And then there were four.
We’ve reached the semifinal matchups in St. Louis Inno Madness, with four companies vying to be the 2023 Inno Madness champion. As with previous rounds, underdogs continue to excel in this year’s contest, with No. 20 HomeTraq and No. 27 VertiGreens advancing to the semifinal round. Top-seeded Arcadian Infracom remains in contention after winning in the first three rounds.
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.
Nearly 1,800 votes were cast in the third round of Inno Madness. The third round included another slate of close contests, with the matchup between No. 20 HomeTraq and No. 21 Dataplant decided by just four votes.
Our goal of Inno Madness 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 2023.
Semifinal final voting in St. Louis Inno Madness begins now and continues through 3 p.m. Monday, April 3. 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 semifinal participants below and read the contest rules here. Readers can cast one vote per round.
Before we unveil the semifinal 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.
THE MATCHUPS
Matchup 1
#1 Arcadian Infracom: Founded in 2018, Arcadian develops and operates long-haul fiber networks for use by technology companies and carriers. Arcadian's key focus is serving rural and tribal lands in an effort to boost broadband access in underserved areas. Arcadian in 2021 secured $140 million in financing to move forward with its first fiber routes.
#20 HomeTraq: Founded in 2017, HomeTraq has created a home showing app designed to help users find agents to schedule a home showing. It was selected for the Capital Innovators startup accelerator in 2019 and won an Arch Grant that same year.
Matchup 2
#15 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.
#27 VertiGreens: VertiGreens is a hydroponic farming company focused on using shipping containers to grow herbs and greens.
