Pitch on the biggest stage in AI
The Startup Showdown puts 8 early-stage founders in front of thousands of attendees and a panel of working investors at The AI Conference 2026. Four minutes. Live scoring. One stage that can change your trajectory.
What you get out of it
- Investor eyes, live. Your judges are active VCs. Pitch them directly — and the strongest founders leave with intros, not just feedback.
- Exposure before the headlines. Press and analysts are in the room. Selected startups get featured across our channels to a 50,000+ AI audience.
- A room full of your next customers, hires, and partners. Thousands of practitioners, builders, and operators.
- Passes for your team. Every selected startup gets complimentary conference access.
The format
- 8 startups, selected by our Program Committee
- 4-minute live pitches with real-time judge scoring
- Live audience voting for the People’s Choice Award
- Finalists compete for Top Startup honors
Is this you?
Early-stage AI startups — bootstrapped through Seed. Building something technically ambitious that deserves a bigger stage. If you’re past Series A, this isn’t the right fit, but we’d love to see you in other parts of the program.
Takes about 5 minutes.
Applications reviewed on a rolling basis and close August 14th — all applicants will be notified by August 21st.
Applications Close
Learn About Day ZERØ
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