And the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield Winner is...

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Thursday, October 20, 2022

It’s Day 3 of Disrupt and we are so tired we're flopped in the green room giggling maniacally at the dumbest jokes you can imagine. To be fair, that's our baseline anyway. Enjoooooy! — Christine and Haje Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

Startup Battlefield 2022 Winner! It began with 20: As seasoned TechCrunch readers will know, startups participating in the Startup Battlefield were handpicked to compete in the event. During the first two days of Disrupt, the companies pitched before judges for a chance to win $100,000 and the coveted Battlefield Cup. After much deliberation, the TechCrunch editors pored over the judges' notes and narrowed the list down to five finalists: Advanced Ionics, AppMap, Intropic Materials, Minerva Lithium and Swap Robotics. They pitched in front of the final panel of judges today, which included Mar Hershenson (Pear VC), Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone, Aileen Lee (Cowboy Ventures), TechCrunch editor in chief Matthew Panzarino, David Tisch (BoxGroup) and Richard Wong (Accel). One startup emerged victorious. Okay without further ado, the winner of Startup Battlefield 2022 is Minerva Lithium! Minerva Lithium has produced Nano Mosaic, a coordinated polymer framework that looks a bit like black gravel and extracts critical materials from brine in just three days. Minerva says that it can extract one metric ton of lithium using just 30,000 gallons of water, and it can do it in three days. Evaporative brine processing needs to evaporate 500,000 gallons of water to get to the same amount of lithium. Just one gram of this absorbent material has a surface area equal to that of a soccer pitch, which should give you an idea of just how little you'd need to extract a large amount of minerals. Read our coverage on Minerva Lithium here. Intropic Materials is the runner-up, with its set of enzymes that can be added to plastics at the very beginning of their life cycle, before it is even turned into products. Plastics are great for so many things, but they stay around for an awfully long time. The additives the company makes have been proof-of-concept tested and it wants to upend how plastics are made and disposed of. Image Credits: Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch

Framing Innovation: Explore how AT&T's network powers innovation Sponsored by AT&T Real innovation happens when companies combine what they do best to connect the dots of innovation. AT&T is working with startups like Boddle Learning to reshape how kids learn, merging connectivity and education to frame innovation. Learn More

The TechCrunch Top 3 Quiet launch: Manish again had two of our top stories this week. The first one is on Reliance, which launched the JioBook, its first laptop, of which he writes, "The company appears to have ambitious plans." So fine: Manish's other story involves India fining Google $162 million for what the country said was anti-competitive practices on Android mobile devices. Manish reports that India is Google's largest market in terms of users, and Google powers 97% of the country's 600 million smartphones. So…yeah. Spend management: Banyan, a platform for customers, such as banks, fintechs, hotels and merchants to automate expense management, bagged $43 million in a mix of equity and debt funding that Kyle writes "positions Banyan well with ample runway to grow."

Startups and VC Advanced Ionics, a climate tech startup that hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is striving to drive down the price of green hydrogen, reports Harri. They are changing the game by slashing how much electricity is needed for electrolysis by as much as 50%. There's an abundance of dating apps on the market, but there aren't many apps that aim to keep the spark alive after you enter a relationship. Enter Sparks, an app catering to existing couples looking to introduce new and fun experiences to their lives, Aisha reports. The Barcelona-based startup, which exhibited as part of the Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt, debuted as an MVP in May 2021 and officially launched this week. Hey, I have a cool idea — let's do a few more: You turn me right round, baby, right round: Christine suggests that if you want to know how a dress looks on you, AIMIRR has your back…and front. I like the cut of your jib: RIF Robotics powers robots that inspect and organize surgical equipment, Kyle reports. Collision imminent, power to shields: Kayhan Space is making orbit safer with timely, automatic collision warnings for satellites, by Devin. Time for a break maybe: Paul reports that Ambr wants to solve the billion-dollar burnout problem by tracking employees' working habits. Like data, but different: Lucas writes that BetterData taps the blockchain to help create better synthetic data.

Read this before you reprice your SaaS product because of the downturn Many startups are lowering prices right now in an attempt to retain customers and reduce churn during the downturn. “But is that actually helpful advice for SaaS founders?” asks Torben Friehe, CEO and co-founder of Wingback. “As far as I can see, it isn't for most.” Instead of being reactive, Friehe says SaaS startups need to instead revisit their ideal customer profile and revise their messaging. “This adverse economic climate may actually be a time when you have more leverage and can demand higher prices for your product.” Three more from the TC+ team: Ploughing resources into carbon removal: Farmers are key to Lithos Carbon's quest to remove gigatons of carbon, by Tim. Stable and steady: Stablecoin demand maintains pace as other cryptocurrencies tumble, by Jacquelyn. 2021 was, like, last year: Netflix results confirm we're not in 2021 anymore, by Anna. TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription! Read More Image Credits: Richard Drury / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. Tesla reported its third-quarter revenue issued analyst expectations, causing shares to fall slightly yesterday by 3.5%, Kirsten reports. However, net income for the third quarter was $3.3 billion, or nearly double the $1.62 billion it earned in the same period last year. The company cited raw material costs and issues ramping up production at its Germany and Texas factories. And we have more for you: No stones unturned: Ivan reports on the reaction support for iPhone texts and in-app reminders for Google Messages. Wave to the camera: Seems as though there is a bug in Abode's home security system that can let hackers remotely switch off cameras. Carly has more. Boxed in: UK's antitrust group is filing litigation that targets Amazon Buy Box with over $1 billion in damages, Natasha L reports.

