TechCrunch40 is different, organizer Jason Calacanis claims, from most startup conferences in not charging companies to present there. Never mind that, in fact, he and TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington are charging 100 companies to present at the conference's subsidiary DemoPit. The notion was that TechCrunch40 might discover promising companies that couldn't afford to present at a pay-to-play conference. But in reality, most of the 40 startups presenting here don't even need the $50,000 cash award. For them, at most, it might fund a nice victory bash.

If the winner was determined by online votes rather than the expert panel, it's a virtual lock that the winning startup will have millions in funding. So much for the egalitarian promise of the event. Two-thirds of the startups have some form of funding, mostly series A. Of the known funded companies, the average funding is $5.8 million. The top three are, unsurprisingly, all funded. (I'm discounting Viewdle, because late last night they had a 3.5 rating on 58 votes, but now have a 4.5 rating on 163 votes, the largest overnight jump. I applaud the apparent attempt to game the system, but I'm not going to include its effect here.)

MusicShake, with $3 million in funding, was the far-and-away early favorite. Too much money, however, may have a numbing effect on voters: All three companies with more than $10 million settle into the crowded middle. DocStoc, Cake Financial, and 8020 Publishing haven't disclosed how much funding they have received. Loudtalks, a small, unfunded startup from Russia, didn't fare well with the Valley crowd, taking the caboose with a low rating of 2.2. (Data based on votes as of 8:15 a.m. Pacific Time.)