Vote in Rhode Island Inno's 2021 Tech Madness bracket

Drumroll, please. Rhode Island Inno's 2021 Tech Madness finals have arrived.

Your finalists are Artist Republik, the barely-one-year-old networking platform for indie musicians, and Marstone, the Providence-based wealth management platform that launched in 2013. Two very different startups, one very similar goal — to take home this year's Tech Madness championship.

Make no mistake. It was quite a feat to get to this point. Even though it held its status as the top vote-earner in every round of the competition, Artist Republik barely squeaked by afro-textured hair care startup KerlyGirl to make it to the finals. In fact, Artist Republik beat its opponent by a mere four votes.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the bracket, Marstone faced surprisingly stiff competition from underdog ResusciTech, the startup behind a novel CPR feedback device whose CEO just graduated from Brown University last year. ResusciTech fell to the competition by just seven votes — but don't worry, the startup is sure to be back in the digital pages of Rhode Island Inno soon enough.

Here's a look at how this year's Tech Madness has gone down:

The final round is now ongoing and will close at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, March 29. Expect another update on Tuesday. Until then, check out our overview of the competition below and get voting!

What is Tech Madness?

For the uninitiated, Tech Madness is a friendly competition designed to showcase fast-moving, high-flying Ocean State companies. The bracket, which Rhode Island Inno's editorial team assembled based on nominations you sent in over the course of several weeks, encompasses a broad range of private, venture capital-backed or bootstrapped firms — new ventures at the earliest stages as well as some established favorites.

This contest asks the Rhody innovation community to vote for the startups they would invest in. Just ask yourself: Which company am I ready to support with my own money? Keep in mind that this isn’t a "versus" thing. Just identify who you’re bullish on from our batch of 32 privately held tech companies and make your pick.

Take a look at our voting guide below. Then, scroll down to cast your vote.

How does Rhode Island Inno assemble the bracket?

Since funding is the most accessible and universal metric available, that’s what we used as our primary metric for determining which startups made the bracket and where they were placed. You’ll see a few interesting matchups in the very first steps of the competition. For instance, check out athletic apparel startup (and defending Tech Madness champ) SquadLocker going against up-and-coming lingerie startup Intimately during Round 1.

The competition can be seriously close, so every vote counts. Last year, SquadLocker took home the Tech Madness championship by just 64 votes, barely edging out Siren Marine. Our 2019 winner, Aquanis, beat out runner-up Feast & Fettle by fewer than 400 votes.

When can I vote?

Rhode Island Inno's Tech Madness includes several stages, as the competition gets narrowed down over the next several weeks. We’ll keep you posted on who’s advancing, and who’s not, right here on RhodeIslandInno.com and in the Beat. Subscribe here if you're not already on the list.

Here’s the voting schedule to keep track of each move as voters decide who’s advancing to the next level:

Now, it’s time to get to the voting. Once each round of voting closes, we’ll advance the winners.

How do I vote?

You can vote in the bracket below. It will be automatically updated throughout the competition.

Let's go!

One vote per person; read contest rules here.