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Get your Disrupt highlights here

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Thursday, October 20, 2022

Welcome to an extra-special TechCrunch Disrupt edition of the Daily Crunch. It's been three long years but, the TechCrunch team finally descended on San Francisco along with the tech industry's brightest minds to discuss all things, well, tech. Not only that, 20 startups pitched their companies as part of Startup Battlefield and the finalists were announced last night. Read on for some Disrupt highlights and stay glued to your inbox (or better yet, go watch on TechCrunch dot com) to find out who the Battlefield winner will be!

Disrupt roundup Mary Ann covered Serena Ventures' panel and wrote about how Serena Williams brings her killer instinct to the world of investing. Kevin Hart and his HartBeat Ventures partner Robert Roman discussed taking the firm's first outside investment from JPMorgan. Aisha has more. Rivian's RJ Scaringe says the future of his electric vehicle company involves humans rather than machines, Rebecca reports. Activision Blizzard's Johanna Faries was in the hot seat discussing the company's emerging "anti-tox" strategy, as reported by Taylor. Kyle wrote about Reddit, whose chief product officer, Pali Bhat, told the crowd that over 3 million of its users have tapped into its Vault blockchain wallet to create over 3 million crypto wallets to date. Meanwhile, you don't want to miss Ron's article on Chief's co-founders, who discussed the members-only club and why they hate the term "girl boss." Mary Ann spoke with Rippling founder Parker Conrad, and here is a look at how the company, which just got into the spend management space, is taking over global payroll. Catch up with Ingrid's report on the panel featuring OnlyFans CEO Ami Gan, who said that even though the company is working toward an all-creator platform, adult content will continue to be a part of the site. Solana's co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko was onstage yesterday, and Jacquelyn wrote about how he sees the company's web3 phone as a "developer play" to target crypto audience. Rebecca has two takes on Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe's interview from yesterday. One is on how the company is managing recalled vehicles and one covers its hire of a former Waymo executive for a new autonomy and artificial intelligence role. Check out some bot madness in Brian's Actuator newsletter. He goes on the hunt for hardware and robotics goodness at Disrupt, and here is the result. And here are some video links if you want to catch up on our fabulous interviews with Serena Williams and Kevin Hart. Image Credits: Haje Kamps / TechCrunch

Framing Innovation: Explore how AT&T's network powers innovation Sponsored by AT&T Real innovation happens when companies combine what they do best to connect the dots of innovation. AT&T is working with startups like Boddle Learning to reshape how kids learn, merging connectivity and education to frame innovation. Learn More

The Battlefield 20 In case you need a refresher, here are the 20 companies that pitched onstage this week. NXgenPort: A Saint Paul, Minnesota-based startup that's looking to remotely monitor cancer patients in between doctor visits using a port catheter. Omneky: Leverages OpenAI's DALLE-2 and GPT-3 models to generate visuals and text that can be used in ads for social platforms. Circular Genomics: Claims its new form of genetic testing can identify which medications will work for a patient in a fraction of that time. Anthill: Connects frontline workers to company resources through text messaging. AppMap: Was built on the simple idea that developers should be able to see the behavior of software as they write it so they can prevent problems when the software runs. Mother Honestly: New commerce offering aims to give employees more freedom when it comes to caregiving spending. Digest.ai: Beyond flashcards to create an AI dialogue assistant that we can all carry around on our phones. Swap Robotics: Paving the way for electric solar vegetation cuts and sidewalk snow plowing. Hormona: Hopes to encourage people with periods to do just that — add hormone-monitoring to their quantified health mix. Staax: Thinks peer-to-peer payments can onboard a new generation of stock investors. Ally Robotics: The company has developed a combination hardware and software solution designed to make it easier to deploy these automated solutions for those without coding/robotics experience. Nat4bio: Makes food-grade coating to protect fruit from microscopic threat. Minerva Lithium: Uses absorbent material to change the way we extract lithium. Reverion: Has developed a way to get more electricity out of biogas and existing fuel-cell technology. Incooling: Is building servers that use liquid to cool down. Intropic Materials: Helps single-use plastics decompose from the inside out. BetterData: BetterData taps the blockchain to help create better synthetic data. Labby: Wants to make milk healthier and cows happier with better sensors. Advanced Ionics: Is striving to drive down the price of green hydrogen by slashing how much electricity is needed for electrolysis by as much as 50%. Kayhan Space: Kayhan Space is making orbit safer with timely, automatic collision warnings for satellites. And the finalists are …. After the pitching, TechCrunch editors and judges winnowed the list down to five companies (Advanced Ionics, AppMap, Intropic Materials, Minerva Lithium and Swap Robotics). Later today, one of them will be crowned the Battlefield winner and take home the Battlefield Cup and $100,000. Hey now.

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Newest Jobs from Crunchboard Systems Developer at Scanline VFX (Anywhere) JavaScript Reverse Engineer at eyeo (Germany) Systems Engineer at Scanline VFX (Anywhere) Senior IT Project Manager at Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA, United States) Business Process Specialist - Procurement at Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA, United States) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month.

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