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Attention is focused on whether a domestic startup will claim the championship cup at 'Startup Battlefield,' a global startup competition with a $100,000 (approximately 130 million won) prize.
Startup Battlefield is a core event of 'TechCrunch Disrupt 2026,' to be held from the 13th to the 15th next month (local time) in San Francisco, U.S., and is regarded as the highlight of the global startup competition.
TechCrunch Disrupt is America's representative startup exhibition where startups, investors, and global companies gather worldwide. Unlike CES or MWC, which focus on startups, this event draws intense interest from global venture capitalists (VCs) and corporations seeking to discover 'raw gems' for investment and collaboration.
Startup Battlefield has seen cumulative participation by over 1,700 companies since its inception in 2007. The total investment raised by these companies after completing the program amounts to $32 billion (approximately 43 trillion won). Dropbox, Cloudflare, Discord, and Trello are among those that have graced this stage.
According to the venture and startup industry on the 6th, thousands of companies worldwide applied for this year's Battlefield, with only 200 selected. Among them, eight Korean startups made the list: eIVE, Jinolab, Planklab, CIT, Argos Vision, BioRoom, Delight Food, and Buzz&V.
A key feature of the Korean startups selected this year is their strong presence in the deep tech sector. More than half of the eight companies are positioned in the materials, components, and equipment (MCE) field. Analysts note that they have been highly valued for their growth potential, aligning with the trend of increasing demand for thermal management, power, and process equipment driven by the expansion of AI infrastructure.
eIVE operates a distributed cloud platform that connects idle GPUs held by companies and institutional investors via a network to utilize them for AI model inference. Instead of building new data centers, it reduces cost burdens for companies developing and operating AI services by improving the utilization rate of existing GPU resources.
Jinolab develops heat-dissipating, flame-retardant, and fire-resistant materials by combining nano-ceramic binders using the sol-gel method with graphene, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), and boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) surface-modified fillers. Major application areas include AI data center thermal management, semiconductors, energy storage systems (ESS), secondary batteries, and building fire safety.
Planklab has staked its claim with maskless lithography equipment usable in semiconductor development. Lithography is a core process for implementing fine circuits on semiconductor substrates. It enables semiconductor companies to create prototypes and verify designs without expensive photomasks (circuit design data).
CIT has developed electronic and metal materials used in AI accelerators and high-density semiconductors. The core lies in reducing signal loss occurring during semiconductor packaging and high-speed data transmission processes using metal single crystals and AES (atomic layer deposition) processes.
Argos Vision created an ultra-wide-angle 3D vision sensor that helps robots perceive their surroundings more broadly and precisely. It enables autonomous driving robots, logistics robots, and service robots to secure a wide field of view without mounting multiple cameras.
In addition, BioRoom is expected to showcase its development of biodegradable packaging material 'Myloform' using mushroom mycelium structure; Delight Food is anticipated for producing alternative meat through dietary fiber micro-control technology; and Buzz&V, operator of the YouTube marketing platform 'Bling' that connects advertisers and creators via data and AI, is also expected to perform well.
The top 20 companies advancing to the main stage of Battlefield will be revealed on the first day of Disrupt. After on-site pitching, they will be narrowed down to five finalists who will compete for the championship cup on the final day of the event.
Park Se-jin, CEO of eIVE, stated, "We will demonstrate the potential of 'AirCloud,' a distributed GPU cloud platform that converts distributed GPUs into actual service-ready AI infrastructure on the Startup Battlefield stage," and added, "We aim to create concrete collaboration opportunities with global customers and partners."
[MoneyToday startup media platform 'Unicorn Factory']
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