A global battle pitting startup teams against one another reaches new heights this November. 

On the two weekends surrounding Global Entrepreneurship Week, more than 1,200 startup teams in 100 cities will frantically build a company from scratch in 54 hours. Each city will crown a local winner that will advance to the Global Startup Battle.

From that point, each team has 24 hours to defend their startup with a 90-second pitch and 15 word description in an introductory video. Once the videos are posted, the voting begins and only one startup will be left standing. 

Prizes include: a free VIP trip to Rio De Janeiro for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress; a VIP trip to San Francisco to tour Googleplex; and at least $15,000 in startup support services. 

Startup Weekend events in more than 100 cities will serve as the starting point for 10,000 participants. Eighty-five locations are confirmed (as of September 5, 2012): 

• Aalborg, Denmark
• Aarhus, Denmark 
• Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• Adelaide, Australia
• Aguascalientes, Mexico
• Algiers, Algeria
• Annaba, Algeria
• Assiut, Egypt
• Bangkok, Thailand
• Bern, Switzerland
• Bighamton (NY), United States
• Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
• Bogota, Colombia
• Bratislava, Slovakia
• Bretagne, France
• Brisbane, Australia
• Bucharest, Romania
• Budapest, Hungary
• Buffalo (New York), United States
• Burgos, Spain
• Caracas, Venezuela
• Cebu City, Philippines
• Chihuahua, Mexico
• Chisinau, Moldova
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• Davao, Philippines
• El Jadida, Morocco
• Goiania, Brazil
• Grenoble, France
• Guadalajara, Mexico
• Guanzhou, China
• Guatemala City, Guatemala
• Hamala, Bahrain
• Hermosillo, Mexico
• Hong Kong, China
• Istanbul, Turkey
• Kansas City (Missouri), United States
• Khouribga, Morocco
• Kirkland (Washington), United States
• Kumasi, Ghana
• La Paz, Bolivia
• Leige, Belgium
• Luxembourg, Luxembourg
• Lyon, France
• Manchester, UK
• Milwaukee (Wisconsin), United States
• Morelia / Michoacan, Mexico
  Mount Lebanon, Lebanon 
• Nazareth, Israel
• Orlando (Florida), United States
• Ottawa, Canada
• Paris, France
• Perm, Russia
• Poznan, Poland
• Portland (Oregon), United States
• Praia, Cape Verde
• Prishtina, Republic of Kosovo
• Quebec City, Canada
• Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• San Luis Potosi, Mexico
• San Pedro, Costa Rica
• Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Seattle, United States
• Setif, Algeria
• Shanghai, China
• Shenzhen, China
• South Bend (Indiana), United States
• Stavenger, Norway
• Strasbourg, France
• Stuttgart, Germany
• Sulaimanya, Iraq
• Sydney, Australia
• Tamale, Ghana
• Tampa (Florida), United States
• Tehran, Iran
• Tokyo, Japan
• Toronto, Canada
• Tripoli, Libya
• Trojmiasto, Poland
• Trondheim, Norway
• Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
• Victoria, Canada
• Vilnius, Lithuania
• Zagreb, Croatia
• Zilina, Slovakia

Last year, AfterShip from Startup Weekend Hong Kong took home top honors includling a free trip and table at the Launch Conference in San Francisco, a place at Demo Asia, over $25,000 in free services from companies like Cooley, Btrax, Kauffman Foundation and more.

tags: featured, Global Entrepreneurship Congress, global startup battle, Googleplex, Startup Weekend