Game on, Minnesota. To drive awareness and excitement for the state's startup ecosystem, Minne Inno is introducing Tech Madness, a reader-driven bracket competition in the spirit of March Madness highlighting some of the local startup scene's biggest, brightest and most exciting technology companies.
Over the next few weeks, 32 Minnesota tech companies will go head-to-head with readers voting to determine who will move on to the next round.
The matchups are (for the most part) random. All startups on the list are private, venture-backed or recently-exited businesses. We seeded the companies based on venture capital funding and other growth metrics. Maybe the startup raised funding after winning a competition like the Minnesota Cup or participating in a local accelerator like gener8tor or Techstars.
Since funding is the most accessible and universal metric available, that's what we used as our primary metric for determining which startups made the bracket and where they were placed.
To determine the outcome of each matchup, ask yourselves this question: Who would you invest in? This can be interpreted a number of different ways. Is this about which startup could deliver the highest return? Who you think is the safest bet? Or is it about supporting a project or mission you're passionate about? How ever you want to interpret that question is up to you.
The winning company will receive a very cool prize from Minne Inno. What is it exactly? You'll find out soon enough. We awarded our 50 on Fire winners with huge, firetruck-red blazers, and we have something every bit as fun and ridiculous planned for the Tech Madness champion.
The first round ends Wednesday, March 21 at 11:59 p.m. Vote for your favorite companies then share with friends and colleagues to help us determine a winner.
