At a Glance
- TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield selected 200 startups for its 2026 event.
- The top 20 finalists compete for the Startup Battlefield Cup and a $100,000 prize.
- The list highlights fintech and real-estate/proptech innovators reshaping their sectors.
- Why it matters: These companies could set new industry standards and attract investor attention.
TechCrunch’s annual Startup Battlefield draws thousands of applicants each year. From those, the team narrows the field to 200 contenders, and the best 20 pitch on the main stage for the coveted cup and $100,000. The remaining 180 startups also impress, competing in their own category showcases.
The 200 Selectees: A Closer Look
The selection process spotlights startups that combine strong technology with clear market impact. Each company in the list offers a unique solution that could disrupt its industry.
Fintech Innovators
Clox AI uses artificial intelligence to detect fraud, such as tampering and forgery, in digital documents, enabling finance and lending firms to automate the entire verification process faster.
Cypher provides cloud-based fractional CFO and accounting services tailored for startups and high-growth tech companies, focusing on metrics that matter to investors and offering cap-table management and investor reporting.
Identifee is an AI-powered platform built for commercial banks and credit unions that consolidates multiple systems-CRM, business intelligence, and sales enablement-into one unified solution.
Kruncher automates the VC and private-equity investment process, from deal screening and due diligence to portfolio monitoring and reporting, allowing firms to scale decision-making capacity.
Lootlock helps parents manage kids’ spending on video games with prepaid debit cards linked to funds earned through chores, teaching responsibility while allowing children to earn a digital allowance.
Muse delivers an AI-powered tax platform that offers automated, personalized tax strategies and financial insights to banks, payroll, and other financial institutions, claiming faster compliance than humans.
ti¢ker offers an AI-powered investment research and trading platform that provides real-time stock forecasts, price predictions, and automated trading signals, making institutional-quality tools accessible to individual traders.
Real Estate & Proptech Trailblazers
Genia transforms architectural drawings into building-code compliant, physics-validated structural designs using AI, claiming to slash design time by tenfold.
Investwise is an AI-driven optimization platform that helps data-center operators maximize hardware performance and cooling efficiency, ensuring profitable infrastructure.
Smart Bricks is a Dubai-based AI-powered real-estate investment platform that analyzes residential and commercial properties in the UAE and the United States to help investors discover high-return opportunities.
Soundspace Technology provides technology-enabled music infrastructure, offering professional and affordable creative spaces for the “creative middle class” through a recurring credit system that resembles a gym membership.
Surfaice is an AI copilot designed for construction development, automating design, documentation, and cost-projection for repeatable projects to accelerate high-volume infrastructure builds.
Unlisted Homes is an AI-powered pre-market platform that creates searchable profiles for every U.S. home, letting buyers join waitlists for properties not yet for sale, tracking about 21 million homes via public records.
Zown is an AI-powered real-estate brokerage that returns up to 1.5 % of the broker’s commission-up to $25,000-back to buyers before closing, helping first-time buyers meet down-payment needs.
| Category | Number of Startups |
|---|---|
| Fintech | 7 |
| Real Estate & Proptech | 7 |
The table above shows the equal representation of fintech and real-estate/proptech startups among the selectees, underscoring TechCrunch’s balanced focus on both sectors.
Key Takeaways
- TechCrunch’s 2026 Startup Battlefield will feature 200 startups, with 20 finalists vying for a $100,000 prize.
- The list showcases seven fintech and seven real-estate/proptech companies, each offering AI-driven solutions that aim to streamline operations, reduce costs, and open new revenue streams.
- Startups like Clox AI, Kruncher, and Zown illustrate how AI can automate complex tasks-from fraud detection to investment analysis to brokerage rebates-potentially reshaping industry practices.
The event highlights a generation of tech companies poised to influence finance, real estate, and beyond, making the 2026 Startup Battlefield a must-watch for investors and industry observers.
