Game on, Queen City. To drive awareness and excitement for the region’s startup ecosystem, Cincy Inno is back with our annual Tech Madness bracket challenge, a reader-driven bracket competition highlighting some of the local startup scene’s biggest, brightest and most exciting companies.
Over the next few weeks, 32 Cincinnati startups and tech companies will go head-to-head, with readers voting to determine who will move on to the next round.
We seeded the companies based on their disclosed funding and other growth metrics. (Important note: Seeding isn’t an editorial judgment. We primarily relied on funding because, well, that’s the most accessible and universal metric available).
To determine the outcome of each matchup, ask yourselves this question: Who would you invest in?
This can be interpreted a number of different ways. Is this about which startup could deliver the highest return? Who you think is the safest bet? Or is it about supporting a project or mission you’re passionate about? How you want to interpret that question is up to you. That’s Tech Madness!
Each week we'll update this page to show you which startups have moved on to the next round.
Round one
Round one is officially in the books! With a whopping 1,700 votes, 16 companies have made their way to the next round of voting.
None of the four No. 1 seeds were eliminated in the first round of voting, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t upsets. In fact, two sixth-seeded teams (HomeShake and Sense Neuro Diagnostics) toppled their higher-ranked peers.
But the biggest upset goes to software firm Astronomer, a No. 7 seed that bested downtown-based health tech Halo Health, a two seed.
Round two
OK, folks. If you thought round one was fun, just wait until you see what happened in round two!
Two of our No. 1 seeds were eliminated — Vndly and Genetesis, both based in Mason. Vndly missed out on round three to Covington-based Cloverleaf (a No. 3 seed), while Genetesis was taken out by Sense Neuro Diagnostics (a No. 6 seed).
And in the closest race of the round, Montgomery-based Coterie just barely missed its own upset to upcoming homebuying startup Homeshake. How close was it, you ask? Coterie won by just four votes!
Round three
Nothing beats a Cinderella story — and it looks like Sense Neuro Diagnostics is doing its best to make one. The Cincinnati-based startup not only once again pulled an upset by defeating Cincinnati Children's spin-off Kurome Therapeutics but Sense Neuro also scored the most votes during round three.
Montgomery-based Coterie was once again in the round's closest race; however, this time the insurance startup just missed the mark, losing to IncludeHealth by two votes.
The semifinals
Four startups entered; only two remain. That's right, folks, we're headed into the finals.
No. 1 seed 80 Acres is set to face off against No. 6 seed Sense Neuro Diagnostics in our 2021 Tech Madness final.
80 Acres is arguably one of the region's best-known startups. The Hamilton-based vertical farming startup has attracted several big-name backers, including Barclay’s, the British investment bank. Meanwhile, Sense Neuro Diagnostics is newer to the scene. The Cincinnati-based company has developed two devices, non-invasive brain scanners that can assess and monitor a patient's neurological status in real time – one, for use in the field assessment, like in an ambulance, and another for continuous monitoring in a neuro ICU.
The finals
After four rounds of voting and nearly 3,000 votes tallied, we have our 2021 Tech Madness winner, ladies and gentleman. Congratulations, Sense Neuro Diagnostics!
The Cincinnati-based startup pulled off this year's Cinderella story, taking down two No. 3 seeds and two No. 1 seeds to take home the top prize.
To learn more about the company and its work developing non-invasive brain scanners, don't miss this week's Beat. You can subscribe here.
