The first round of Inno Madness in Cincinnati saw major upsets abound. Overall No. 1 seed, medical device maker Enable Injections, fell to Last Mile Food Rescue, while fellow top seeds Bexion (No. 4) and Astronomer (No. 3), a data firm, dropped in their matchups against Akru and Voxel Technologies, respectively.
There are now 16 teams remaining as Round 2 begins. If you’re new to the game, Inno Madness is our annual friendly, bracket-style challenge. Readers are asked to vote to advance local startups and tech companies based on one question: Who would you invest in?
The winner receives the ultimate bragging rights: The title of 2024 Inno Madness champion.
Round 1 also proved interesting in a variety of other ways: Safewave, which is developing a smart wristband, won its head-to-head with fintech Tesouro, taking more than 80% of the vote. It will now face off against Soundtrace, a startup developing technology to protect employees from noise-induced hearing loss. It won its matchup against Lisnr with 63% of the vote.
Pay Theory and Spot Health were also popular picks. They easily swept past competitors Pantomath and Losant.
Meet the remaining participants below and catch up on the contest rules here. One highlight: Readers can only cast one vote per round.
The goal of Inno Madness is to give a snapshot of some of the most promising tech companies in the region. We'll open up voting round by round before crowning a winner April 9.
Second-round voting begins now and continues through 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 25.
Meet the players:
- 80 Acres Farms is an indoor vertical farming startup known for its fireworks tomatoes and leafy greens. The company recently inked its first acquisition, scooping up a salad dressing line from a Toronto firm.
- Abre is a K-12 education data management platform that connects students, families, staff and community partners. The company last year closed an oversubscribed funding round.
- Akru’s blockchain-based platform allows for fractionalized real estate investing, democratizing commercial real estate investments.
- Bailout Systems is a hands-free fall-safety device for firefighters, arborists, military personnel and recreational climbers. Founder Michael Ragsdale was inspired by the 2005 Black Sunday incident in New York City, during which six firefighters were forced to jump from the fourth floor of a burning building. Only four survived, all of whom sustained life-altering injuries. Bailout Systems has raised $374,000 to date from UC’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Commercialization, Third Frontier and Main Street Ventures, among others.
- Band Connect is developing a digital health platform plus fitness equipment outfitted with sensors to promote in-home physical therapy. The company recently landed approval for its first U.S. patent and is in the process of raising a $1.5 million seed round.
- BioWish Technologies provides biotech solutions for the agriculture, aquaculture and environmental management industries, allowing customers to increase crop production or naturally treat waste and surface water.
- Cloverleaf is an automated coaching platform for workers and teams.
- Frayt is a tech startup that connects businesses with on-demand last-mile delivery services — small-freight and independent van owners with excess cargo space. Using the company’s app, customers can enter their information and receive an instant quote.
- Last Mile Food Rescue is a food rescue organization powered by tech. Its volunteers have picked up and delivered more than 8 million pounds of food from area partners since the group’s first rescue in November 2020.
- Nichefire, based in Covington, is building an artificial intelligence-powered platform to help companies understand and predict the impact of emerging cultural trends. The startup closed a pre-seed round last year.
- Noxsano is going to market with a wound care solution targeting the veterinary industry. The company, founded by a team of scientists and health care professionals from Procter & Gamble, McKesson and more, is backed by Cleveland’s JumpStart Ventures and individual angel investors.
- Pay Theory helps make payments more inclusive for families, especially those “un- or under-banked.”
- Safewave’s smart wristband connects via Bluetooth to fire alarms, Ring cameras, security devices, even the Owlet baby sleep monitor – turning any notification or alert into a vibration people can feel on their wrist. The device is tailored to customers who are deaf and hard of hearing, but there’s also a market for those with significant special needs, dementia and Alzheimer's.
- Soundtrace is developing software with AI and IoT (Internet of Things) technology to protect employees from noise-induced hearing loss. The 2-year-old startup last year raised $2.5 million from New York-based Gutter Capital; SpringTide, a Cambridge, Mass., venture capital firm; and Cintrifuse Capital.
- Spot Health is building infrastructure to support the future of at-home testing and diagnostics. The company, based at Alloy Growth Lab, is a 2022 Y Combinator graduate.
- Voxel Technologies, an additive manufacturing/industrial 3D printing company, landed $1.7 million in seed funding from CincyTech in 2023. The company has since moved into an advanced manufacturing lab in Blue Ash.
