We have a winner in the 2022 Colorado Inno Madness bracket and it is last year's runner-up.
This Denver-based company clearly spent the year training to come back for a victory. It faced off with 32 other local startups throughout the month of March in our friendly, bracket-style competition raising awareness of the depth of Colorado's startup scene.
And the winner is StackHawk.
StackHawk was a 2020 Colorado Inno Startups to Watch company that also made it to the final matchup in last year's Colorado Inno Madness bracket. The company enables engineers to find and remediate security problems in development and production through continuous vulnerability scanning.
StackHawk faced off in the final round with CyberGRX, a global cyber risk exchange provider. But after thousands of votes were cast and a number of upsets — with small companies leaping past better-funded ones — Stackhawk can now take a victory lap.
"We are thrilled to be cutting down the nets for the Colorado Inno Madness!" StackHawk CEO Joni Klippert told Colorado Inno. "We are proud to be building a business in Colorado. The talent pool here is what allows us to scale our business rapidly. As we look to double our size in the next year, there is no better place to call home. And of course, a huge thank you to everyone who voted!"
In other words, "KAAKAWW!" as StackHawk commented on Twitter.
The bracket was assembled based on reader nominations, as well as editorial input from the Inno team. Seeding was determined by funding and company size. The competition began March 3 and ended April 5.
The goal of Inno Madness is to give a snapshot of some of the most promising tech companies in Colorado. It is by no means a complete list of our state's best startups, which is a testament to the size of Colorado's tech scene. It's also not just a list of the 32 most-funded startups in the region. Instead, the bracket is meant to represent the breadth and diversity of the ecosystem.
Voters — and companies — had a lot of fun along the way. For example, Sheets & Giggles fans on Twitter joked they were glad the e-commerce bedding company wasn't facing off against juggernaut Pie Insurance (who would vote against pie, after all?). But Pie Insurance, last year's winner, ultimately failed to make it past Round 3.
Thanks to all the Colorado companies that participated and to all the voters who weighed in this year.
