According to TechCrunch, their annual Startup Battlefield pitch contest drew thousands of applicants, which were whittled down to 200 top contenders. From that group, 20 compete on the main stage for the Startup Battlefield Cup and a $100,000 cash prize. The remaining 180 startups, however, also compete in their own category-based pitch events. The publication highlighted seven standout companies specifically in the space and defense tech sector from this elite group. These startups are working on everything from electric aircraft to propellantless space drives and AI for military audio.
Beyond The Buzzwords
Look, pitch competitions are full of big promises. But here’s the thing: the ideas here are tackling some genuinely hard, expensive problems. Astrum saying it has a “propellantless” propulsion system? That’s a massive claim. If it works, it fundamentally changes the economics of keeping satellites in orbit or even attempting deep space missions. No fuel means longer life and way less mass at launch. Similarly, Skyline going after GPS-independent navigation isn’t just cool—it’s critical. With jamming and spoofing becoming a real threat, militaries and even commercial sectors desperately need a reliable backup. This isn’t incremental stuff.
The AI Angle Is Everywhere
And of course, AI is the thread running through half these companies. But it’s not just generic AI. It’s highly specialized. Hance is focusing solely on messy, real-time audio for military comms—filtering out gunfire, wind, and reverb so soldiers can actually hear each other. Skylark is building “self-learning AI for machines,” which sounds vague until you realize they’re targeting the “edge.” That means getting AI to make fast, safe decisions on a drone or robot without waiting to phone home to a cloud server. Endox is applying AI and robotics to military maintenance, which is a brutally practical (and lucrative) problem. These are applied uses that have immediate, tangible value if they execute.
The Business Of Space Gets Real
This is where it gets really interesting. Charter Space isn’t building rockets or satellites. It’s building the financial infrastructure for them with a risk analysis platform for insurance. That’s a signal. The space industry is maturing past pure engineering into needing the boring, essential services that every other industry runs on: insurance, financing, credit. You can’t have a sustainable economy in orbit if no one will underwrite a $500 million satellite. This might be one of the most important trends to watch. Basically, the supporting cast is arriving on stage.
So What’s The Verdict?
These startups represent a shift. We’re moving from pure moonshot concepts to solving the gritty, enabling problems. Whether it’s making data usable with AI like Hance does, creating financial tools with Charter, or building hardware like Airbility‘ eVTOL, the focus is on practical application. The defense and space sectors are notoriously hard to break into, with long sales cycles and demanding customers. But that’s also what makes success so valuable. If even one or two of these companies deliver on their pitch, they could define a new niche. It’s a high-risk, high-reward batch, which is exactly what you’d hope to see on a stage like this.
