The results are in for round one of Pacific Business News' inaugural Inno Madness bracket challenge championship, a new competition in which Hawaii startups go head-to-head to win the title of PBN's startup champion.
Here's a refresher on how it works: Readers vote to advance companies that they think are doing the most to advance innovation in Hawaii. Reasons for voting could be tied to one's connection with any given startup's mission, cause, or tenure — among numerous other factors to be considered.
Voting rules can be found here.
At the end of the bracket challenge, the winning startup gets bragging rights, and the title of Startup Champion.
In round one of the bracket challenge there were eight matchups that included 16 Hawaii-based companies representing a range of industries within the startup ecosystem. See the results of the first round of voting below.
Many of the matches ended with a close call between opponents:
- In the first matchup, Shifted Energy got 345 votes to Shaka Guide's 327, clinching a win with 51.3%
- In the second matchup, TurnoverBnB won by just two votes with 337 to Goodman Technologies LLC getting 335
- In the third matchup Nalu Scientific emerged victorious with 354 votes to Polu Energy's 318
- In the fourth matchup LifeDNA won with 356 votes to Smart Yields' 316
- In the fifth matchup Hawaii Innovation Laboratory won with 341 votes, just 10 more votes than Shaka Shoots LLC's 331
- In the sixth matchup Nimbus AI LLC won with 353 votes to Pear Suite's 319
- In the seventh matchup Piko Provisions won with 370 votes to Malama Solar's 302
- In the eighth matchup Parklinq got 352 votes, winning out over AI.Fish, which got 320 votes
Round 2 voting begins on Friday, March 11 and will remain open until Wednesday, March 16.
Meet the players
AI.Fish -— Electronic Monitoring powered by the latest in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision.
Goodman Technologies LLC — Goodman Technologies LLC is a small business that performs professional, scientific, system engineering, and technical services.
Hawaii Innovation Laboratory -— A University of Hawaii at Manoa startup that researches and develops solar and biomedical technologies.
LifeDNA — A company that uses customers' DNA samples to generate personalized nutrition, health, fitness, and wellness reports.
Malama Solar - A residential photovoltaic panel and battery storage business that was awarded the distinction of being PBN's Fastest Growing Company in Hawaii last year.
Nalu Scientific — A software company that specializes in advanced mixed signal integrated circuits with applications in particle tracking and time of flight measurements.
Nimbus AI LLC — A team that uses a data-driven approach and machine learning to forecast cloud cover for the solar industry.
Parklinq — A public parking app that seeks to reduce carbon emissions while finding spaces for parkers, and generating income for those with extra parking spots.
Pear Suite — A cloud-based platform that enables volunteers, healthcare workers, and students to identify and address the health and social service needs of older adults in a scalable and cost-effective way.
Piko Provisions — A baby food company that sources sustainable, locally grown ingredients with no additives, preservatives, or artificial flavors.
Polu Energy — A company that is developing a "containerized clean energy generator" powered by the salt ions in ocean water, groundwater, and seawater desalination brine.
Shaka Guide — A tourist information travel app that offers location-based tours using storytelling and music by local artists.
Shaka Shoots LLC — A photography service that offers unlimited sessions with unlimited photos that are then uploaded to an online gallery, with customers' favorite pics selected for professional editing.
Shifted Energy — A software company that utilizes advanced machine learning to provide utilities and distributed energy providers a path to rapidly deploy and easily manage thousands of demand response and thermal energy storage assets.
Smart Yields — A Honolulu-based agricultural technology firm that uses data to advice farmers.
TurnoverBnB — A cleaning service app that helps customers schedule, pay, and find Airbnb vacation rental cleaners and Airbnb cleaning services.
