TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 has announced five new venture capitalists who will serve as judges for the Startup Battlefield 200 competition. The newly revealed judges are Caleb Appleton of Bison Ventures, Sara Deshpande of Maven Ventures, Aatish Nayak of Kleiner Perkins, Jason Risch of Greylock, and Mark Xu of Index Ventures.
These judges will evaluate 200 carefully selected startups from around the world. A select group of these startups will advance to the live competition, where they will pitch to an audience and face questions from technology experts. The judges will help determine which startups progress towards the Startup Battlefield finals.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is scheduled to take place from October 13-15 at San Francisco's Moscone West. The event is expected to bring together over 10,000 tech leaders, VCs, and founders.