Let The Games Begin, TechCrunch Disrupt SF Startup Battlefield Applications Are Now Open!

Now that we’ve finally caught our breath from Disrupt in New York City, it’s time to to bring Disrupt back home to San Francisco.  (We like to keep things moving around here).  To get things rolling, we are accepting applications for startups to launch at the Disrupt Startup Battlefield in San Francisco, September 12-14, 2011.  So what are you waiting for?  Applications for the Startup Battlefield can be submitted starting today.

Do you think your startup can be the next Getaround, Qwiki, or Soluto—and make it through the judges gauntlet to claim the top prize of $50,000, the “Disrupt Cup” and accolades of the crowd?  Sure it can.  But you’ll never know unless you apply.

Disrupt is the premiere startup launch competition where the most promising founders and entrepreneurs vie to launch their companies on technology’s biggest stage in front of all-star judges. We will have some of the most influential innovators, angels, and VCs judging in front of an audience of 2,000 investors, technologists, and press.

Applications will be open until July 31st. So don’t wait.  Get your application in now.  Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so it’s to your advantage to submit your application as soon as you are ready. Because of such strong demand, we cannot review applications more than once, so please do not submit a draft application before you are ready for final consideration. A video will be required as part of the application process. We will not accept any videos longer than 5 minutes and they should not exceed 50MB. In the video be sure to show us the product, its key features, and what makes it different. If selected, we may use segments of submitted videos during the Startup Battlefield competition at Disrupt SF. Applicants are also expected to attach a file with up to 5 power point slides summarizing and reinforcing the application. Don’t worry—all submissions are confidential.

In order to compete in the Startup Battlefield, preference will be given to stealth startups that will be launching for the first time to the public and press at Disrupt SF.  All startups must be live for fewer than three months at the time of application submission.  The competition will be taking place in San Francisco, but companies from all around the world are welcome to enter and we highly encourage them to do so. Companies that have already presented at other public launch evens are not eligible.

Be sure to read through all of the rules and take a peek at the finalists from New York before submitting.

Disrupt SF will be on September 12th – 14th, preceded by our hugely popular Hackathon on September 10th – 11th.

If you are an early stage company and do not want to enter the Startup Battlefield competition, or do not qualify, you can still launch and demo your startup or a new product in Startup Alley. If you choose to do so, you have the opportunity to win “Audience Choice” on the first or second day of Disrupt, which also gives you the chance to present on the Disrupt stage in front of our all-star judges. Startups who register for the Startup Alley must be less than two years old and have no more than $2 million in funding raised. You can check out some of our favorite moments from Startup Alley here, and view one of the Startup Alley’s audience choice winner Happy Toy Machine here.  Make sure you register.

If you would like to attend Disrupt SF, early bird tickets are on sale now. The best prices are available for a very limited time, so be sure to get your tickets as soon as possible here.