It wouldn't be called "madness" if there weren't a few upsets.
The first round of KY Inno Madness is in the books, and boy did we have some close matchups. I think that speaks for itself when it comes to the caliber of the companies the commonwealth has to offer.
Nonetheless, the crop of 32 companies has been whittled down to 16. You can check out the results in the bracket below, but I just wanted to point out a couple of upsets: We've got not one, but TWO No. 8 seeds moving on to the next round of the competition, knocking out two No. 1 seeds in the process. No. 8 Black Business Boxes and No. 8 Wall Eye Solutions both got wins against No. 1 SkuVault and No. 1 Switcher Studio, respectively.
In case you missed the first round, KY Inno decided the seeds based on the age the company and the venture dollars backing it. But like the points in "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" — the seeds don't really matter when you've got so many innovative startups.
Second round voting will end at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, March 13, so be sure to get those votes in. Meanwhile, I'll be keeping everyone up to date in KY Inno's free weekly newsletter, The Beat. Sign up here.
Meet the players in round two:
Climavision (Louisville) — A tech company that has developed a weather services and intelligence platform powered by a private network of high-resolution radars, GPS-RO data and proprietary software to improve the timing and accuracy of weather forecasting and to fill low-level gaps in existing weather surveillance.
FreshFry (Louisville) — A food-tech company that developed an all-natural, plant-based pod that extends the life of frying oil by collecting and dissolving impurities, ultimately saving restaurant operators time, labor and cost.
SentryHealth (Louisville) — A health-tech company that developed a population health management tool for providers that pairs analytics with clinical care management and high-touch outreach to drive positive behavior change and outcomes.
Hippo Manager (Lexington) — A tech company that has developed a cloud-based veterinary management software, offering built-in reminders, lab integrations, cash flow analysis tables and practice performance reports.
Space Tango (Lexington) — An aerospace company that provides access to microgravity for research and development and manufacturing on the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory through automated platforms that can support a variety of sciences.
Forecastr (Louisville) — A fintech company that developed a platform that constructs a custom forecasting model for businesses, which can be used for budgeting, cash flow management and raising capital.
VividCharts (Lexington) — A data visualization platform that allows ServiceNow customers to generate and distribute real-time reports that make data-focused decisions easy and efficient.
Party Horses (Louisville) — A web3 company that’s releasing 10,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that will have tangible, real-world benefits, such as access to rare bottles of bourbon and exclusive events.
Moolathon (Louisville) — A social fundraising platform and fitness tracker smartphone application that gives individuals and groups the ability to raise money for a cause.
Bert Thin Films (Louisville) — A company that is developing a low-cost, copper-based paste that will replace an expensive silver component prevalent in solar cell manufacturing.
JoBé Products (Louisville) — A company that invented the “Besk” — a combination backpack and desk.
PreventScripts (Paducah, Kentucky) — A health tech company looking to solve the “blind spot of health care” — the time between primary care visits — with a remote monitoring app where providers can track patient’s progress.
Pascal Tags (Louisville) — A hard-tech company building a data-driven supply chain through smart, chip-less tags that allow businesses to track inventory.
Symba (Louisville) — A real estate tech company that’s built a mobile-first, customer relationship management platform that enables agents to upload their contacts, track deals, organize their tasks and monitor their sales and commissions.
Black Business Boxes (Louisville) — An e-commerce company that is working to build a Black-owned marketplace makes it easier for dollars to circulate within the Black community, and curate subscription boxes from different Black-owned businesses to introduce consumers to new brands.
Wall Eye Solutions (Stanford, Kentucky) — An additive manufacturing company that offers a large variety of fully tubed wall ports, creating a fully sealed opening through a wall or barrier and leaving an aesthetically pleasing pass through for the running of cables, cords and wires.
