The final round of Triangle Business Journal's 2022 Inno Madness bracket challenge has arrived.
After three weeks and thousands of votes, two local startups remain as 16-seed Connect Cause has advanced to meet 6-seed Tellus Therapeutics for the decisive matchup that will crown our Inno Madness champion.
Final round voting is underway and will run through Tuesday, March 29. The updated bracket is below.
Inno Madness launched March 1. It's a bracket-style challenge where readers vote 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. The bracket, which started with 16 Triangle startups, is designed to shine a spotlight on innovative, fast-growing local businesses. Read the contest rules here.
More than 1,600 votes were cast in the semifinals, which saw Connect Cause squeeze by 12-seed HomeCloud with 51 percent of the vote – it was just a 54-vote margin. Tellus Therapeutics beat 10-seed BlueRecruit with 53.7 percent of the vote. Seeding was determined based on the amount of money the companies have raised from various sources.
Final round voting is underway through March 29. Here's the updated bracket.
To learn more about each company, click on the name in the bracket above or the list below.
Meet the finalists:
Tellus Therapeutics: Tellus Therapeutics is using technology licensed from Duke University to develop a treatment for babies born at risk of brain injury.
Connect Cause: Connect Cause works with nonprofits to improve their technologies.