Five More VCs Join Startup Battlefield 200 Panel for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

The selection process for Startup Battlefield 200 has involved thousands of applications and multiple evaluation phases spanning hundreds of hours. With the announcement of five additional judges, the panel for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is approaching completion. Two weeks from now, 200 startups selected through this rigorous process will converge at the event to showcase their work, network with capital providers, and compete for recognition as one of the year's most promising ventures. A smaller subset will advance to live pitching sessions before thousands of attendees, where they will face scrutiny from some of technology's most discerning investors and operators.

The judges being added to the panel bring substantial track records in company building, founder backing, and identifying emerging opportunities. Their role will be to determine which startups progress toward the final rounds and ultimately which team earns this year's trophy. For those seeking to discover the next generation of industry leaders before widespread recognition, TechCrunch Disrupt remains the premier venue.

Attendees can register for TechCrunch Disrupt now and bring a colleague or co-founder at 50% off the second pass. Groups of four or more qualify for discounts reaching 30% per ticket.

Meet the next wave of Startup Battlefield judges

All 20 judges announced to date can be reviewed on the Disrupt agenda. The final announcement will introduce the five judges responsible for evaluating finalists and selecting the recipient of the $100,000 equity-free prize and the Disrupt Cup.

Caleb Appleton, Bison Ventures

Appleton serves as a partner at Bison Ventures, focusing on physical AI investments in techbio, robotics, and real-world intelligence. His background as a biomedical engineer informs his investment thesis. His portfolio encompasses Cobot, Vivodyne, Passkey, Sleuth, Inner Logic, Cosmon, and Grid Aero. Prior roles included frontier technology investing at Innovation Endeavors and operational experience at TuneIn, combining expertise across early-stage science, venture capital, and scaling technology enterprises.

Sara Deshpande, Maven Ventures

Deshpande holds the title of general partner at Maven Ventures, where she deploys capital into seed-stage companies emerging around new consumer behaviors and trends. Her investment focus spans consumer software, with particular emphasis on digital health and consumer-facing AI applications. She joined Maven as its founding employee in 2014 and has accumulated a decade of venture experience. Her educational background includes an MBA from Stanford, where she currently teaches a course focused on startups and entrepreneurship.

Aatish Nayak, Kleiner Perkins

Nayak transitioned to Kleiner Perkins as a partner in May 2026, concentrating on AI-native founders possessing deep vertical expertise across multiple domains. His previous role as first product manager and VP of Product at Harvey involved building early product, design, marketing, analytics, and support functions. Earlier positions included early product leadership at Scale AI, where he worked on data infrastructure for ecommerce, early NLP using GPT-2, and autonomous vehicles. He also contributed to Shield AI's core knowledge stack for robotic defense systems.

Jason Risch, Greylock

Risch operates as a partner at Greylock, investing across enterprise security, AI and ML infrastructure, data platforms, and developer tools. His portfolio includes Onehouse, a cloud-native managed lakehouse platform, and Baseten, an ML model serving toolkit for data science teams. Before joining Greylock, he held business operations roles at Opendoor, served as a management consultant at McKinsey's Bay Area office, and worked as a startup builder at the AI Fund. He studied Mathematical and Computational Science at Stanford University.

Mark Xu, Index Ventures

Xu functions as a partner at Index Ventures, investing across multiple stages in cybersecurity, infrastructure, and AI. His backed companies operate at the frontier of AI, including Fireworks, Parallel, 7AI, Simile, and Flapping Airplanes. He previously served as a growth investor at Lightspeed, supporting companies such as Wiz, Glean, and Grafana. Xu prioritizes deeply technical founders who combine domain expertise with operational intensity and customer obsession.

Grab your Disrupt pass and don't miss Startup Battlefield

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 runs October 13-15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, assembling more than 10,000 technology leaders, venture capitalists, and founders. The event provides opportunities to encounter the next wave of breakout startups, connect with individuals who could reshape a startup's trajectory, and observe where the industry is moving.

Early registration saves up to $100 before event doors open. Attendees can bring a co-founder, colleague, or peer using a second pass discounted at 50%. The full Disrupt experience spans six industry stages, roundtables, breakout sessions, and access to the startups and connections defining the technology industry's future.