Today’s featured category in the Seattle 2.0 Startup Awards, Next Tech Titan, is about that inflection point in the life of a startup, where it reaches a higher level and really ceases to become a startup anymore. In other words, we’re asking for your powers of prediction in this category.

This is one of more than a dozen categories in this year’s Seattle 2.0 Awards, presented by GeekWire. We’ll be featuring one category a day leading up to the big awards bash May 3 at the Experience Music Project. Public voting began last week after finalists were chosen by our judges from hundreds of nominations received from the community.

Next Tech Titan is presented by Waggener Edstrom. Which of these companies will be the next big exit, huge breakthrough, or dominant force in our backyard? Voting runs through Monday, so if you haven’t registered your choice yet, be sure to do it now. If you need help deciding, see more background on each finalist below the poll.

INRIX: The Kirkland provider of real-time traffic information raised a $37 million venture round from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, signed a multi-million dollar deal with Google and purchased its biggest European rival over the past year.

Opscode: This company is an emerging player in the arena of cloud automation technologies, essentially helping developers more easily push code across an array of platforms and scaling servers quickly. The company has been on a significant growth curve in recent months, tapping former Avanade boss Mitch Hill as CEO last August, and raising $19.5 million in venture capital last month in a round led by Bellevue-based Ignition Partners

Tableau: This company’s business intelligence products help companies more effectively analyze data through graphics, and it has been growing at a rapid pace, not only adding employees but also growing sales, which doubled to $72 million in 2011. CEO Christian Chabot has made no secret of the fact that he ultimately wants to take Tableau public.

Redfin: This online real estate company continued to make waves in the housing market, raising $14.8 million in additional investment and expanding its presence to more parts of the country.

Zulily: This daily deals company, founded by former Blue Nile executives Mark Vadon and Darrell Cavens, is one of the fastest-growing Internet startups in Seattle. Last year Zulily raised a $43 million venture capital round from Meritech Capital and others that valued the company at about $750 million.

Tickets are still available for the awards show on May 3rd, one party you won’t want to miss.

Thanks to our event sponsors Waggener EdstromFilterSalad Labs AT&T Developer ProgramCooley, Fresh ConsultingKnollPayScaleProtingentSilicon Valley Bank,  Splunk Startup WeekendWashington Partners, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & RosatiHeinz Marketing, Bader MartinSEOmozChristensen O’Connor Johnson Kindness, Barokas, and Creativello  for their support.

Email Rebecca Lovell at rebecca@geekwire.com for available sponsorship opportunities, and learn more here

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