In November 2017, TechCrunch introduced Startup Battlefield to Australia for the primary time. Fifteen startups from throughout Australia and New Zealand took the degree in Sydney, pitched in entrance of buyers and judges, and competed for a shot on the international degree.
It was once someday. One degree. And what came about subsequent is precisely why we’re coming again.
Sydney, August 19, 2026
On August 19, Startup Battlefield is returning to Sydney in partnership with Stripe, some of the global’s maximum iconic generation firms. We’re taking on Stripe Excursion Sydney for an evening that the Australian startup ecosystem gained’t overlook. Ten decided on firms will pitch are living in entrance of top-tier buyers, international press, and the most efficient of Australia’s tech neighborhood. The highest 3 will win as much as $10,000 in Stripe price credit. The grand winner walks away with one thing even larger: automated access into Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco this October — no software required, no festival. Only a assured spot at the global’s maximum iconic startup degree.
However this isn’t simply an tournament for the ten firms pitching. It is a second for all the Australian startup ecosystem — the founders, buyers, operators, and developers who’ve been quietly doing world-class paintings from the opposite facet of the sector. We wish each and every formidable founder within the room, whether or not you’re onstage or within the target audience, as a result of that is the type of night time that reminds you why you began.
In finding out who must observe and extra information about the Stripe x Startup Battlefield right here.
What came about the remaining time we had been right here
Don’t simply take our phrase for it. Right here’s what got here out of someday in Sydney in 2017.
The winner changed into a world well being tech platform
Manuri Gunawardena was once a final-year scientific scholar when she pitched HealthMatch — a gadget finding out platform matching sufferers with medical trials. She gained. That win was over $25 million raised, U.S. growth, and over 1 million sufferers globally, subsidized through Sq. Peg Capital and SEEK co-founder Paul Bassat.
The runner-up constructed a world agtech corporate
Runner-up FluroSat used hyperspectral imaging to lend a hand farmers scale back waste. The Startup Battlefield degree gave the corporate its first actual visibility. A Microsoft M12 seed spherical adopted, then a merger to shape Regrow Agriculture — now with over $60 million raised and subsidized through Microsoft, Airtree, and Cargill.
In combination, the winner and runner-up from someday in Sydney have raised over $85 million. That’s what occurs whilst you create a degree and invite the suitable other people onto it.
The wider category of 2017
Throughout 26 Australian Battlefield alumni, the collective investment raised exceeds $147 million, with 3 a hit acquisitions. They’ve been subsidized through Y Combinator, Blackbird Ventures, Sq. Peg, Khosla Ventures, Microsoft, Airtree, Startmate, Techstars, and SOSV. CancerAid went directly to turn into Osara Well being. Lifestyles Whisperer partnered with fertility clinics the world over.
Those had been firms the sector had by no means heard of prior to they stood in a room in Sydney and made their case. That’s what Startup Battlefield does. It unearths firms prior to the sector is aware of their names.
Able to make historical past?
We’re searching for the following HealthMatch. The following Regrow. The following corporate no one has heard of but, construction one thing that may subject.
Programs are open now via July 6.
Observe now for Stripe x Startup Battlefield Australia 2026. Unfastened to use. No fairness taken. In-person tournament in Sydney, on August 19, 2026.
Whilst you acquire via hyperlinks in our articles, we might earn a small fee. This doesn’t impact our editorial independence.
