Deadline:
June 09, 2025
Location(s)
United States of America
TechCrunch Disrupt | Oct. 27-29, San Francisco
Overview
Top-tier expert judges. World-renowned past winners. Free and open participation. The world's top early stage startups together on one stage to compete for equity free prize money, and the attention of media and investors world wide.
Details
What is Startup Battlefield?
TechCrunch Startup Battlefield is the world’s preeminent startup competition held at TechCrunch Disrupt. For over 15 years, TechCrunch has featured the top startup talent from around the world, across any industry in tech. Historically, TechCrunch has picked 20 early stage startups to showcase. As the tech startup ecosystem blossomed, the Startup Battlefield cohort has grown to feature 200 promising companies.
The Startup Battlefield 200 companies pitch on the Pitch Showcase Stage, receive a featured spot on the show floor at TC Disrupt, pitch training, masterclasses, private receptions, communities and investor meet and greets. The final 20 startups pitch on the Disrupt Stage for six minutes with a live Q&A in front of tier-1 VCs. The winner will get $100,000 in equity free prize money and the famous Disrupt Cup, Companies that launched on our stagw include PartPic, N26, Vurb, Trello, Mint, Dropbox, Yammer, Tripit, Redbeacon, Qwiki, Getaround, Render, Vise AI, Forethought AI.
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
The ideal fit for Startup Battlefield has had minimal press coverage, and is going to showcase something disruptive on stage. We accept startups from all over the world, any country and building in any industry who are focused on solving any problem.
Companies must be pre-series-A, meaning if you have already closed a Series A at the time of application submission- you will likely be disqualified, with the exception of some capital intensive industries. Companies also must have a Minimum Viable Product at the time of application and demonstrate this in your product demo video (we do not accept animated or AI generated demo videos).
Dates
Deadline: June 09, 2025
Cost/funding for participants
The Startup Battlefield 200 contestants receive free tickets to attend Disrupt as well as a free demo booth in the Expo Hall at the conference. They are also invited to our digital events as well as any other private events aimed at Startup Battlefield founders – masterclasses, trainings, VC office hours, mentor seminars, etc. Of the 200 selected companies, 20 will be chosen as the Startup Battlefield Finalists. During the afternoon sessions at Disrupt, each Startup Battlefield Finalist company will pitch and live-demo the virtual on-stage for 6 minutes and then answer judges’ questions for six minutes. All pitches will be live-streamed on TechCrunch’s homepage.
TechCrunch will do a post on each Startup Battlefield Finalist company as it presents. The video and photo assets from the pitch are available to the teams after Disrupt. Following all Startup Battlefield Finalist sessions, judges and TechCrunch editors select a group of finalists, typically 4-6 companies. Finalists will pitch for a second time to a new group of judges. The judges and the editors pick the winner, who receives $100,000 and the Disrupt Cup, and the runner up.
Un-save Opportunity
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