The subsequent wave of VCs judging Startup Battlefield at Disrupt 2026

For founders, Startup Battlefield 200 is among the greatest moments of their careers. For everybody else within the TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 viewers, it’s the most effective methods to find out how nice firms are literally evaluated by VCs.

This startup pitch competitors is as intense as you’d anticipate. From October 13–15 at San Francisco’s Moscone West, each hand-picked founder has six minutes to make their case, however essentially the most revealing moments usually come after the presentation ends. That’s when the judges begin asking the questions each investor, buyer, and future worker will ultimately need answered. Can this staff execute? Is the market sufficiently big? Why now? What’s defensible? Those conversations are as beneficial for the 1000’s of founders watching from the viewers as they’re for the businesses onstage.

That’s why we’re persevering with to construct one of many strongest judging panels in Startup Battlefield’s historical past. Today we’re excited to introduce one other group of 5 top-tier buyers who’ll assist establish the businesses with the potential to turn into tomorrow’s breakout success tales.

Join the Startup Battlefield contenders and VC judges on the principle stage, alongside 10,000+ tech leaders attending Disrupt, and watch the subsequent era of startups compete for his or her place in TechCrunch historical past. Register now to save up to $200 in your go earlier than costs enhance on September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

The subsequent 5 VCs deciding which Startup Battlefield contenders advance

Without additional ado, meet the subsequent batch of buyers who will decide which early-stage founder walks away with the $100,000 prize. Get to know these judges, together with the primary 10 already introduced on the Disrupt agenda.

Vaibhav ‘Dr.V’ Agrawal, Co-Founder and General Partner, ODDBIRD VC

Dr.V is the co-founder and normal associate of ODDBIRD VC, a pre-seed fund he based in 2024 to again AI firms reindustrializing the West — with a deal with well being and bio, vital provide chains, and real-world automation. A skilled doctor with an MBBS diploma, Agrawal additionally holds an MBA from Stanford and beforehand served as a normal associate at Lightspeed Venture Partners India, the place he backed early-stage startups starting in 2016. His present portfolio consists of Anterior, a healthcare AI firm that has raised $64 million from NEA and Sequoia.

Anu Bharadwaj, Partner, ICONIQ

Anu Bharadwaj is a associate at ICONIQ, the place she focuses on enterprise software program and AI firms. Before becoming a member of ICONIQ, Bharadwaj served as president and COO of Atlassian for almost 12 years, the place she led the product, engineering, and enterprise industry throughout Jira, Confluence, and the Atlassian Cloud platform as the corporate scaled to billions in annual income. She beforehand held management roles at Microsoft and holds a bachelor of engineering in laptop science from R.V. College of Engineering.

Sho Sho Leigha Ho, Partner, General Catalyst

Sho Sho Leigha Ho is a associate on General Catalyst‘s seed staff, the place she invests in early-stage founders. She serves as a board observer at Together AI. She joined General Catalyst in 2024 as its youngest associate. Her public investments embrace Graylark, Autoscience, Standard Kernel, and The Interaction Company of California (Poke), which Cognition acquired in July 2026. She holds an AB from Harvard and is predicated in San Francisco.

Miloni Madan Presler, Partner, IVP

Miloni Madan Presler is a associate at IVP (Institutional Venture Partners), the place she companions with first-time founders constructing inflection-stage expertise firms in enterprise software program, healthcare, and safety, from Series B by means of pre-IPO. She brings a disciplined progress fairness and personal fairness perspective to firm constructing, formed by earlier roles at Summit Partners and Warburg Pincus. Presler holds a level in Economics and Finance from Johns Hopkins University and speaks 4 languages.

Aidan Madigan-Curtis, Partner, Eclipse Ventures

Aidan Madigan-Curtis is a associate at Eclipse Ventures, the place she invests in AI, IoT, laptop imaginative and prescient, and software program options for manufacturing, logistics, provide chain, and local weather transition. Named one in every of Business Insider’s 22 Investors to Know in Robotics and Physical AI, she leads Eclipse’s Carbon Optimization framework to trace actual emissions reductions throughout the agency’s portfolio. Before enterprise, Madigan-Curtis was a senior government at Apple — scaling Apple Watch manufacturing from zero to tens of millions of models per week — and a VP and normal supervisor at Samsara, the place she helped develop the corporate from pre-revenue to over $1 billion in ARR. She holds a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University.

Grab your Disrupt ticket financial savings and don’t miss 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 subsequent era of breakout startups, join with the leaders who might change their startup’s trajectory, and get a front-row seat to the place the trade is headed. Save up to $200 on your ticket earlier than charges enhance on September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Save a further 30% if you register as a group.