A fantastic pitch doesn’t win Startup Battlefield 200. A fantastic firm does.
That’s why the VCs sitting within the judges’ seats matter a lot. They aren’t on the lookout for polished shows or intelligent demos — they’re on the lookout for founders fixing actual issues with companies that may endure. Each query they ask is designed to uncover what slides and rehearsed solutions can’t: conviction, readability, execution, and whether or not this firm has the potential to turn into the following class chief.
For greater than 15 years, Startup Battlefield has helped launch firms that went on to outline complete markets, and yearly a brand new group of founders earns the prospect to affix that legacy.
At the moment, we’re introducing the following wave of judges who’ll take their seats at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, taking place on October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. They’ll spend every day evaluating bold startups throughout industries, asking the robust questions founders hope for — and typically worry. If you wish to perceive how skilled buyers actually consider early-stage firms, there’s no higher place to observe than Startup Battlefield, reside on the Disrupt Stage.
Remember to snag financial savings of as much as $200 in your Disrupt 2026 ticket earlier than charges enhance on September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Register here.
Meet the following 5 VCs judging Startup Battlefield 200
Now, with out additional ado, meet the following 5 judges becoming a member of this 12 months’s Startup Battlefield, the last word startup pitch competitors.
Aditi Maliwal, Common Companion, Upfront Ventures
Aditi Maliwal is a common accomplice at Upfront Ventures, the place she invests on the pre-seed and seed phases in fintech, enterprise SaaS, AI purposes, and developer instruments. Her portfolio contains Clair, Author, Arcade, and Common Translation. Maliwal beforehand held roles at Google and Deutsche Financial institution and led the Sequence A funding in Chime throughout her tenure at a previous agency. She is Upfront’s first San Francisco-based accomplice.
Michael Palank, Common Companion, MaC Ventures
Michael Palank is a common accomplice at MaC Ventures, a majority Black-owned enterprise agency that backs seed-stage client and enterprise firms via a culturally pushed funding thesis, with a give attention to AI, fintech, healthcare, media, leisure, and aerospace and protection. Earlier than transitioning to enterprise, Palank labored in Hollywood expertise illustration at William Morris and Overbrook Leisure, Will Smith’s manufacturing firm.
Nell Daly, Co-founder and Managing Companion, Revenge Capital
Nell Daly is the co-founder and managing accomplice of Revenge Capital, an evergreen sector-agnostic fund centered on backing neglected founders — together with girls, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and neurodiverse entrepreneurs — throughout the US and United Kingdom. Earlier than launching the fund, Daly labored as a psychotherapist, a background she attracts on instantly in her founder-first funding method.
Grace Ge, Companion, Amplify Companions
Grace Ge is a accomplice at Amplify Partners, the place she invests in AI, developer tooling, information infrastructure, and fashionable SaaS — with a selected give attention to the layer between basis fashions and enterprise purposes. Her portfolio contains Pinecone, Eppo, Vivun, Orb, and Avoca. Amplify’s broader portfolio contains Datadog, Fastly, Temporal, dbt, and Modal. Ge was named to the Forbes 30 Beneath 30 checklist for Enterprise Capital.
Crystal Huang, Common Companion, Google Ventures
Crystal Huang is a common accomplice at GV, the place she focuses on enterprise SaaS, AI infrastructure, and fintech — with a selected lens on product-led and developer-led go-to-market methods. Her portfolio firms embrace Typeface, Pecan AI, Sardine, Cacheflow, PostHog, Roboflow, and Sift. Earlier than becoming a member of GV, Huang was an investor at NEA and GGV Capital and labored in expertise mergers and acquisitions at Blackstone.
Get to know all of the VC judges on the Disrupt agenda.
Don’t miss Disrupt and Startup Battlefield 200
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is occurring October 13-15 in San Francisco, bringing 10,000+ tech leaders, VCs, and founders collectively to fulfill the following technology of breakout startups, join with the leaders who may change their startup’s trajectory, and get a front-row seat to the place the business is headed. Save up to $200 on your ticket earlier than charges enhance on September 25. Save much more if you register as a group.
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