It’s come down to this: What started with 32 companies has been boiled down to just four teams in the second edition of our Inno Madness tournament.
And the upsets that defined the first round came back to the surface with three lower seeded startups claiming victories. Furthermore, all three of those lower seeds are based outside of Louisville.
In Region A, No. 8 BumptUp — a health app for pregnant women based out of Bowling Green, Kentucky — continued its improbable run by finishing ahead of No. 2 seed XpressRun out of Louisville, after getting 57% of the vote.
BumptUp will be paired in the semifinals with No. 5 Farmers Plus out of Leitchfield, Kentucky, after the agricultural-centric digital marketplace defeated No. 2 BioProducts from Louisville with 55% of the vote in the Region C final.
Wicked Sheets, which manufactures specialized bedding and sleep products, became the only No. 1 seed to advance to the semifinals by claiming 53% of the vote over fellow Louisville startup No. 6 Affinna in the Region B final.
Paducah-based No. 6 Feedcoyete will take on Wicked Sheets after the freelancer collaboration platform upended No. 1 eBlu Solutions of Louisville in the Region D final with 56% of the vote.
Click on the bracket below to vote.
A few things to note:
- With XpressRun bowing out, none of our 2023 Startups to Watch remain in the competition.
- Three of the remaining four companies have female founders: BumptUp, Wicked Sheets and Farmers Plus.
A total of 1,441 people voted in the third round. Our numbers have gone up every round — thank you!
In case you missed the first round, KY Inno decided the seeds based on the age of the company and the venture dollars backing it. For reference we have copied over the “Meet the Players” section of the eight remaining teams.
Fourth round voting ends at 11:59 p.m. on March 28. As a refresher, click here for the rules of the competition.
Meet the players
Wicked Sheets (Louisville) — Wicked Sheets specializes in bedding and sleep products. In partnership with the University of Louisville, the Wicked Smart Pad will test application use in the Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias populations.
Farmers Plus (Leitchfield, Kentucky) — The company has a digital marketplace designed for the agriculture tech industry, which includes the capability of conducting e-commerce transactions.
Feedcoyote (Paducah, Kentucky) — Feedcoyote serves as a collaboration platform for freelancers. It was created to address both the increasing numbers of freelancers in the digital space, and the resulting increased need for connections to other freelancers.
BumptUp (Bowling Green, Kentucky) — BumptUp is a pregnancy health evidence-based app that helps women improve physical activity and health outcomes both through the pregnancy and postpartum stages.
