TechCrunch Reveals the Startup Competition Judges for Disrupt 2026

In the world of startups, having a polished pitch deck isn't enough to win the competition. Major contests like Startup Battlefield 200 don't reward flashy presentations, but rather companies capable of enduring and solving real problems. For this very reason, the investors seated in the judging chairs carry exceptional importance, as their questions are designed to reveal what slides and rehearsed answers cannot: determination, clarity, and a team's ability to execute.

A Legacy Spanning More Than 15 Years

For over fifteen years, the Startup Battlefield competition has helped launch companies that would later come to define entire markets. In each edition, a new group of entrepreneurs gets the chance to join this rich legacy, through a platform considered one of the foremost proving grounds for ambitious ideas in the tech sector.

TechCrunch has announced the new wave of judges who will take their seats at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, scheduled to be held from October 13 to 15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. These investors will spend each day evaluating startups across multiple sectors, posing the tough questions that founders both hope for and dread at the same time.

The Five New Investors on the Judging Panel

This year's judging panel includes five prominent names that combine investment expertise with a diversity of career paths:

• Aditi Maliwal, general partner at Upfront Ventures, invests in early-stage companies across fintech, enterprise software, AI applications, and developer tools. Her portfolio includes companies such as Clair, Writer, and Arcade, and she previously led Chime's Series A funding round and held positions at Google and Deutsche Bank.
• Michael Palank, general partner at MaC Ventures, an investment firm majority-owned by entrepreneurs of African descent that supports early-stage consumer and enterprise companies across AI, fintech, healthcare, media, space, and defense. Palank previously worked in talent representation in Hollywood.
• Neil Daly, founding partner and director at Revenge Capital, a fund focused on supporting underrepresented founders including women, minorities, and people with disabilities in the United States and the United Kingdom. Daly previously worked as a psychotherapist, a background she draws on in her founder-first investment approach.
• Grace Ge, partner at Amplify Partners, invests in AI, developer tools, and data infrastructure, with a focus on the layer connecting foundation models and enterprise applications. Her portfolio includes companies such as Pinecone and Eppo, and she was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for venture capital.
• Crystal Huang, general partner at GV, focuses on enterprise software, AI infrastructure, and fintech, with an interest in product-led and developer-led growth strategies. She previously worked at NEA and GGV Capital, and in tech mergers and acquisitions at Blackstone.

Why Is the Competition a Window Into the Investor Mindset?

Following Startup Battlefield offers a rare opportunity to understand how seasoned investors evaluate companies in their early stages. Rather than settling for theory, attendees watch firsthand how experts engage with ambitious ideas, and how they distinguish between a persuasive pitch and a truly promising company. This diversity in the judges' backgrounds — from fintech to media and psychotherapy — reflects the breadth of criteria by which startups are evaluated today.

Conference Details

Disrupt 2026 is expected to bring together more than ten thousand tech leaders, investors, and founders, with the aim of discovering the next generation of promising companies, building relationships with figures capable of altering the trajectory of startup ventures, and gaining insight into the sector's future trends. This annual event represents a pivotal stop for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of tech investment up close.

The biggest bet remains on the ambitious founders who will stand before this panel, carrying ideas that may one day transform into companies that reshape entire markets, just as previous companies launched from this very stage have done.

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