TechCrunch's 2025 Startup Battlefield 200 is almost here, and the pressure is higher than ever. With a $100,000 line, the top 20 early-stage startups know they have to bring their best on the Disrupt stage, October 27-29 at Moscon West in San Francisco. Meanwhile, our VC judges bring sharp questions, deep experience, and a discerning eye to separate the promising from the truly exceptional.
Founders can gain invaluable insight into what makes winning pitches and sustainable startups from these veteran VCs. Investors can discover pitch-ready, impactful startups to add to their pipeline. Everyone else can witness the intense startup showdown. Here, the top 20 TechCrunch-Vetted startups will pitch for the Equity Free Award and the coveted Cup.
Register now and save up to $444 on passes, or bring your team or friends and save up to 30% on bundle passes. Don't miss this nail-biting “World Series” live performance of Pitch Competition.
Meet the next batch of Battlefield 200 judges
Today, we are excited to introduce the fourth wave of judges joining the competition. One more obvious remainder remains. Stay tuned for the chaos agenda. Find out who the final five judges will be.
Alison Baum Gates, General Partner, Sempervirens Venture Capital
Allison Baum Gates is a general partner at Sempervirens, a venture fund that invests in healthcare, fintech, and enterprise Saas. To date, she has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from LPS in the US, Europe, and Asia, deployed capital to over 70 companies including 9 unicorns, 24 exits, and holds 10 board positions.
Gates has been featured in major publications such as the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and TechCrunch, and has taught hundreds of business school students. She is a Lecturer in Management at Stanford GSB and the author of Breaking Into Venture (McGraw-Hill, 2023), a comprehensive guide to navigating the VC industry. Her second book, Beyond the Pitch: The Psychology of Rashing VC Funding, will be released next year. She holds a BA in economics with honors from Harvard University and is proficient in three languages.
Katelin Holloway, Founding Partner, 776
Katelin Holloway is a founding partner of Alexis Ohanian's early stage venture capital firm 776. Holloway Backs Transformative Startups over Diverse Sectors, a veteran investor with over 20 years of operating experience at companies such as Pixar and Reddit. She invests in solutions that expand human potential and resilience, promote health, explore new frontiers, promote sustainability, foster creativity, and enrich the human experience.
TechCrunch event
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025
776, Holloway combines her operational expertise with a deep commitment to supporting founders as they navigate early challenges and scale their vision. She is dedicated to reinventing venture capital by empowering a generation of entrepreneurs to tackle humanity's greatest challenges while delivering exceptional returns.
Miloni Madan Pressler, Partner, In-house Venture Partner (IVP)
Miloni Madan is passionate about partnering with businesses that innovate with purpose. Companies that solve real problems, not innovate for the sake of innovation. As a general partner at Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), she focuses on supporting founders who build products and solutions that people really need. She looks for companies that provide data-driven platforms that can bridge gaps in fragmented ecosystems, automate outdated processes, and transform industries. Madan is driven by the belief that these companies and their impact endure far beyond a single investment, and it is the pursuit of lasting change that drives her commitment and intentionality in every partnership.
Sarah Itelson, Partner, Axel
Sara Ittelson will join Accel in 2022, focusing on early-stage consumer, enterprise, and AI companies. Prior to Accel, he was head of strategic partnerships at Fair and previously worked in global business development at Uber. Itelson is a native of Chico, Calif., and a graduate of Northwestern University and Stanford University.
Rinki Sethi, Founding Partner, Lockstep
Rinki Sethi is the Chief Security Officer for Upwind Security and LockStep's founding partner. She previously served as vice president and chief information security officer at Twitter, Bill and Rubrik, and held senior security leadership roles at Palo Alto Networks, IBM, eBay, and Intuit. Sethi brings deep expertise to both the private sector and corporate boards, shaping security strategy at the highest levels.
Now's the time to save your mess pass
Don't miss the Startup Pitch Competition of the Year, live. With energy, high stakes, and hard-hitting questions, Startup Battlefield 200 was a launchpad for early-stage startups. Brands like Discord, Trello, and Mint got their big breaks during the disruption stage. Register here to attend before ticket prices go up.
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