Let the games begin!
Our 2022 Inno Madness competition is here, with eight local startups in contention for the title.
The game plan
Inno Madness is our annual bracket-style competition to highlight the action and activity that has come to define our innovation economy.
Now you, our readers, will vote for the ventures you want to see advance in each round.
The question to answer: Who would you invest in? Think about the enterprises you’d back — for the fastest return, the safest bet or the long game. Pick the models you think will succeed, or the missions you want to see succeed. Vote for your own company, those you’ve rooted for from afar or those you’re just now discovering. How you choose to answer that question is entirely up to you.
The playbook
This fun-and-friendly competition has one goal: shine a spotlight on some of the region’s most innovative local businesses. This year’s group represents just a slice of the activity happening around Richmond, but it’s not just a list of companies that have raised money or made news over the last year. Rather, the bracket aims to encapsulate the diversity of the ecosystem across industry, stage, leadership, geography and more.
We selected this group from reader nominations as well as editorial input. They were seeded at random.
The rulebook
First-round voting begins now and continues through March 14. Each reader can cast one vote per round. Feel free to share the bracket with your networks and mark your calendars so you can join us for the ride. And you can follow it all in our weekly newsletter, The Beat. Here’s the full schedule:
- Round 1 voting March 8-14
- Round 2 voting March 15-21
- Round 3 voting March 22-28. We’ll announce the winner March 29.
Meet the participants below and read the contest rules here.
Game time!
Ready, set, vote!
The roster
Meet the players:
- Babylon Micro-Farms — This company creates indoor hydroponic farming systems powered remotely by cloud technology.
- bloomRail — Provides retailers inventory forecasting and management solutions to reduce costs, optimize logistics and track sustainability.
- Bookclubs — This company offers an online platform that helps discussion groups get started and stay organized. Membership is free, and groups can customize the structure and frequency of meetings while streamlining their communications.
- EDai — Uses artificial intelligence and analytics in a platform for site selection for businesses and economic development projects.
- Gogo Band — This Ashland company is the maker of a technology-enabled bedwetting solution that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to send an alert before a bedwetting incident occurs.
- Grantable — An online platform that connects grant applicant organizations with freelance grant writers.
- Icarus Medical — A Charlottesville company the has developed a knee brace designed to be a light-weight, external muscle tendon system that takes up to 40 pounds of body weight off a knee, allowing for greater mobility and significantly reducing pain.
- RoundlyX — Operates a platform that allows users to round up their daily purchases to the nearest dollar and then apply that amount to cryptocurrency investments.