Glīd Wins Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
▼ Summary
– 20 startups competed in TechCrunch Disrupt 2025’s Startup Battlefield for the cup and $100,000 prize.
– Five finalists were selected: Charter Space, Glīd, MacroCycle, Nephrogen, and Unlisted Homes.
– Glīd won the competition with its solution to streamline container transport from ships to freight trains.
– Runner-up Nephrogen uses AI to develop efficient gene-editing delivery systems for kidney treatments.
– Startup Battlefield alumni have raised over $29 billion and include successful companies like Dropbox and Discord.
Glīd has emerged as the champion of TechCrunch Disrupt 2025’s Startup Battlefield, securing the coveted cup and a $100,000 prize. The competition featured twenty of the most promising startups from the Startup Battlefield 200, all of whom delivered live demonstrations to a panel of venture capitalists and technology leaders. Following extensive deliberations, the field was narrowed down to five finalists: Charter Space, Glīd, MacroCycle, Nephrogen, and Unlisted Homes.
These finalists presented one last time to the ultimate judging panel, which included prominent figures like Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures and Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg. After a rigorous evaluation process, Glīd was declared the winner for its innovative approach to logistics.
The company, whose name is pronounced “Glide,” focuses on simplifying the intricate, multi-stage procedure of transferring shipping containers from vessels to freight trains. By creating a suite of hardware and software solutions, Glīd aims to accelerate this process and significantly cut associated costs. Its flagship product, the GliderM, is a hybrid-electric vehicle equipped with a specialized rear hook. This vehicle can directly lift and transport 20-foot containers to rail lines, eliminating the traditional reliance on forklifts and hostler trucks.
The runner-up position was claimed by Nephrogen, a biotechnology firm leveraging artificial intelligence and sophisticated screening techniques. This startup is engineering a specialized delivery mechanism to safely transport gene-editing therapeutics into specific kidney cells. Founder Demetri Maxim, who lives with polycystic kidney disease, revealed that after three years of development, their delivery system demonstrates a one hundredfold improvement in efficiency compared to FDA-approved alternatives. He personally intends to participate in the forthcoming clinical trials.
Both Glīd and Nephrogen now join the prestigious ranks of Startup Battlefield alumni, a group that includes industry giants such as Dropbox, Discord, and Cloudflare. The program’s history is impressive, with more than 1,500 alumni companies having collectively raised over $29 billion in funding and achieved more than 200 successful exits.
(Source: TechCrunch)
