Four Greater Cincinnati startups remain as the latest round of Inno Madness comes to a close. More than 2,200 votes were cast in Round 4 – and it was largely business as usual.
Top-ranked seeds No. 2 Genetesis and No. 3 Akru advanced, as we said goodbye to early bracket busters – and fellow No. 13 seeds – Backyard Bet and Hearty. No. 6 Cloverleaf breezed by No. 8 Velontra.
No. 15 Lerch, meanwhile, continues to upset its way through the competition. Its matchup was our closest in the round as it topped No. 5 Carefeed by 167 votes.
Who will advance to the finals? Check out the bracket below to see the final two matchups – and get voting!
Round 5 ends Thursday, March 29, at 11:59 p.m.
A winner will ultimately be crowned April 6.
Meet the players
- Akru’s blockchain-based platform allows for fractionalized real estate investing, democratizing commercial real estate investments.
- Genetesis is developing the CardioFlux to rapidly scan for various heart conditions without the use of radiation, contrast or exercise. The company expects FDA “de novo” market authorization this year
- Carefeed provides digital communication solutions to senior care facilities.
- Lerch is a mobile event app that combines order-ahead technology with venue GPS. It's a recent Techstars Tulsa alum.
What is Inno Madness?
Inno Madness is our friendly, bracket-style challenge where readers vote to advance companies based on one question: Who would you invest in? Whether you believe in one mission or product over the other or would prefer to back a more established company versus an early-stager, how you answer that question is entirely up to you.
The bracket is assembled based on reader nominations, as well as editorial input from the Cincy Inno team. Seeding was determined by total funding and recent momentum.
The goal of Inno Madness is to give a snapshot of some of the most-promising tech companies in the region. It is by no means a complete list of Greater Cincinnati's best startups. It's also not just a list of the most-funded startups in the region.
Instead, the bracket is meant to represent the full breadth and diversity of the ecosystem. In the end, think of it as another fun look into local tech companies you need to know in 2023.
