Inno Madness, St. Louis Inno’s annual contest designed to showcase the region’s innovation economy, is back for another year.
We are currently accepting nominations for our 2024 Inno Madness bracket challenge, which will launch in the coming weeks. Inno Madness is designed to generate awareness and excitement for the city’s startup ecosystem, and those that are driving it forward.
How does it work? Nominate a local startup or your own startup and we will assemble a bracket of private, fast-growing, tech-enabled local businesses, based on your nominations.
In March, we’ll reveal the bracket, with companies going head-to-head throughout six voting rounds. St. Louis Inno readers will be asked to vote on which startups they think are most attractive for investment. Every week, we’ll post the updated bracket and voting will begin again. At the end, we’ll announce our Inno Madness winner.
The return of Inno Madness comes after our 2023 contest drew more than 13,700 votes, with fiber startup Arcadian Infracom crowned as champion. Online education firm Business Video School won Inno Madness in 2022. If your company participated in our previous Inno Madness contests and didn’t come out on top, this year’s competition offers another chance at victory.
We’re hoping to include up to 32 startups in our bracket this year and we need your help filling it out. You can assist us by nominating your own startup or a company you think is on the cutting edge of innovation.
Nominations, which can be filled out here, are due March 8. It only takes a few minutes to submit a nomination, which asks you to answer three key questions about the startup you are suggesting:
- How much funding has the company raised? (We also accept nominees that are bootstrapped.)
- In one sentence, why would you invest in this company? (For example: a fast return, they are developing a new concept or interesting product, the long game – they will be a powerhouse in the future, social impact, because you are rooting for them to succeed, etc.)
- Is there anything else you want to share about the company you are nominating?
Enter your company today to take a shot at winning Inno Madness bragging rights. While the contest will offer one company a chance to flex its muscle with a victory, this bracket challenge isn’t just about determining a winner. Overall, we hope it provides a chance to raise awareness of St. Louis’ entrepreneurial economy and the innovative companies that define it.
If you have any questions about the Inno Madness nomination process, please reach out to St. Louis Inno Editor Nathan Rubbelke at nrubbelke@bizjournals.com.
