In November 2017, TechCrunch introduced Startup Battlefield to Australia for the primary time. Fifteen startups from throughout Australia and New Zealand took the stage in Sydney, pitched in entrance of buyers and judges, and competed for a shot on the international stage.
It was at some point. One stage. And what occurred subsequent is strictly why we’re coming again.
Sydney, August 19, 2026
On August 19, Startup Battlefield is returning to Sydney in partnership with Stripe, one of many world’s most iconic know-how firms. We’re taking up Stripe Tour Sydney for an evening that the Australian startup ecosystem gained’t neglect. Ten chosen firms will pitch dwell in entrance of top-tier buyers, international press, and the perfect of Australia’s tech group. The highest three will win as much as $10,000 in Stripe charge credit. The grand winner walks away with one thing even greater: automated entry into Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco this October — no utility required, no competitors. Only a assured spot on the world’s most iconic startup stage.
However this isn’t simply an occasion for the ten firms pitching. This can be a second for all the Australian startup ecosystem — the founders, buyers, operators, and builders who’ve been quietly doing world-class work from the opposite facet of the world. We would like each formidable founder within the room, whether or not you’re onstage or within the viewers, as a result of that is the form of night time that reminds you why you began.
Discover out who ought to apply and extra particulars in regards to the Stripe x Startup Battlefield right here.
What occurred the final time we had been right here
Don’t simply take our phrase for it. Right here’s what got here out of at some point in Sydney in 2017.
The winner turned a world well being tech platform
Manuri Gunawardena was a final-year medical scholar when she pitched HealthMatch — a machine studying platform matching sufferers with scientific trials. She gained. That win changed into over $25 million raised, U.S. growth, and over 1 million sufferers globally, backed by Sq. Peg Capital and SEEK co-founder Paul Bassat.
The runner-up constructed a world agtech firm
Runner-up FluroSat used hyperspectral imaging to assist farmers scale back waste. The Startup Battlefield stage gave the corporate its first actual visibility. A Microsoft M12 seed spherical adopted, then a merger to type Regrow Agriculture — now with over $60 million raised and backed by Microsoft, Airtree, and Cargill.
Collectively, the winner and runner-up from at some point in Sydney have raised over $85 million. That’s what occurs once you create a stage and invite the fitting individuals onto it.
The broader class of 2017
Throughout 26 Australian Battlefield alumni, the collective funding raised exceeds $147 million, with three profitable acquisitions. They’ve been backed by Y Combinator, Blackbird Ventures, Sq. Peg, Khosla Ventures, Microsoft, Airtree, Startmate, Techstars, and SOSV. CancerAid went on to grow to be Osara Well being. Life Whisperer partnered with fertility clinics internationally.
These had been firms the world had by no means heard of earlier than they stood in a room in Sydney and made their case. That’s what Startup Battlefield does. It finds firms earlier than the world is aware of their names.
Able to make historical past?
We’re searching for the following HealthMatch. The subsequent Regrow. The subsequent firm no one has heard of but, constructing one thing that may matter.
Functions are open now via July 6.
Apply now for Stripe x Startup Battlefield Australia 2026. Free to use. No fairness taken. In-person occasion in Sydney, on August 19, 2026.
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