The Startup Battlefield is the centerpiece of Disrupt, and we can't wait to see who will be selected from the thousands of applicants to pitch to a panel of top VCs at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, taking place in San Francisco from October 28-30. The event is always epic, with all applicants hoping to make a major impact on the world.
We're excited to announce our first group of investors who will be evaluating startups and holding engaging, revealing Q&As after each presentation. Stay tuned for more names to be announced soon.
Judges' feedback provides insight into the criteria they use to determine whether a company is viable. Watch and learn what investors are looking for, what motivates them, and what makes them schedule a meeting.
Here are the first five VCs poised to crown the champions of Startup Battlefield 2024.
Erin Harkless Moore, Managing Director, Pivotal Ventures
Erin is the Managing Director of Investments at Pivotal Ventures, a company founded by Melinda French Gates to accelerate social progress. Erin leads the organization's fund and direct investment decisions and oversees a diverse investment portfolio that drives breakthrough innovation. With nearly 20 years of investment experience building and managing customized portfolios for endowed institutions and family offices, Erin's commitment to finding and cultivating connections with leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and founders is what drives her success.
Eylul Kayin, Partner at Gradient Ventures
Eylul is a Partner at Gradient Ventures. Prior to joining Gradient, he was an investor at NEA and SoftBank where he backed a number of category-defining companies including Brex, Cato, Chime, Claroty, Digits, Eargo (NASDAQ: EAR), Ethos, Flexport, Material Bank, Neotract (acquired by Teleflex) and Revelle Aesthetics (incubation).
Victor Lazarte, General Partner, Benchmark
Victor is a General Partner at Benchmark and focuses on a variety of investment sectors, including AI, gaming and fintech. Victor co-founded Wildlife Studios in 2010 and grew the company into one of the largest mobile gaming companies in the world, attracting billions of players around the world. From 2010 to 2023, Victor served as co-founder and CEO of the company, and became Chairman of the Board in June 2023. Victor has also served on the Board of Directors of Brex since 2018.
Ana Leyva, GTM, Pear VC
Ana leads the go-to-market team at Pear VC. With extensive enterprise sales experience from companies like Vanta, ServiceTitan, and Box, she is passionate about helping early stage founders build a winning sales motion. An entrepreneur herself, Ana founded and served as CEO of EdTech startup Lelu.
Colin Reilly, Partner, Greylock
Corinne partners with early stage founders building data and AI products at the infrastructure and application layers. She works with companies such as Adept, Baseten, Braintrust, Common Room, Opal and WarpStream.
Corinne built Greylock's Edge program, a company building program that seeks out promising founders and ideas at an early stage and works with them to bring those ideas to life, and she also launched Greylock's Scout program, which invites top angel investors to develop exclusive relationships with Greylock.
Don't miss it!
The winner of the Startup Battlefield will receive $100,000 in free equity. The winner will be announced at Disrupt 2024. This is your chance to see the future of technology unfold. Don't miss out! Get your tickets by August 23rd and save up to $600. Secure your ticket discount now.