Our Seattle Inno Madness competition is here, and eight local startups remain to vie for the coveted title of 2022 Inno Madness champion.
Inno Madness is our friendly, bracket-style challenge where readers vote to advance companies based on one question: Who would you invest in? Whether you believe in one mission or product over the other, or would prefer to back a more established company versus an early stage startup, how you answer that question is entirely up to you.
The bracket is assembled based on reader nominations, as well as editorial input from the Seattle Inno team. Seeding was determined by a variety of factors, including company size, funding and business focus. Meet the participants below and read the contest rules here. Think of the bracket as just a fun look into local tech companies you need to know in 2022. You can see a longer list here of startups worth keeping an eye on in the Puget Sound region.
In the first round, top-seeded Flyhomes edged out underdog Lyn Health by five percentage points and will face Picnic Works, a nine seed that eked out a win over Cloud Paper. Fifth-seeded Bttn, meanwhile, defeated Boundless Immigration by 2% of the vote. Bttn will face Coding Dojo, a 13 seed, as the company upset fourth-seeded Logixboard by 5%.
Helion Energy, the two seed, squeaked by underdog Proprio and will face seventh-seeded Modern Electron, which defeated the 10 seed Clearbrief. Eleventh-seeded Uplevel pulled off the win over sixth-seeded Proxi. Uplevel will face Esper, the three seed, as the company hung on for a win over Novel Effect by just 0.3% of the vote.
Second-round voting begins now and continues through Wednesday, March 16, at 2 p.m. Readers can cast one vote per round. We'll open up voting round by round, ultimately crowning an INNO MADNESS winner at the end of March.
Let's get into Round 2 ...
Meet the companies in Round 2:
Flyhomes: A real estate tech startup that helps homebuyers present all-cash offers to sellers
Helion Energy: A fusion energy company focused on zero-carbon electricity
Esper: An intelligent device startup that helps manage and update internet-connected devices
Bttn: A digital marketplace for medical supplies
Modern Electron: A startup that offers an attachment for heaters to make them more sustainable
Picnic Works: A company that makes a pizza-assembling robot
Uplevel: A platform for managers overseeing product development goals
Coding Dojo: A coding bootcamp that doesn't require experience
Meet the other companies that competed:
Logixboard: A startup that makes customer experience software for freight forwarders
Proxi: An online map-building platform
Cloud Paper: A startup that makes tree-free toilet paper and paper towels from bamboo
Clearbrief: A startup that uses AI to check legal briefs against source documents
Boundless Immigration: A startup that connects users with an immigration lawyer and lets them file paperwork online
Novel Effect: An app that creates sound effects and music when reading to children
Proprio: A medical imaging company that combines human and computer vision
Lyn Health: A medical platform that brings together multiple types of care in a single place
Read contest rules here.
