TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 is just one week away. The enhanced Startup Battlefield 200 is a big highlight. TechCrunch editorial staff has hand-picked 200 companies to grace Expo Hall, and 20 of them will be announcing themselves live for the first time on our stage.
The Disrupt Stage features nail-biting pitches where hardware and software demos can be the difference between success and failure. It's where legends are made. Throughout, we are extremely grateful to have leveraged the expertise of world-class VCs to highlight the most important points. After an initial thorough evaluation, five companies will be selected to participate again in the Startup Battlefield Finals on October 30th. To do this, we enlist the sharpest and most experienced venture capitalists we can find, all of whom run large funds.
Learn more about these investors below, learn from their expert insights, and discover the key characteristics that lead to startup success, only at Disrupt 2024, taking place at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 28th to 30th. Don't miss the chance.
Navin Chaddha, Managing Partner, Mayfield Funds
Managing Partner Navin Chaddha leads the firm and drives Cognition-As-A-Service (CaaS) and GenAI's cognitive plumbing focus. This approach focuses on investing in the infrastructure layer behind AI-driven companies and technologies, and is an investment in Hashicorp, founder of web-era VXTreme/Microsoft Windows Media and cloud-era infrastructure leader. As a home, it is based on his deep experience in previous paradigm shifts.
Under his leadership, Mr. Mayfield has raised eight funds in the United States and led more than 80 companies to positive results. Throughout his venture capital career, Navin has invested in more than 60 companies, 18 of which went public (including Lyft, Poshmark, and SolarCity) and 27 were acquired.
Navin was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and has been ranked on the Forbes Midas Top 100 Tech Investors list 15 times, including in the top five in 2020, 2022, and 2023. Includes being selected. Navin's investment generated over $120. The company has an equity value of $1 billion and employs more than 40,000 people.
An alumnus of Stanford University and Delhi Technological University, Navin is a philanthropist who supports various causes and a serial entrepreneur who has launched notable startups such as VXtreme and iBeam Broadcasting.
Chris Farmer, SignalFire CEO, Partner and Co-Founder
Chris Farmer is CEO, Partner, and Co-Founder of venture fund SignalFire, a $2.1 billion AI-native early-stage venture firm.
Ten years ago, Farmer pioneered the use of data and AI to help VCs raise better investments while scalably supporting their portfolio companies. So Farmer built Beacon, SignalFire's in-house AI platform, with help from a Google veteran, a Stanford AI Ph.D., and feedback from 500 founders about what they really needed. Today, Beacon processes 5 trillion data points to rank more than 650 million people in the technology ecosystem for talent and employability, helping portfolio companies recruit and go to market. .
At SignalFire, Farmer has led investments in companies such as Grammarly, Frame.io, ClassDojo, and Stampli. The company produces lead checks from seed to Series B, with a focus on areas such as health and life sciences technology, developer tools, cybersecurity, and vertical AI SAAS.
Previously, Farmer was a successful entrepreneur who spearheaded the turnaround of Skybitz, a wireless-enabled SaaS company, as it prepared for acquisition by Telular Corporation. While at Bessemer Venture Partners in 2007, Farmer built one of the first technologies for raising startup capital to track the new Apple App Store. He then joined General Catalyst where he led seed investments in iconic companies including Alation, Coinbase, Discord, Fivetran, Getaround, Segment, Stripe, and Zapier.
Most recently, Farmer launched SignalFire's AI Lab, handpicking promising founders and partnering with top companies in their fields as design partners, pilot customers, and training data providers.
Dayna Grayson, Co-Founder and General Partner, Construct Capital
Dayna Grayson is co-founder and general partner of Construct Capital, an early-stage venture firm that invests in great founders building technologies that transform the economy's most fundamental industries, from manufacturing to mobility. Dana was one of the first venture capitalists to focus on transforming these areas of the economy through software-based models. She helped companies create new advances in manufacturing, automation, and vertically integrated consumer brands. During her time as a partner at NEA (2012-2020), she was an early lead investor in Desktop Metal (2015-present), Tulip (2017-2020), Onshape (Acqd by PTC) (2013-2019) ), and Framebridge (acquired by Graham Holdings) (2014-2020). She also led investments in Guideline, Formlabs, Evenly, and Neuralmagic.
At Construct, along with co-founder Rachel Holt, Dana focuses on early-stage investing, investing behind the accelerating transformation of fundamental industries that account for half of the economy's GDP, but also in line with customer expectations. has not been met. Their investments include Copia, Veho, Hadrian, The Rounds, and Verve Motion.
Dayna began her career in product development, leading design efforts at Blackbaud. [BLKB]is a leading global provider of software to nonprofit organizations. The company grew to over $130 million in revenue, successfully completed an initial public offering, and was an investor at North Bridge Venture Partners from 2007 to 2012.
She is a graduate of the University of Virginia (Systems Engineering) and Harvard Business School, where she is currently a venture partner.
Anne Miura Kou, Floodgate Co-Founding Partner
Known for his early-stage investments in everything from marketplaces to high-tech companies, Miura Koh's investments have earned him spots on Forbes' Midas List and the New York Times' list of the world's top 20 venture capitalists. Degrees are also listed. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University. With research in mathematical modeling for cybersecurity, she is an engineering lecturer, teaching topics from blockchain to intelligent growth of startups. In addition, she is co-director of the Stanford Mayfield Fellows Program, which helps train undergraduate students to become technology leaders.
Miura Ko is a co-founding member of AllRaise, an organization dedicated to accelerating the success and adoption of female funders and founders. Mr. Miura earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Yale University. As an alumnus, she served on the School of Engineering and Applied Science Leadership Council and served as a non-trustee on the Corporate Investment Committee. She was selected as an Alumni Fellow in 2019.
Hans Tung, Managing Partner, Notable Capital
Hans Tung is a Managing Partner at Notable Capital and has invested in early-stage investments across the global digital economy. He has partnered with top founders from all countries in the e-commerce and fintech space, with the US being the primary end-user market. Hans' consumer internet portfolio includes notable companies such as Airbnb, Coinbase, Ibotta, Peloton, Poshmark, Quince, StockX, and TikTok.
Don't miss the battle at Disrupt 2024!
The winner of the Startup Battlefield will win a $100,000 non-stock prize and will be announced at Disrupt 2024, the hub of startups. Witness this groundbreaking moment with 10,000 attendees and witness the next wave of technological innovation.
Register here to secure your seat and witness this epic startup battle. Bring your +1 and get a limited time Expo+ 2 for 1 pass at half price.