The Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) just announced that it is partnering with TechCrunch to host its 2021 Global Finals event. XTC also introduced four new specialized awards — COVID-19 Innovation Award, Female Founder Award, Ethical AI Award, and Positive Home Award. They will presented with the seven existing category winners and the prestigious overall competition winner following the finals on July 22, 2021.
“TechCrunch is a world leading publisher reporting on the business of technology, startups, and venture capital funding,” said Young Sohn, Co-Founder of Extreme Tech Challenge, Former Corporate President and Chief Strategy Officer of Samsung Electronics, and Chairman of the Board at HARMAN International. “Our partnership with TechCrunch to host the 2021 Extreme Tech Challenge Global Finals elevates our visibility and reach to a tech community of more than 16 million people worldwide.
As the largest startup competition for entrepreneurs, XTC tackles global scale challenges inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Last year startups from 87 countries participated and the 52 finalists went on to raise more than $120 million in venture capital.
TechCrunch’s involvement in the competition is expected to bring greater visibility and more opportunities to participating entrepreneurs and innovators. The global publishing company has helped over nine hundred ventures raise over $9.4 billion in investments over the past eleven years. They also report over 117+ exits via its startup competition Disrupt.
Competitors receive global visibility that opens up pathways for capital as well as access to a global network of global entities and world-class mentorship. The goal of the competition is to accelerate the progress of those who are pioneering technological breakthroughs in pursuit of solving extreme global challenges
With increased interest in this year’s startup competition and the expansion of the XTC Global Finals with TechCrunch, the application deadline has been extended to 11:59PM PT on April 25, 2021.
In addition to the four new categories, startups may compete in the areas of: Agtech, Food & Water, Cleantech & Energy, Education, Enabling Technologies, Fintech; Healthcare and Smart Cities & Transportation).
All startup finalists receive entry to the XTC Category Finals in May and XTC Virtual Bootcamp in June.
Read about the Global Challenges Foundation
