SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), the world's largest startup competition, is back again for its fourth annual year, unveiling the Top 25 contenders moving on to the next phase of the challenge, slated to take place this January at CES 2018. The Top 25 was formally announced at CTA Innovate! and Celebrate at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco, and presented by emcee and renowned tech writer Brent Rose.

XTC's selected Top 25 will be narrowed down to the Top 10 Semi-Finalists who will then pitch on stage at CES to compete for the ultimate prize of global visibility and invaluable resources, with three finalists to pitch their ventures to Branson on Necker Island alongside a phenomenal panel of judges. 

Making discernible waves overseas during last year's challenge, XTC is poised to welcome its largest pool of international contenders to date. The 2018 Top 25 companies reach far beyond American borders, representing countries such as France, Norway, Australia, Germany, Rwanda, and Singapore. The industries these companies represent are as diverse as their home base, with emphasis placed on verticals such as Blockchain, Sustainability, FinTech, Transportation and IoT.

Among international frontrunners to the finals in February 2018 are Norway's climate action tool chooose.today, touch-free gesture control interface creators BlueMint Labs' Bixi hailing from France, Powerledger - an Australian company creating a blockchain-based peer-to-peer energy trading platform, and Germany's sustainability stewards AIRY - a plant pot designed to ventilate root systems. 

Stateside, the bank of competitors is stacked with brilliant minds from Silicon Valley to the east coast covering a wide range of cutting-edge trends that span the spectrum of tech industries from BioTech and Gaming to Healthcare. Companies such as Mountain View, CA's NextBiotics - a biotechnology platform engineering viruses, infant healthcare platform Owlet Baby Care Inc., and Florida's Immersed Games - an online game world for real STEM learning experiences, are all prospects who may have never crossed paths, yet now find themselves on a leveled playing field competing for the ultimate prize.

Other noteworthy aspirants include Bluefield Technologies, who is utilizing microsatellite sensors to analyze high-value methane emission data and Neurotrack, a company transforming the diagnosis and prevention of memory loss.

Past iterations of XTC have showcased the latest breakthroughs in sectors such as Virtual Reality, Healthcare, Genetics and Transportation, and this year proves to be even stronger. In an inspiring showcase of the evolving landscape of startup-driven discoveries, XTC serves as the platform where science and ingenuity collide to create a new paradigm of advancement in consumer, enterprise and medical tech.

XTC 2018 is proud to present the pioneering Judges' panels for the Semi-Finals and the Final Round:

• Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin group, Investor & Philanthropist Returning XTC Finals Judge
• Koichi Narasaki, Chief Digital Officer, Sompo
• Valery Vavilov, CEO, BitFury
• Gary Shapiro, CEO Consumer Technology Association, Returning XTC Semi-Finals Judge
• Tom Siebel, Veteran software entrepreneur and founder of C3 loT,, Returning XTC Finals Judge

XTC 2018 Timeline

• Stage I - October 11, 2017 - Top 25 Announcement
• Stage II - November 9, 2017 - Top 10 Announcement at CES Unveiled NYC: Two months ahead of CES 2018 10 Semi-Finalists will be selected from the Top 25 XTC challengers. In addition to unveiling the Semi-Finalists, the annual event showcases the future of tech before the new year.
• Stage III - January 11, 2018 - XTC Semi-Finals at CES: Extreme Tech Challenge returns to CES Las Vegas for the semi-finals in 2018. This stage of the contest will see the chosen Top 10 pitch their tech live on-stage in hope of being one of three companies selected to move onto Necker Island.
• Stage IV - February 28, 2018 - XTC Finals on Necker Island: Top 3 Finalists present to a panel of all-star judges, spearheaded by Branson.

XTC would like to extend special gratitude to the current sponsors on board for 2018 - Sompo, OWC, Zoom, Jungle Creations, Cisco, Qualcomm, and Meltwater. Thanks to their generous partnerships, XTC 2018 will be the most comprehensive iteration to date!

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About Extreme Tech Challenge
Extreme Tech Challenge is a competition that empowers entrepreneurs and their companies by providing visibility, resources, and it gives competitors the ability to grow exponentially in scale and knowledge at a low to no incremental cost. XTC strives to inspire and provide growth to up and coming entrepreneurs and businesses by surrounding them with mentors to help guide them as they build on product success with business success.

XTC pulls this all together into an experience that money cannot buy with showcase events at the world's largest technology trade show, CES, and also at Sir Richard Branson's own Necker Island.

Hurricane Irma Relief:
XTC alongside Richard Branson and The Virgin Group continue to do everything possible to support and assist the local BVI community that they call home. Please explore the various donation options & spread awareness to Richard Branson's efforts with Virgin and their support of the BVI Relief Fund. By covering all of Virgin Unite's Hurricane relief overheads, Richard Branson and the Virgin Group have made it possible for 100% of the donations received directly to the local BVI communities.

Extreme Tech Challenge 2018 Top 25
ABRA - AirSwap - AIRY GREENTECH - Bansen Labs - BioCellection Inc. - Bixi Bluemint Labs - Bluefield Technologies - Chooose.today - EVmatch - Immersed Games - Lavabit  - LYNQ - Neurotrack - Nextbiotics - Owlet Baby Care Inc. - Piaggio Fast Forward - Powerledger - Rayton Solar 2018 - REVL- SafeMotos - Square Lovin - TenX Wallet - CoLoadX - Tissue Analytics -WooHoo by SmartBeings

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SOURCE Extreme Tech Challenge

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