Our Colorado Inno Madness competition is here, and this year we’ve got 16 local companies vying for the 2024 title of Colorado Inno Madness champion.
What is Colorado Inno Madness?
Inno Madness is a friendly, bracket-style challenge designed to generate awareness and excitement for the state’s ecosystem and businesses that are driving it forward.
For this year’s challenge, we’re asking readers to vote to advance companies based on one question: Who would you invest in?
This year’s participants are a variety of early-stage startups and larger, venture-backed companies. The bracket is assembled based on reader nominations as well as editorial input from the Colorado Inno team. Seeding was determined by funding raised to date.
When can I vote?
Voting began on March 19 and continues until April 19.
Readers can cast one vote per round. We’ll open voting round by round, spanning several weeks as the competition gets narrowed down from 16 local companies to one winner. News about which businesses advance, and those that don’t, will be shared on Colorado Inno and in our biweekly newsletter. (Subscribe here if you aren’t already receiving the Beat newsletter.)
Here’s a look at this year’s voting schedule. Voting will close at 5:30 p.m. on the final day of each round. Once each round closes, we will advance the winners to the next round.
Round 1: March 19 to March 26
Round 2: March 27 to April 3
Round 3: April 4 to April 11
Round 4: April 12 to April 19
The 2024 Colorado Inno Madness champion will be crowned on Tuesday, April 23.
Now, let’s get to voting.
How do I vote?
You can vote in the bracket below, which will be updated after each round of the competition.
If you’re not familiar with the players, see our brief descriptions below before casting your vote.
Pie Insurance: Founded in 2017, the company provides workers’ compensation and other insurance to small businesses. Pie Insurance raised a $315 million Series D in 2022 and was named a Colorado Inno Awards winner the same year.
AMP: The Louisville-based company aims to make recycling more efficient. It opened an 84,000-square-foot headquarters in late 2022 and raised more than $104.2 million in 2022 and 2023.
Todyl: Having recently raised $50 million, Todyl is a cybersecurity platform for distributed workforces that brings devices, end users and cloud to a single, secure network. The company was named a Colorado Inno Startup to Watch in 2022.
Vita Inclinata Technologies: Founded in 2015, Broomfield-based Vita Inclinata Technologies creates innovative products to help stabilize cranes and devices lowered from helicopters, such as the basket used to rescue someone injured or lost. The company acquired a helicopter response brand in July 2023.
Fluid Truck: Since its founding in 2016, the fast-growing vehicle rental company has raised nearly $65 million, including $17.8 million in July 2023. Denver-based Fluid Truck also landed on Deloitte’s 2023 list of the fastest-growing technology businesses and the Denver Business Journal’s 2023 Fast 50.
Arrive Health: A DBJ 2023 Small Business Awards Finalist, the health tech company aims to reduce friction in health care workflows and improve access to affordable care. Arrive Health also made Deloitte’s list of the fastest-growing technology businesses last year, similar to Fluid Truck.
GoodBuy Gear: Denver-based GoodBuy Gear is a resale marketplace for children’s equipment. The company raised $14 million last June and earned the title of Small Business Awards Winner from the DBJ last year.
Tilt: Fort Collins-based Tilt is a workplace leave management platform that streamlines company leave policies and federal and state laws surrounding leave. The company was named the Emerging Tech Company of the Year in 2022 by the Colorado Technology Association and raised $10 million a year later.
Urban Sky: Recognized as a Colorado Inno Startup to Watch in 2024, Urban Sky is building an economy in the stratosphere, starting with capturing images of Earth. The Denver-based company, which raised $9.75 million last year, uses a reusable micro balloon and imaging payload to gather data about the Earth.
Fulfilld: Denver-based Fulfilld developed a cloud-based solution that creates a digital twin of a customer’s warehouse to optimize employee productivity and efficiency using machine learning. Named a Colorado Inno Startup to Watch in 2023 and a DBJ Best Places to Work winner, Fulfilld has raised $8 million to date, with backing from a former Amazon executive, Colorado’s Matchstick Ventures and others.
Cloud Campaign: The Boulder-based social media management software company has raised nearly $6.7 million since its founding in 2017, including a $5 million Series A. Cloud Campaign’s software is used by marketing agencies and freelancers.
Guest House: Tech-enabled home staging platform Guest House was named a Colorado Inno Startup to Watch in 2023. The platform raised $3.5 million in June 2023 and expanded to serve clients in Orange County, California, in addition to Denver, Boulder, Vail and San Diego, California.
Bitewell: Denver-based Bitewell is a food tech startup focused on the “food as medicine” industry. The startup’s platform, which is offered as an employee benefit, takes a user’s health history and dietary restrictions to help them find healthy food that fits their diet. Last year, Bitwell raised a $4 million seed round, moved to a 14,000-square-foot headquarters in RiNo and launched AI-powered food “farmacy.”
MagicSchool AI: Named a Colorado Inno Startup to Watch in 2024, MagicSchool AI is a generative AI startup for K-12 educators. The startup launched in May 2023, and three months later, raised a $2.5 million pre-seed round and deployed more than 50 generative AI tools.
Dapple Security: The Centennial-based digital security startup uses biometrics, like a user’s fingerprint or voice, to offer people and businesses a phishing-resistant passwordless login. Dapple Security participated in Techstars Boulder last summer and secured a $2.3 million pre-seed earlier this year.
Lune Acoustics: Founded in 2022, Lune Acoustics developed a “music companion” to help artists create, play and advance their guitar-playing. The Littleton music startup recently won an Innovation Award at South by Southwest under the interface design category.
