And then there were two.
The championship matchup for our inaugural St. Louis Inno Madness bracket challenge is here. The final matchup includes a pair of underdogs, No. 28 Speak Information Technologies and No. 30 Business Video School, squaring off for the contest’s bragging rights. 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.
More than 6,200 votes were cast in the fourth round of Inno Madness. However, the St. Louis Inno team had to recalculate the final results due to some irregular voting. As we begin the final round of St. Louis Inno Madness, it’s important to remember readers are only to cast one vote per round.
Through the first four rounds of St. Louis Inno Madness, thousands of readers have submitted votes in the contest. 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. Our bracket has sought to represent the full breadth and diversity of the ecosystem. In the end, we hope you’ve thought of the bracket as a fun look into local, technology-enabled companies you need to know in 2022.
Final round voting in St. Louis Inno Madness begins now and continues through 5 p.m., Monday, April 4. 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 final two participants below and read the contest rules here.
MEET THE FINALISTS
The Championship Matchup
#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 nondilutive funding from competitions.
#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.
