The second round of St. Louis Inno Madness had the remaining 16 companies on the edge of their seats.
In our friendly, bracket-style challenge, the second round matchups came down to the wire. Four of the eight matchups were decided by 4 percentage points or less. One of the matchups, No. 10 Advocado versus No. 26 Total Orbit, had only a two-vote margin. Advocado won with 942 votes (50.1%) over Total Orbit, which had 940 votes (49.9%).
Nearly 1,900 voters participated in the second round of St. Louis Inno Madness. As with the first round, the underdogs continued to flex their muscles in the latest round, with the lower seed prevailing in five of the eight second-round matchups. Given the strength of the underdogs so far in our bracket challenge, the highest seed remaining in St. Louis Inno Madness is No. 10 Advocado. Of the eight companies remaining, five were seeded at No. 20 or above when we unveiled our 32-team bracket. As a reminder, seeding in the bracket was determined based on the amount of funding raised by each company and name recognition of the businesses nominated.
Combined, the first two rounds of St. Louis Inno Madness have produced more than 4,400 votes. That engagement highlights the goal of Inno Madness, which is to give a snapshot of some of the most-promising tech companies in St. Louis. This contest is by no means a complete list of St. Louis' best startups, which is a testament to the size of St. Louis' tech scene. The bracket is meant to represent the full breadth and diversity of the ecosystem. In the end, look at the bracket as a fun look into local, technology-enabled companies you need to know in 2022.
Third round voting in St. Louis Inno Madness begins now and continues through 5 p.m., Monday, March 21. In this competition, we're asking voters to advance companies based on one question: Who would you invest in? Whether you believe in one mission or product slightly 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. Meet the round 3 participants below and read the contest rules here. Readers can cast one vote per round.
Before we unveil the third round bracket, we’d like to provide a tip of the cap to the companies that won’t be advancing to the next round. Thank you for your participation and for adopting the spirit of Inno Madness through your friendly competition and efforts to get out the vote for your companies. We hope to see you again in the bracket next year and encourage you to vote for your fellow local startups throughout the rest of this year's contest.
MEET THE PLAYERS
Matchup 1
#10 Advocado: Founded in 2017, Advocado has developed a cross-media data management technology platform used by brands, media companies and advertising agencies and designed to boost advertising performance. It recently raised $10 million and made a pair of acquisitions.
#15 Mission Control: Founded in 2018, Mission Control has developed technology designed to help organizations and intramural sports groups host esports recreational leagues. In July 2020, it announced it had raised $1.75 million in a seed financing round. Last year, it announced it inked a partnership with Plano, Texas-based movie theater chain Cinemark Holdings (NYSE: CNK).
Matchup 2
#16 GiftAMeal: Launched in 2015, GiftAMeal has developed an app that provides a meal to someone in need each time a user takes a photo on its app at a partner restaurant. The startup works with local food pantries to distribute the meals. In 2021, it raised $500,000 from investors to pursue growth in new cities.
#25 Phas3 Health: It has developed a mobile and web application that facilitates remote cardiac rehabilitation. The startup developed out of research the two co-founders did together at Saint Louis University on smartphone-based medical devices. It won an Arch Grant in 2019.
Matchup 3
#20 Eemerg Roadside Assistance: Founded in 2018, Eemerg Roadside Assistance has developed a roadside assistance marketplace app that connects customers with car issues directly to service providers. It has raised about $250,000 in funding and named as one of St. Louis Inno's 2022 Startups to Watch.
#28 Speak Information Technologies: The startup, led by a group of students from Washington University, is a clinical documentation software company aimed at helping health care providers streamline data entry and administrative tasks. It has raised $22,000 in non-dilutive funding from competitions.
Matchup 4
#22 IncentiLock: IncentiLock provides software available for companies, consulting firms and government agencies. The technology is designed to manage and track economic development tax credits and incentives and to calculate headcount benefits. It won an Arch Grant in 2018.
#30 Biz Video School: The company has developed an online school for real estate agents and the real estate workforce to help them use video in their communication and marketing efforts.
Read contest rules here.
