Last week, Minne Inno launched this year's Inno Madness bracket-style competition featuring 32 local startups in the Twin Cities area.
With over 400 votes cast in Round 1, Minne Inno is now revealing the next matchups, based on the winners of each head-to-head battle, which in many cases, were quite the close call. Voting is now open in Round 2.
But first, let's recap what happened in the first round. Most of the matchups were tight, with many winners edging out their rivals with between 52% to 55% of the votes. That included Brevity and Ostra Cybersecurity Inc., which each captured 54% of the votes over their respective opponents, Niron Magnetics Inc. and Agitated Solutions. Clear winners did emerge though, including REM5 Studios, which earned 61% of the votes over Cadre, and Trunkdrop, which finished with 58.3%, pulling ahead of Kyros.
The tighest battles were between Babbl and GEM Health, where Babbl narrowly pulled ahead by only two votes, and We Sparkle Co., which experienced a similar fate, finishing with two more votes than its counterpart, Punkademic.
See below for the updated bracket with the 16 companies that made it to Round 2 and their new matchups. Second-round voting begins now and continues through March 22 at 3 p.m. Readers can cast one vote per round. A Minne Inno Madness winner will be crowned on April 6. As a reminder, here are the contest rules.
Let's get onto voting. Remember, the key question is: Who would you invest in?
Meet the Players:
Vergent Bioscience – developing a product that allows surgeons to better see tumors
BKB Floral Foam Inc. – developing floral foam blocks out of a bio-based material that can degrade
Pneumeric Inc. -- offering a medical device that provides visual detection for a procedure to treat tension pneumothorax
Ostra Cybersecurity Inc. – looks to help small- to mid-sized businesses have access to tools to protect their data
We Sparkle Co. – builds tools to help small businesses increase sales and invest in their communities
YourPath – looks to assist those with substance-use disorders
BettorEdge – a sports-betting startup letting user set up their own wagers against each other
Oncodea – developed a working early cancer-detection model
Brevity – uses AI to help entrepreneurs improve their pitch to clinch deals
ProsperStack – a low-code, software-as-a-service provider for subscription-based businesses
REM5 Studios – a full-service, extended reality & Web3 experience agency
Babbl – a website that tracks stock market news, attitudes and trends in conversation
RadWave Technologies Inc. – surgical-tech company developing advanced electromagnetic tracking technology
Refr Sports – an app allowing referees and sports game organizers to share and coordinate scheduling needs
Trunkdrop – an on-demand contactless delivery app
Advisory Aerospace OSC – a software-development and analytics service provider for complex-product manufacturers
