with 16 companies facing off in round one, followed by eight companies left standing in round two this past week. Readers submitted roughly 3,700 responses in the second round, more than doubling the number of responses compared to the first.
No. 8 seed Huck Cycles edged out No. 1 Opkalla with 50.5% of the vote. No. 4 ETHIX360 came out on top against Amicus.io/Louise by TIFIN, a No. 12 seed, by a margin of 16 votes or 50.2% of the total. No. 15 seed Emporos slipped past No. 10 Atom Power with 51.6% of the vote. And Oxit, a No. 6 seed, prevailed over No. 14 MyWorkChoice with 51.5%.
A reminder: This bracket challenge is designed to shine a spotlight on fast-growing local businesses. It isn't a complete list of Charlotte's best startups, but rather a way to show the breadth and diversity of our ecosystem. The closing voting results confirm the level of talent Charlotte has to offer.
Seeding is random and does not reflect a ranking. The bracket is updated each week based on readers' votes.
View complete round two results here. Percentages are rounded to the closest whole number.
Voting for round three starts today at noon. Readers may cast one vote per round. Each week, voting runs from Wednesdays at noon through the following Tuesday. This year's champion will be crowned at the end of March.
Review the contest rules here.
Take a look at the final four:
- Emporos — A point-of-sale system provider for the pharmacy industry
- Huck Cycles — An electric moped manufacturer
- Oxit — An Internet of Things consulting service
- ETHIX360 — A software provider for employee ethics communication, case management and compliance training
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