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Introducing the 2017 Tech Madness Bracket

March 10, 2017 By Alida Miranda-Wolff

Who will cut down the .net?

Today, we are thrilled to unveil the 2017 Tech Madness Bracket, a friendly competition designed to generate awareness and excitement for the Chicago tech ecosystem. (Round One voting is now LIVE!)

The bracket is compiled of 64 local tech companies and startups, representing the city’s innovation economy at large. Rather than just a list of the biggest, most well-funded companies, the Tech Madness Bracket is made up of local businesses at every stage, across all industries. This way, the bracket serves as a snapshot of the current state of Chicago tech, complete with public pillars (Grubhub, Groupon, and Gogo), fast-growing, later-stage rockets (Shiftgig, Spothero, and Sprout Social), and promising, early-stage startups (Cast 21, Nextme, and Pak’d).

Each matchup will be determined by community voting, with readers just needing to answer one question to decide who moves on to the next round – Who do you think will have the greater impact in five years? 

The 2017 bracket is below and voting is open. Round One will end on 3/13. Click ‘View Full Bracket’ to see all 64 teams and click ‘Vote’ to select your Round One victors. Also, for more information on the bracket – including seeding and the selection processscroll to the bottom for a complete breakdown. (And at the VERY bottom of this post, we have a list of all 64 competing companies). Before we get to the voting, let’s take a quick look at the regions…

REGION 1:

REGION 2:

REGION 3:

REGION 4:

Make your picks and read more at ChicagoInno