Five Founding Investors to Judge TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield Competition

From thousands of applications, 200 startups have advanced to Startup Battlefield, TechCrunch's flagship competition. The final phase kicks off October 13–15 when 20 companies will take the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 to compete for the top prize. Five veteran investors will make the ultimate call on who wins.

The Judges: Founders Leading Venture Firms#

The selection panel consists entirely of investors who have launched and continue to lead their own investment firms. Together they bring deep experience in company building, securing capital, and identifying breakthrough founders. Their collective portfolio includes 15+ unicorns and spans consumer technology, infrastructure, healthtech, and diversity-focused investing.

Stacy Brown-Philpot (Cherryrock Capital) previously ran TaskRabbit before its acquisition by IKEA and spent over a decade at Google in senior positions. Her fund focuses on Series A and B software companies founded by Black and Latinx entrepreneurs, backing companies like Coactive AI and Vitable Health.

Chi-Hua Chien (Goodwater Capital) has backed more than 17 unicorns across consumer technology—spanning mobile, fintech, digital health, and consumer AI—including Spotify, Chime, and TikTok. He was previously a partner at Kleiner Perkins and Accel before co-founding Goodwater.

Dayna Grayson (Construct Capital) focuses on deep-tech companies serving core U.S. industries like manufacturing, logistics, and defense. Her portfolio includes Desktop Metal, which went public on the NYSE. She holds an engineering degree from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Harvard.

Carter Reum (M13) leads a $1.9 billion consumer technology firm with over 200 investments, including Lyft, Pinterest, and Ring. A serial entrepreneur, he also co-founded VEEV Spirit, a spirits brand acquired in 2016, and authored the bestseller "Shortcut Your Startup."

Alexa von Tobel (Inspired Capital) founded LearnVest, a financial planning platform acquired by Northwestern Mutual, and later co-founded Inspired Capital with former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. Her portfolio includes MosaicML, acquired by Databricks, and nine other unicorns.

What Happens Next#

The judges will evaluate pitches across all three days of the conference, then announce the winner. Later that same day, all five will appear together on stage for a live Q&A with the audience, discussing what caught their attention, their approach to founder evaluation, and where they're investing next.