After two days of intense live demos and pitches, TechCrunch has unveiled the five finalists in this year’s Startup Battlefield at Disrupt 2025. Selected from an initial pool of thousands of applicants, these startups were narrowed down through a rigorous process that began with 200 companies competing at the event, followed by a Top 20 showdown on the Disrupt Stage. Based on feedback from a panel of expert judges, the final five have been chosen to compete for the grand prize: $100,000 in equity-free funding and temporary custody of the iconic Startup Battlefield Cup. The finalists will take the stage once more at 11:30 a.m. PT on Wednesday. The live finals will be streamed on the TechCrunch website, and attendees at the conference can watch the action on the Disrupt Stage. First up is Charter Space, a startup building a developer tool for aerospace engineers with a broader vision: to become a fintech platform for the space industry. Its software captures real-time manufacturing and test data directly from equipment, feeding it into an underwriting interface that connects with major insurance providers. By automating risk assessment, Charter Space aims to make spacecraft insurance faster, cheaper, and more reliable—eventually enabling new forms of credit and nondilutive funding for space ventures beyond traditional venture capital and public markets. Next is Glīd (pronounced “Glide”), a company tackling one of the most inefficient steps in freight logistics: moving shipping containers from ships to rail. Glīd’s first product, GliderM, is a hybrid-electric vehicle equipped with a rear hook that can lift and transport 20-foot containers directly to rail lines—eliminating the need for forklifts and hostler trucks. The goal is to reduce costs, speed up transit times, and lower emissions across the supply chain. MacroCycle is revolutionizing recycling by making recycled plastic cost-competitive with virgin material. Rather than breaking down polymers like traditional chemical recycling, MacroCycle uses a novel process that reorganizes polymer chains into ring-shaped structures called macrocycles. These stable rings are separated from contaminants, leaving behind high-quality raw material. The method avoids energy-intensive degradation, offering a faster, cleaner, and more scalable path to sustainable plastics. Nephrogen is a biotech startup focused on delivering gene-editing therapies to the kidneys with unprecedented precision. Using AI-driven screening and advanced molecular design, founder Demetri Maxim and his team have developed a delivery system that is 100 times more efficient at targeting kidney cells than current FDA-approved methods. With a personal stake in the mission—Maxim lives with polycystic kidney disease—he plans to participate in the upcoming clinical trial, underscoring the urgency and impact of his work. Finally, Unlisted Homes is reimagining real estate discovery by creating detailed profiles for homes that haven’t yet hit the market. Using data from 21 million properties, the platform builds comprehensive listings—complete with photos, square footage, and neighborhood insights—based on public records. Rather than facilitating transactions, Unlisted Homes monetizes through ZIP code sponsorships, allowing real estate agents to be listed as local experts across all homes in a given area. It’s Zillow for the hidden market, turning untapped data into a new kind of real estate intelligence.