Apply today for TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield Dubai
Technology innovation and entrepreneurial genius exists across the globe. That’s why in 2017 TechCrunch took the Startup Battlefield to Africa, Australia, Europe, and of course San Francisco. In 2018, we’re heading to Dubai — a moonshot city in the making — and joining forces with the UAE’s new innovation hub, Area 2071. We’re looking for 15 of the world’s best early-stage startups to join us there in April.
The TechCrunch Startup Battlefield Dubai Hosted by Area 2071 takes place in April 2018, and the deadline to apply is January 18th, 2018 at 9 pm PST. That’s just 15 days away, so get a move on!
Startup Battlefield Dubai will feature early-stage startups focused only on the following three categories: governance, logistics and distribution. Five startups representing each category will be invited to compete onstage in Dubai. The finalists will receive notification by February 25th, 2018 at 5pm PST.
The 15 startups chosen to compete will receive expert pitch-off coaching from TechCrunch editors. Each team will emerge from their training ready to pitch their company in six minutes to a panel of judges, and field their questions for up to six minutes. The judges will bring their expertise as seasoned entrepreneurs, investors and technologists to pose some tough questions; a TechCrunch editor will moderate.The judges will select five finalists to pitch a second time to win the first ever Startup Battlefield Dubai winner.
The overall winner will be crowned the first TechCrunch Startup Battlefield Dubai champion, bring home the US$50,000 cash prize (TechCrunch takes no equity of fees). The winner will also receive an all-expense paid trip for two to San Francisco for Disrupt SF 2018 — TechCrunch’s flagship event — and will compete in that Battlefield (assuming the company still qualifies at the time).
Startup Battlefield Dubai will produce one winner for each of the three categories and one overall winner. All four winners will receive an invitation to join Area 2071’s incubator program, which includes support from a community of corporate partners, government entities, designers and lawyers. It also includes accommodation and visa sponsorship.
You’ll be able to tune-into the show via livestream around the world on TechCrunch.com, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter; we’ll have it available later on-demand, too.
All 15 Startup Battlefield Dubai companies will enter the Startup Battlefield Alumni Community. Our Alumni community includes over 800 companies who’ve collectively raised over $8 billion, and produced over 100 exits. Notable Battlefield alumni include Mint, Dropbox, Yammer, TripIt, Getaround and Cloudflare.
Do you have questions about how we define governance, logistics and distribution — or anything else? You’ll find answers (including legalese about which countries are not eligible) on our Startup Battlefield Dubai FAQ.
The application deadline — January 18th, 2018 at 9 pm PST — will arrive before you know it. So, get your team moving and apply to Startup Battlefield Dubai today. We can’t wait to see you there!
Featured Image: Luciano Mortula/Shutterstock
Published at Wed, 03 Jan 2018 12:05:26 +0000