Startup Battlefield Australia Returns: Applications Close July 6
TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield Australia competition returns on August 19, 2026, in partnership with Stripe. Applications close July 6, with past winners raising over $85 million combined.
TechCrunch has announced the return of Startup Battlefield Australia. The competition will take place on August 19, 2026, in Sydney, in partnership with payment platform Stripe. Applications are open until July 6 and are free, with no equity required.
Previous winners have demonstrated the event's impact. In 2017, medical student Manuri Gunawardena won with HealthMatch, a machine learning platform that matches patients to clinical trials. Since then, HealthMatch has raised over $25 million, expanded into the United States, and served more than 1 million patients globally. Runner-up FluroSat used the exposure to secure a seed round from Microsoft and later became part of Regrow Agriculture, which has raised over $60 million from backers including Microsoft, Airtree, and Cargill. Together, the two companies have raised more than $85 million.
This year, eight selected startups will pitch live at Stripe Tour Sydney in front of top-tier investors, global press, and Australia's tech community. The top three will win up to $15,000 in Stripe fee credits. The grand winner receives automatic entry into Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco this October, with no application or competition required.
This is an opportunity for founders, investors, and operators who have been quietly doing world-class work from the other side of the world. Applications close July 6. It's free to apply, and no equity is taken.
