The first round of Nashville Inno's inaugural Inno Madness competition is complete, and two area technology schools led the way with convincing victories.
Pivot Technology School overcame Mployer Advisor with 70% of the vote in their matchup, while CodeX Academy defeated Potluck with 63% of the vote.
They move on to the second round, along with first round winners Alto Solutions; AngelEye Health; Apto Global; We Optimize Work; Ready, dress, go; and Noted.
Inno Madness is our friendly, bracket-style challenge where readers vote to advance companies based on one question: Who would you invest in? Whether you believe in one mission or product slightly over the other or would prefer to back a more established company versus an early-stage startup, how you answer that question is entirely up to you. The bracket is designed to shine a spotlight on 16 innovative, fast-growing local businesses, eight of which now remain.
The bracket is assembled based on reader nominations, as well as editorial input from the Nashville Inno team. Seeding was determined randomly. Meet the participants below and read the contest rules here.
The goal of Inno Madness is to give a snapshot of some of the most-promising tech companies in Nashville. It is by no means a complete list of Nashville's best startups, which is a testament to the size of Nashville's tech scene. It's also not a list of the 16 most-funded startups in the region.
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 tech local companies you need to know in 2022.
Second-round voting begins now and continues until 11:55 a.m. March 15. Readers can cast one vote in each match-up per round. We'll open up voting round by round, ultimately crowning an Inno Madness winner on March 30.
Meet the Players:
Region A
Alto Solutions — Alto allows investors to use their individual retirement accounts to invest in startups, real estate, digital currencies and private companies. The company has more than 15,000 users, with more than $1 billion of assets under management.
AngelEye Health — AngelEye uses cameras with infrared capabilities to keeps parents connected remotely to their baby and its care team while the baby is in the NICU. The company's technology is used by more than 120 hospitals nationwide and also provides online education for parents and text, photo and video messaging to connect parents with physicians.
Apto Global — Apto Global is a social learning platform that helps users learn language and local culture to help adapt to a new community. Much of the information is sourced from Apto’s community of creators, who provide information about their hometown or travels. Founded in 2015, Apto is in talks with a major cellphone maker to have its app preinstalled on nearly 100 million devices.
Pivot Technology School — Pivot's tech education platform offers students courses in cybersecurity, data analytics and software development. The company recently launched an add-on business, which will perform contract work for businesses and become one employment option for students completing one of the school's programs. Pivot's total annual revenue is expected to cross into the seven-figure range this year.
Region B
We Optimize Work — We Optimize Work was founded in 2019 with the idea that working moms of color needed extra support when navigating the workplace — and that their employers needed to learn how to accommodate them. We Optimize Work's professional development program partners with corporations to shift their focus from hours logged to outcomes earned, thereby giving busy moms more flexibility to set their schedules. This year, the company expects to partner with five companies and onboard 150 working moms of color into its program for work-life success.
CodeX Academy — CodeX was founded to meet some of the nation's growing demand for tech talent and provide a new chance for unemployed or low-income workers to tap into a high-paying profession. The school teaches students to code in six months, providing them a mentor while they learn and an internship at a local business upon graduation. CodeX offers deferred payment financing and recently began accepting cryptocurrency as tuition payment.
Ready, dress, go — Ready, dress, go creates and markets professional business attire for young businesswomen. All their clothes are machine washable and are designed to be comfortable, feminine and youthful but also appropriate for the workplace.
Noted — For a one-time fee of $15, Noted will come get clothes or other items you’ve been meaning to return to the store or ship back to the retailer and make the returns on your behalf, no matter how many stores are involved. The company is currently forging relationships with retailers and places such as condo buildings or apartment complexes, with plans to expand to two additional cities, as people from places such as New York, Houston and Charlotte have already signed up.
