Welcome to Round 2 of the Wisconsin Inno Madness competition! Based on your votes in Round 1, we've narrowed the field to 16 local startups vying for the coveted title of 2022 Inno Madness champion.
In nine instances in Round 1 — including in the matchup of top-seed OpenGov versus Honeycomb Luxury (#32) — the underdog company won out over the higher-seeded one. Seeding was roughly determined based on the amount of funding each company has raised, as far as Wisconsin Inno is aware.
See the results of Round 1 below.
Round 2 voting begins now and continues through March 11 at 11:59 pm. See below for the schedule for the rest of the competition. The final winner will be announced the week of March 28.
- March 15: Round 3 voting opens in the morning
- March 18: Round 3 voting ends at 11:59 pm
- March 22: Round 4 voting opens in the morning
- March 23: Round 4 voting ends at 11:59 pm
- March 24: Round 5 voting opens in the morning
- March 25: Round 5 voting ends at 11:59 pm
Let's get into Round 2...
Meet the players
The bracket was designed to highlight innovative, fast-growing local businesses. We assembled it based on reader nominations and editorial input from the Wisconsin Inno team. Meet the participants below and read the contest rules here.
Vote for the company you'd most like to invest in, whether that's because you believe in its mission or product, you'd prefer to back a more established company versus an early-stage startup, or for any other reason entirely up to you.
Matchup 1
- Honeycomb Luxury (#32): Based in Wauwatosa, Honeycomb Luxury makes eco-friendly toilet tissue made from bamboo. It was founded in 2019 by Christie Yau, the former director of business development at Bright Cellars, a Wisconsin-based wine subscription startup. Honeycomb is on pace for seven-figure revenue in 2022, according to the company.
- WorkShift (#17): Based in Milwaukee, WorkShift is building a staffing platform for the restaurant and hospitality industry that matches contract or gig workers with companies that have last-minute shift needs. Started by a diverse team of three founders, the company has raised $50,000 to date.
Matchup 2
- Showboat (#9): Showboat is a web-based 3D virtual events platform designed to host natural and effective virtual conferences, networking events, sales meetings, fundraisers and town hall meetings that allow participants to interact face-to-face in a virtual space. It has raised $1 million, according to the Milwaukee company.
- Atomix Logistics (#25): With headquarters in Milwaukee, Atomix is a third-party logistics provider for growing e-commerce businesses. Its micro-pod model is designed to offer the benefits of in-house fulfillment with the scale of outsourced logistics. It offers one-click integration, same-day fulfillment and two-day shipping.
Matchup 3
- Pivotal Health (#4): As the 2021 Wisconsin Inno Madness runner-up, we seeded Pivotal Health among the top companies in this year's competition. The startup provides in-home health care in the Madison and Milwaukee areas, available for scheduling through its mobile app. It says it has raised $1.3 million in seed funding.
- Valortech (#20): Valortech in Milwaukee is a veteran-owned company that provides information technology (IT) support. With a focus on security, it offers services including cybersecurity support, managed services, data center services and more. The company is bootstrapped.
Matchup 4
- Yips Yogurt Chips (#21): This Madison-based company makes packaged snacks made of probiotic yogurt. Founded by Erin Vranas, the co-owner of Parthenon Gyros on Madison's State Street, Yips Yogurt Chips are available online and at locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Texas and Washington, D.C.
- Child Health Imprints (#5): This company has developed informational and computational technologies for neonatal intensive care units across the world, designed to improve outcomes for pre-term births. Founded in Singapore in 2018, it established its U.S. branch in Madison in 2021 and has raised $3 million to date, according to the company.
Matchup 5
- Understory (#2): Based in Madison, Understory builds insurance solutions for the era of climate change. Each policyholder gets a Dot, Understory's weather sensor that enables the company to accurately price its severe weather risk products. The company has raised $24.5 million since it was founded in 2012, according to the company's website.
- Food FIXR (#18): Founded by chiropractic doctor Grace Hameister, Food FIXR is building an augmented reality app to help users make healthy decisions while grocery shopping. It says its app is focused on ingredients, sustainability and foods that can help heal and prevent diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The Milwaukee startup said it has raised $15,000 to date and is in the process of raising seed capital.
Matchup 6
- PartsBadger (#23): Based in Cedarburg, PartsBadger is an online supplier of custom machine parts. No. 525 on the 2021 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies, it reported 936% three-year revenue growth. It said it utilizes technologies including 3D printing, sheet metal bending and collaborative robot technology.
- Rapid Radicals Technology (#7): Based in Milwaukee, Rapid Radicals has developed a decentralized, high-rate wastewater treatment technology capable of keeping up with urban population growth and climate change. It says it has raised roughly $1.34 million in grant funding to help public and private entities improve water quality and public health.
Matchup 7
- Frontdesk (#3): This Milwaukee travel accommodation startup has raised at least $18 million since its inception in 2017. The company's platform offers short-term rental units in more than 30 U.S. cities and last year entered the software business when it began licensing its technology as Levr Solutions.
- Helium Books (#19): Based in Milwaukee, this startup aims to make libraries more accessible through the gig economy. It offers library book deliveries for less than $5 per book, according to the company's website. Helium Books has raised more than $10,000 in capital, according to its nomination form.
Matchup 8
- Carbliss (#11): This Wisconsin-based beverage company was founded in 2018 by a husband and wife team. It makes vodka-based canned cocktails that have zero carbs and sugar, and are available at bars and grocery stores around the Milwaukee area. The company said it has raised around $750,000.
- Internship on Demand (#27): Based in Madison, Internship on Demand creates custom virtual pre-internship and internship programs, with a focus on boosting talent training and employee retention for companies. Its early customers have included Spectrum Brands and Bemis Manufacturing Co., and it is raising seed capital to build out its technology platform.
Disclaimers
Vote here or below.
The goal of Inno Madness is to give a snapshot of some of the most promising tech companies in Wisconsin. It is by no means a complete list of Wisconsin's best startups. It's also not just a list of the 32 most-funded startups in the region. See all 32 startups here.
Instead, the bracket is meant to represent the full breadth and diversity of the ecosystem. In the end, think of the bracket as just a fun look into local tech companies you need to know in 2022.
Read contest rules here.
