For three days this week, 20 startups participated in the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Each was chosen to represent the best of the Startup Battlefield 200 and competed for a chance to take home the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000. After so much intense pitching, we have a winner.
These startups were selected to compete in the Startup Battlefield and all presented a live demo in front of the VCs and tech leaders who judged the competition.
After hours of deliberation, TechCrunch editors whittled down the judges’ notes and whittled the list down to five finalists: Charter Space, Glīd, MacroCycle, Nephrogen and Unlisted Homes.
The final five made it to the finals to showcase in front of the final panel of judges, which included Aileen Lee, founder and managing partner of Cowboy Ventures, and Digg founder Kevin Rose.
We are now ready to announce that the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 2024 winner is:
Winner: Glīd
Glīd (pronounced “Glide”) aims to streamline the complex, multi-step process involved in moving a container from a ship to a freight train. The company, founded by Kevin Damoa (pictured), has developed several hardware and software products to speed up and reduce the cost of transporting containers by rail and ultimately to their destination. Its first product is the GliderM, a hybrid-electric vehicle with a rear hook that can pick up and move 20-foot containers directly on the rail without the need for forklift trucks.
Read more about Glīd in our separate post.
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Runners-up: Nephrogen
Nephrogen is a biotech startup using artificial intelligence and advanced control to develop a specialized delivery system to safely deliver gene-edited drugs to precise kidney cells. Founder Demetri Maxim says that after three years of development, Nephrogen has succeeded in creating a delivery mechanism that is 100 times more effective at transporting drug to the kidney than the “vehicles” currently approved by the FDA. And he plans to participate in the clinical trial himself, given the challenges he faces living with polycystic kidney disease.
Read more about Nephrogen in our separate post.
These two companies are following in the footsteps of Startup Battlefield legends like Dropbox, Discord, Cloudflare and Mint on the Disrupt Stage. With more than 1,500 alumni having participated in the program, Startup Battlefield alumni have collectively raised over $29 billion in funding with more than 200 successful exits.
