Round one of the 2024 KY Inno Madness competition is in the books — and we made some history along the way.
For the first time, we had a tie in the first round between Armadillo Home Solutions, a two seed from Clarksville, Indiana; and seven seed Black Box Energy Systems out of Owingsville, Kentucky.
To settle the tie, we conducted a tiebreaker on Wednesday, March 6. We can now say that BlackBox Energy Systems will be moving on to take on No. 6 VRTogether in an Eastern Kentucky clash, after the Lexington, Kentucky-based company defeated Louisville-based pac-IQ by getting 58% of the vote.
BlackBox earned 60% of the vote in the tiebreaker on Wednesday.
Aside from the tie, the biggest news is that last year’s defending champion, No. 1 Feedcoyote out of Region A, was taken down by the upstart No. 8 Dais out of Louisville after the wheelchair-accessible and adaptive rideshare platform captured 52% of the vote.
In this instance, we do have precedence as last year No. 8 BumptUp from Bowling Green, Kentucky, knocked off the champion from 2022, No. 1 Vivid Charts in that competition’s Region A.
All other No. 1 seeds advanced to compete another day. Next to Feedcoyote’s loss, the next largest seed to fall was No. 2 Thynk Health out of Lexington, after being bounced by Louisville-based Craftech Innovations in a runaway (67%).
Only one region held what is known as “chalk” (when the highest seeds all advance). That would be Region B with No. 1 HANDLE Global (Louisville), No. 2 Nichefire (Covington, Kentucky), No. 3 Rivergreen Cocktails (Louisville) and No. 4 HempWood (Murray, Kentucky).
One other nugget of information to pass along: Out of the 16 teams remaining, six of them were named as winners of our 2024 KY Inno Startups to Watch. Please note: In several instances, two STW winners were pitted against each other.
Below you can see other results in an updated bracket. Click here to vote in the second round.
Voting is now open for Round 2, so get to it. Voting will close on Tuesday, March 12, at 11:59 a.m. To help you prepare for the next round of voting, we have included information about each company below.
Meet the remaining players
HANDLE Global (Louisville) — The company offers a capital cycle management platform that uses analytics to provide data, insights and recommendations to hospitals and health systems regarding their fleet of medical equipment. The software includes risk scoring to help decision makers in equipment lifecycle planning and budgeting decisions.
Better Blend (Covington, Kentucky) — A healthy smoothie shop chain that has begun to expand across Kentucky and beyond. The store’s signature “blends” are made with clean protein, greens, oat powder, flax seed and vitamins.
Liberate Medical (Crestwood, Kentucky) — The company is the producer of VentFree, a noninvasive nerve and muscle stimulator that synchronizes with breathing treatments to help prevent respiratory muscle atrophy in mechanically ventilated patients.
NX Prenatal (Louisville) — NX Prenatal develops diagnostic tests for adverse pregnancy conditions such as preterm birth, preeclampsia and placenta accreta, according to the company’s website. The tests are designed to give physicians time to intervene and attempt to reduce possible complications for the baby and the mother.
Nichefire (Covington, Kentucky) — Nichefire is a predictive cultural intelligence platform. We help businesses identify and predict the impact of emerging consumer, political, economic and societal trends on their brands and consumers.
Limitless Minds (Louisville) — Limitless Minds is a performance solution for performers at work, training the mind of the “corporate athlete” to perform at the highest levels. The company places an emphasis on mental fitness through a platform helping elevate performance, while reducing the cost of a non-resilient team, by bringing together coaches, behavioral science and technology.
Rivergreen Cocktails (Louisville) — The premium, canned cocktails are made with real fruit juices, natural sweeteners and sparkling water. With an alcohol beverage volume (ABV) of 12%, they are crafted to taste like a cocktail you would order at a bar or restaurant, but offer the convenience of a can.
Lunae (Bowling Green, Kentucky) — From the founders of Oria Health, Lunae takes ideas and transforms them into real technology, sellable products, or usable design.
HempWood (Murray, Kentucky) — The company creates the only carbon-negative — and the only no-waste — flooring in the country. It does so by using the stems of hemp plants and soy-based glue and putting them together using specially designed machines that exert lots and lots of pressure, making a material that is 20% harder than hickory.
PrognostX Health (Louisville) — A biotech startup that has been working on developing a rapid, single-assessment test for chronic kidney disease (CKD).
OrganiLock (Madisonville, Kentucky) — The company produces animal-matter-based plant food and soil food. Its patent-pending process turns factory farm waste into a rapid and renewable solution for soil regeneration.
Real-Time Safety Solutions (Bowling Green) — The startup uses a patented digital screen that can be attached to the passenger side visor or side window of a rideshare/tax car. When the driver approaches the pickup location, both the screen and the passenger’s phone can flash the same color, allowing passengers to quickly identify the appropriate driver’s vehicle.
VRTogether (Lexington, Kentucky) — The startup is developing a digital therapeutic virtual reality tool to delay the onset and halt the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias by empowering older adults to maintain social engagement, cognition and physical activity in fun and engaging activities from the comfort of their own home.
Craftech Innovations (Louisville) —The company’s primary focus is assisting auto body technicians to repair vehicles to a level of quality indistinguishable from original equipment manufacturer.
BlackBox Energy Systems (Owingsville, Kentucky) — The startup is developing NEMo (Nautical Electric Motor), which is described as being a more efficient motor for an underwater training target. The company’s patented motor technology has proven to be more efficient across a wider range of power levels than traditional motors. In addition, it is smaller, lighter and uses up to 80% less copper to create the same level of power.
Dais (Louisville) — Dais is the first application and web-based platform that provides on-demand, wheelchair-accessible and adaptive rideshare services exclusively for power or manual wheelchair users and individuals with limitations in mobility.
