Applications are now open for the Startup Battlefield at Disrupt London this December 5-6th. Apply now!
The Battlefield is TechCrunch’s premiere startup competition. Three times a year, the Battlefield takes place at TechCrunch Disrupt, where 20-something new companies will have the opportunity to present their product live onstage. They then face questions from our expert judging panel.
In the end there can only be one victor. That winner receives £30,000 and the illustrious Disrupt Cup. Former participants in the competition have raised over $5B and include the likes of Dropbox, Alfred, Betterment, Trello and Cloudflare. Two recent participants were acquired just this summer, Beam, by Microsoft and Vurb, for over $110 million by SnapChat.
European participants are Number26, which raised over $40 million to bring the bank of the future to Europe, Luka (Formerly IO), which participated in Y Combinator and Crate, our winner from 2014, which helps developers manage and scale their databases.
Our teams have even been known to occasionally rap on stage.
So, are you eligible?
Both Europe and non-Europe based teams are eligible to apply. Last year’s batch was quite the poster child for the EU. Participating startups hailed from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ireland, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Russia, the U.K. One U.S. based company even managed to make it in and claimed the number two spot.
The Battlefield has no funding minimum or maximums to participate. TechCrunch has seen teams in the “garage stage” all the way up to several million dollars in funding that are spinning off university research. That being said, most participating startups would consider themselves to be seed stage.
Startups from all verticals are eligible to participate in the Battlefield. Recently, the Battlefield has been the launch vehicle for startups in batteries, biotech, bitcoin, cloud computing, consumer hardware, dev tools, education, fintech, e-commerce, healthcare, emerging market connectivity, security and many others. Creating a new market? We like that too.
Is there anything you should watch out for?
One of our goals at TechCrunch is to bring new, interesting startups to light for our audience. Battlefield startups should for the most part be under the radar and should not have a lot of previous press. Demo day wrap-ups or short announcements for a beta product are usually allowed.
Where is this happening?
Disrupt London will be hosted at the “Copper Box” Arena in London’s former Olympic park, December. A special treat for the Battlefield companies competing at Disrupt London comes at the end of the conference when His Royal Highness, The Duke of York hosts the Battlefield participants at St. James’s Palace. TechCrunch is honored to bring the competing startups, along with the winner’s big check, to meet The Duke of York and celebrate the culmination of the conference. It is certainly a special night.
How do you apply?
For more information and to apply for the Startup Battlefield and submit your application here by 12pm PT, October 5th, 2016. Startups will find out if they are selected in late October.
If you’re looking to find out more about Battlefield alumni, judges or the process in general, check out the Startup Battlefield Hub.
