Hardware startups: Pitch to the world’s top investors at Hardware Battlefield 2019

Early-stage hardware startup founders, it’s your turn to step into the spotlight and launch your innovative inventions to the world’s top investors. We’re inviting you to apply to compete in our hardware-focused pitch competition, Hardware Battlefield at TC Shenzhen on November 11-12. You might even walk away with $25,000 and a whole new business trajectory.

This is our fifth Hardware Battlefield — cousin to Startup Battlefield, our world-renowned pitch competition — and we’re leaving our CES stomping grounds behind and taking the Battlefield to Shenzhen, China. Why? The city, China’s hardware heartland, provides an unparalleled ecosystem that nurtures hardware startups through a combination of accelerators, rapid prototyping and world-class manufacturing.

We’ve collaborated with our China partner, TechNode, to host TC Hardware Battlefield 2019 as part of the larger TechCrunch Shenzhen show on November 9-12. This pitch competition is open to any early-stage hardware startup anywhere in the world. Show us your hardware — examples from previous Battlefields include smart socks for diabetics, food testing devices, malaria diagnostic tools, e-motorcycles and robotic arms.

Here’s how a Hardware Battlefield works. The first step is to fill out this simple application — the deadline’s August 14. You qualify for consideration if your startup meets these low bars:

• You must have a minimally viable product to demo onstage
• Your product has received little if any, press coverage to date
• Your product must be a hardware device or component

Pro Tip: Founders who want to launch their product onstage have an edge.

TechCrunch editors will thoroughly vet every qualified application and choose an elite cohort of 10-15 hardware startups. Those teams will pitch on the main stage in front of a panel of judges comprised of expert VCs, founders and technologists.

Don’t worry — we won’t just toss you to the proverbial wolves. A TechCrunch team with years of Battlefield experience will provide extensive coaching for each participating team. We’re talking a rigorous six-week training program to prep your pitches, products and presentations. You will be so ready to roll on game day.

Teams will have just six minutes to pitch and demo their products and then respond to a rigorous Q&A from the esteemed judges. Only one team will be declared the Hardware Battlefield champion and take home a check for $25,000.

Here’s more good news. Every team that competes enjoys an enormous amount of worldwide media and investor attention. What’s more, all participants join the ranks of the Startup Battlefield elite. Our Battlefield alumni community currently numbers 857 companies that have accumulated $8.9 billion in funding and 110 exits.

Hardware Battlefield at TC Shenzhen takes place on November 11-12. This is your chance to launch your hardware startup in front of some of the world’s most influential investors, technologists and journalists. Apply to compete in TC Hardware Battlefield 2019, and put your early-stage hardware startup’s name on the map — in Shenzen, China and beyond.

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