{"id":156862,"date":"2025-11-27T20:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T20:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/156862\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T20:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T20:19:07","slug":"glid-won-startup-battlefield-2025-by-building-solutions-to-make-logistis-simpler-safer-and-smarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/156862\/","title":{"rendered":"Gl\u012bd won Startup Battlefield 2025 by building solutions to make logistis simpler, safer, and smarter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Build Mode is back with a holiday bonus episode. This week, Startup Battlefield editor Isabelle Johannessen is joined by the winner of this year\u2019s competition<\/a>, Kevin Damoa, the CEO and founder of Gl\u012bd<\/a>, a logistics infrastructure company that aims to streamline the complex container shipment process.<\/p>\n

Damoa first discovered the challenges of shipping larger cargo as a new enlistee in the U.S. Army<\/a>, where he worked on a team loading tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles onto the railroad. He learned firsthand that while railways don\u2019t have the same congestion as roads, they come with their own set of problems. The biggest one ended up being the complex multistep process of moving cargo from the roads to the rails.<\/p>\n

Cut to 2025, and Damoa is standing on the TechCrunch Disrupt stage holding the giant check, having just beaten 200 other companies to win the Startup Battlefield competition. In this week\u2019s episode of Build Mode, TechCrunch\u2019s new postcast for builders and entrepreneurs, Damoa breaks down how he found the hardware and software solution to the logistics issues he\u2019d seen firsthand. And he does a deep dive into how the team came together to ensure those three products (launched nearly simultaneously) were ready for a live demo on the Disrupt stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOh that was crazy, making sure the software works,\u201d Damoa said. \u201cAnd anybody that knows software knows that it takes an army of people,\u201d which was something that Gl\u012bd at this stage doesn\u2019t have. But that pressure, and very public deadline, gave the team a focus and drive to get their house in order more swiftly than ever.<\/p>\n

In this interview, Damoa is fresh off this big win and eager to use the momentum and prize money to accelerate Gl\u012bd into their next phase. They\u2019re already launching a pilot with Great Plains Industrial Park, and their next product Gl\u012bder is about to hit the market. And the team is hiring for roles in nearly every aspect of the business. Their process is more on the casual end of the spectrum, with Damoa calling it \u201can organic process\u201d where an initial vibe check and r\u00e9sum\u00e9 review can turn into a new team member.<\/p>\n

Damoa says that process has attracted people who are mission driven, laser-focused, all while practicing mindfulness. That makes sense when the CEO is the kind of leader who responds to the news that they\u2019ve made the top five in Startup Battlefield by saying: \u201cI\u2019m going to meditate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using this human-centric approach, the Gl\u012bd team has attracted people who are mission driven and laser-focused, all while practicing mindfulness. That makes sense when the CEO is the kind of leader who responds to the news that they\u2019ve made the top five in Startup Battlefield<\/a> by saying: \u201cI\u2019m going to meditate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Techcrunch event<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

For the full episode and many more tips from Damoa on how other companies can position themselves to win Startup Battlefield, check out the video below, or listen and subscribe to Build Mode wherever you like getting your favorite podcasts<\/a>. And if you\u2019re liking what we\u2019re doing, give us a review \u2014 or if you have feedback about the show, reach out to us at podcasts@techcrunch.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Build Mode is back with a holiday bonus episode. This week, Startup Battlefield editor Isabelle Johannessen is joined…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[97675,138,336,103800,111,139,69,91853,10628,10629],"class_list":{"0":"post-156862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-build-mode","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-entrepreneurship","11":"tag-glid","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-startup-battlefield-2025","16":"tag-techcrunch-disrupt","17":"tag-techcrunch-disrupt-2025"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}