1 week ago
9
Every laminitis who applies to Startup Battlefield wants the aforesaid thing: the Disrupt Main Stage. Six minutes to transportation and demo live, successful beforehand of top-tier Silicon Valley investors. A dedicated TechCrunch nonfiction published arsenic you present. A changeable astatine the $100,000 equity-free prize and the Disrupt Cup.
Here’s however to get determination and wherefore the accidental starts good earlier the main stage.
What it takes to marque the Startup Battlefield Top 20
The Startup Battlefield Top 20 represents the champion of the champion from the Startup Battlefield 200. Companies with ideas that are meaningfully different, category-defining, and susceptible of making a large interaction successful their manufacture oregon geography. Selection comes down to which companies are the astir compelling, differentiated, and acceptable for a planetary stage.
Your merchandise and laminitis videos are everything. They are the archetypal content and play the astir important relation successful identifying which companies are acceptable for the Disrupt Stage. Show your merchandise successful action. Be circumstantial astir what makes you different. Let your condemnation travel done connected camera, not conscionable your metrics.
Selected companies enactment intimately with the TechCrunch squad connected transportation mentation up of Disrupt. Each institution pitches and demos unrecorded for six minutes connected the Disrupt Stage, followed by a unrecorded Q&A with top-tier investors similar Aileen Lee (Cowboy Ventures), Kirsten Green (Forerunner), Navin Chaddha (Mayfield), Chris Farmer (SignalFire), Dayna Grayson (Construct Capital), Ann Miura-Ko (Floodgate), and Hans Tung (Notable Capital).
Of the Top 20, 5 are selected to transportation again connected the last time of Disrupt successful beforehand of a caller sheet of high-profile judges. The victor receives $100,000 successful equity-free prize wealth and the Disrupt Cup.
Check retired the Top 20 from 2024 and 2025.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco, CA | October 13-15, 2026
Image Credits:TechCrunch / Slava Blazer PhotographyNot selected for the Top 20 initially? You’re inactive successful the running
The database isn’t last until Disrupt is underway. Every year, things alteration — founders driblet out, schedules shift, and standout companies from the 200 emergence rapidly during the program.
We support the Top 20 confidential until the lawsuit begins and support a shortlist of companies acceptable to measurement in. It happens each cycle.
And much importantly, being successful the 200 is wherever the existent accidental begins. The signifier is 1 moment. But the access, exposure, and web you summation arsenic portion of the cohort extends acold beyond it.
What each Startup Battlefield 200 institution gets
You don’t person to marque the Top 20 for Startup Battlefield to alteration your trajectory.
Every selected institution receives a afloat funded demo booth astatine TechCrunch Disrupt; complimentary lawsuit passes for the team; entree to a pre-event virtual programme with world-class VCs, operators, and founders; dedicated transportation preparation; and an invitation to the backstage Startup Battlefield reception.
At Disrupt, each 200 companies present. Whether you’re connected the Disrupt Stage competing for the $100,000 prize oregon connected the Showcase Stage for Best successful Industry, some are existent opportunities to basal retired successful beforehand of the investors, press, and partners who travel to Disrupt to find what’s next.
On the editorial side, each institution enters the TechCrunch ecosystem. Coverage isn’t guaranteed, but our editors actively way Startup Battlefield companies done articles, the Build Mode podcast, the Equity podcast, and aboriginal updates arsenic you grow. Standout companies are often invited to pitch, speak, and instrumentality crossed TechCrunch platforms. It’s a pipeline that compounds implicit time.
Beyond that, you articulation the Startup Battlefield alumni community, which includes 1,700+ companies, specified arsenic Dropbox, Discord, and Cloudflare, which person collectively raised $32 cardinal and produced 250+ exits. This isn’t a mailing database — it’s a web of founders who’ve been done the aforesaid acquisition and proceed to enactment each other.
Alumni person ongoing opportunities to transportation and talk astatine TechCrunch events, discounted and complimentary entree to aboriginal events, and exclusive perks from our spouse network.
The signifier is 1 moment. The network, visibility, and entree are what last.
You get worth conscionable for applying to Startup Battlefield
Even if you’re not selected, applying has its upsides. Applicants person exclusive discounts connected Disrupt tickets and grounds opportunities, on with resources from our partners, truthful you tin enactment adjacent to the ecosystem and travel backmost stronger adjacent cycle.
If you’re connected the obstruction astir whether you’re ready, use anyway. It’s free, it takes thing disconnected the table, and it’s our occupation to archer you if it’s not the close time. The founders who hold until they consciousness acceptable often hold excessively long.
While you’re preparing, cheque retired Build Mode, TechCrunch’s podcast for early-stage founders featuring past Startup Battlefield companies, breakout founders, and top-tier investors. Consider it the wrong way connected what it takes to physique a Battlefield-ready company.
Applications adjacent May 27, 2026. TechCrunch Disrupt takes spot October 13–15 successful San Francisco.
English (US) ·