Hundreds of people have cast their vote in our fifth annual Inno Madness, and now we've whittled 32 companies down to an epic eight. This year is proving whoever does win will have to fight their way to the finish. Round Two, much like Round One, brought some close calls and upsets.
The only near-tie this time around was Spontivly versus Tech & Flow Ventures, with St. Pete's Spontivly winning by only 25 votes.
But the margins are starting to widen for some startups. St. Pete-based Bedrock had a landslide win and upset over Tampa-based Ideal Agent, getting 60% of the vote. Fellow St. Pete company LunaJoy Health snagged 58% of the votes over Tampa-based Cope Notes and Tampa-based Signature Athletics beat out Hyalta Aeronautics by 57% of votes.
You can see the full lineup of eight competing companies and cast your vote below. Voting ends Tuesday, March 21 at midnight where we'll go on to the semi finals.
Round Three matchups
Matchup 1
Bedrock: A St. Pete-based company that helps procurement and finance teams recover lost revenue, simplifies payments, minimizes risk and reduces onboarding time.
vs
Paragon Cyber Solutions: A cybersecurity company providing expertise to startups, government agencies and commercial companies. It is a two-time winner of Inno Madness, taking the crown in 2021 and 2022.
Matchup 2
Spontivly: A St. Pete startup that moved to the region in January 2022 with its community-focused SaaS technology. It has been on a funding streak since, racking up investors like Mark Cuban and TampaBay.Ventures.
vs
Red Rover: Founded by PODS co-founder, it improves upon the previous model that offers a patent-pending ramp system and trucks for free at various locations, simply charging for the cost of the container. In the two years since the launch, the company has raised $75 million.
Matchup 3
Signature Athletics: The Tampa-based company launched a patent-pending technology that allows parents to directly order their uniforms — as well as team merchandise and some sports equipment — that lets the apparel be made on-demand and entirely in the U.S. In 2022, it closed a $2 million "seed plus" round.
vs
Blue Innovations Group: A St. Pete-based company headed up by a former Tesla executive who is launching an electric boat company.
Matchup 4
LunaJoy Health: A St. Pete-based startup backed by Y-Combinator and offers a digital care clinic for women throughout their life span, from puberty to perimenopause.
vs
Sensie: A Tampa-based wellness tech startup that uses smartphone sensors to measure a user’s emotional state. It recently partnered with a Johns Hopkins lab, tapping the head of the lab to become Sensie's "chief intelligence officer."
