The votes are finally in from round two of the San Antonio Business Journal's Inno Madness startup competition, where 16 San Antonio companies faced off to determine which company is San Antonio's favorite startup.
The four winners who will advance to round three are: Astroport Space Technologies, JellyBird HOA Management, Easy Expunctions and Betty's Co.
Here's a quick refresher on the four startups still standing in our Inno Madness contest:
ASTROPORT SPACE TECHNOLOGIES
Founded in 2020, Astroport Space Technologies invented a new melting process that converted moon rock and dust into sturdy building materials such as bricks and fibers that can hold up under extreme temperatures. The startup is also working on the development of autonomous robot equipment and new methods of 3D construction printing of surface-planetary critical infrastructure.
Astroport also opened a research lab facility at Port San Antonio last year. In October, it was selected to be part of the Air Force Research Lab and U.S. Space Force's 2021 cohort in the Hyperspace Challenge.
JELLYBIRD HOA MANAGEMENT
This innovative new app eases the responsibilities of being in a homeowners association by making them both accessible and fun. JellyBird HOA Management's stated mission is to make the lives of both small-budget homeowners associations — and the homeowners who participate in them — just a little easier.
Its management platform and app tool allows homeowners with just the click of a button to pay HOA dues, make requests regarding their property to HOA architectural committees, and look at new events and deadlines coming up on community news and calendars.
The startup was incorporated in 2020 by Chade Nelson.
EASY EXPUNCTIONS
Easy Expunctions, a software-driven service company, was the brainchild of Yousef Kassim, a Trinity University alum and attorney. Founded in 2015, this legal tech startup raised more than $6 million in equity funding last year.
Its purpose is to help those facing hurdles in life due to old criminal convictions from younger years, which can lead to housing or job insecurity. With Easy Expunctions, users can expunge those charges easily via technology. With the creation of a free account, they can check their own record or pay a nominal fee to request a report on their eligibility for expunction.
After that, packages of various prices are available to expunge or seal court records, or to purge already-expunged records from online databases.
BETTY'S CO
Betty's Co. was founded in 2020 by Jennifer Newell and her husband Justin Newell. Its niche is personalized health care and treatment plans that integrate gynecology with mental health and wellness services, primarily geared to young women.
It offers appointments via virtual app, and recently rolled out — literally — its first mobile in-person clinic, which takes patients with insurance as well as self-pay patients.
The company's launch was accelerated by joining incubator and coworking space Geekdom. Betty's Co. kicked off in 2021 seeing its first virtual patients. That same year, it won TechFuel's pitch contest. Back in December 2020, it won the Geekdom Community Fund pitch competition.
Now that the Inno Madness is down to these four contenders, it's time to make some tough decisions. But don't forget to vote on your favorite San Antonio startup today — we're counting on you!
