Could your startup use $100,000? Then drop whatever you’re doing and apply to compete in Startup Battlefield while you still can. Applications are still open to qualifying companies — meaning you haven’t yet launched to the public and have received little to no press coverage. Startup Battlefield takes place at Disrupt San Francisco 2018 on September 5-7. Don’t miss out on your chance to introduce your company from the world’s biggest startup stage. Apply today.
This is no “ordinary” Disrupt SF. This is our biggest, most ambitious Disrupt ever and, this year, it’s the only Disrupt taking place in North America. That’s why we supersized the Startup Battlefield grand prize to $100,000 cash. And here’s more good news. TechCrunch does not take any fees or equity from Battlefield startups, and it doesn’t cost anything to apply or to participate in the competition.
Here’s a quick look at how Startup Battlefield works. Seasoned TechCrunch editors review each application and select approximately 20-30 companies in a highly competitive vetting process. TechCrunch selects contestants based on their team, product and market potential, and the acceptance rate is roughly three to six percent.
Each team receives free pitch coaching from the seasoned TechCrunch team and will be well-prepared to step onto the Disrupt Main Stage. In the preliminary round, teams get six minutes to pitch and demo their products to a panel of judges composed of TechCrunch editors, top VCs, technologists and entrepreneurs. After each pitch, judges follow up with a Q & A.
The judges then select six companies to move forward to a final pitch-off in front of a fresh set of judges — and a second set of follow-up questions. From the six comes one startup to claim the title of champion, win the vaunted Disrupt Cup and take home the largest grand prize in the history of TechCrunch Startup Battlefield.
The entire Battlefield takes place in front of a live audience of several thousand startup enthusiasts — including influential VCs, investors and media outlets (representing more than 400 outlets). We also live-stream the whole shebang around the world on TechCrunch.com, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter (and make it available later on demand).
Every Startup Battlefield contestant, regardless of the outcome, joins the ranks of the Startup Battlefield Alumni community. We’re talking almost 800 companies — including notables like Mint, Dropbox, Yammer, Fitbit, Getaround and Cloudflare. These alumni companies have collectively raised more than $8 billion in funding and produced more than 100 exits.
And in a classic “but wait, there’s more” moment, TechCrunch also provides free exhibit space in Startup Alley for all three days of Disrupt SF to all Battlefield contestants. Between the Battlefield competition exposure and exhibit time in Startup Alley, the networking possibilities are practically limitless.
Startup Battlefield takes place at Disrupt San Francisco 2018 on September 5-7. Applications to Startup Battlefield won’t be open much longer, so apply today. We can’t wait to see you there!
