Seattle-based reputation management company Oggvo has taken home the top prize in this year's Seattle Inno Madness competition.
In the final round, Oggvo defeated Opala, a health care data company also headquartered in Seattle. Oggvo, a 12 seed, carried 66% of the vote compared with 34% for Opala, which was a 14 seed.
Inno Madness is our friendly, bracket-style challenge where readers vote to advance companies based on one question: Who would you invest in? The bracket was designed to shine a spotlight on 16 innovative, fast-growing local businesses. Seeding was determined by factors like funding, mission, business focus and company size. You can see a longer list of startups to keep tabs on here.
Oggvo, founded in 2018, helps clients generate emails and texts to remind customers to leave positive reviews. It also provides a tool to manage and rectify negative reviews.
Clients can showcase positive reviews on their website and social media, leave review prompts in their email signatures and feature a rotating view of positive reviews online. Oggvo also generates monthly reports to provide customers with a snapshot of their online reputation.
In November, Maureen Ezekwugo took over as CEO of Oggvo. Ezekwugo was previously an executive at RealSelf, a Seattle-based website that allows users to research cosmetic medical procedures and find doctors. She spent about 10 years at RealSelf, where her most recent role was chief customer officer. Ezekwugo replaced co-founder Sam Cohen Brown, who moved into the role of president. Jordan Richter, another Oggvo co-founder, kept her role as chief financial officer.
You can see the full Inno Madness bracket below and a full list of the companies that competed. Thank you to all the readers who voted and to all the startups that made the competition successful.
Meet the companies
Helion: A fusion energy company focused on clean electricity
Group14 Technologies: A battery technology company focused on making batteries smaller, cheaper and longer-lasting
Proprio: A medical imaging company that relies on computer vision and doesn't use radiation
Boundless: A startup that connects immigrant families with attorneys and simplifies complex forms
JaxJox: A home gym startup that offers adjustable weights and a rotating touch screen
Ridwell: A recycling startup that picks up and recycles hard-to-recycle items like batteries and plastic bags
USAFacts: A not-for-profit that offers nonpartisan government data
Ventrk: A fitness and physical therapy app company led by former Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin
Parse Biosciences: A biotech focused on single-cell sequencing technology
Artly Coffee: A barista robot company that uses mechanical arms to make speciality drinks at multiple West Coast locations
Zócalo Health: A startup that offers virtual health care appointments in both English and Spanish
Oggvo: A reputation management startup that helps clients use email and text to prompt reviews from customers
Talus Bioscience: A biotech focused on drug development for gene regulators
Opala: A health care data company focused on making data more accessible for providers and payers
Strike Graph: A compliance and cybersecurity company that uses artificial intelligence
Stack Moxie: A startup focused on testing and monitoring for sales and marketing operations
