Venture Capital
Five prominent VCs announced as judges for TechCrunch Disrupt's 2026 startup competition
TechCrunch has revealed the latest cohort of venture investors who will evaluate Startup Battlefield 200 competitors vying for a $100,000 prize.
TechCrunch — AI
Startup Battlefield 200, TechCrunch Disrupt 2026's flagship pitch competition, is assembling one of its most experienced judging panels to date. Running October 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, the event brings together thousands of founders and investors to witness early-stage companies present their visions and respond to probing investor questions.
Who the judges are#
The latest wave of five venture partners joining the bench includes investors with deep expertise across AI, enterprise software, physical automation, and healthcare sectors:
- Vaibhav 'Dr.V' Agrawal (ODDBIRD VC): A physician-turned-investor focusing on AI-driven reindustrialization, with backing in companies like Anterior, a healthcare AI firm that raised $64 million.
- Anu Bharadwaj (ICONIQ): A former president and COO of Atlassian who spent nearly a decade scaling the company's product and engineering operations before transitioning to enterprise software and AI investing.
- Sho Sho Leigha Ho (General Catalyst): General Catalyst's youngest partner as of 2024, specializing in early-stage founders and recent public wins including The Interaction Company, which was acquired by Cognition.
- Miloni Madan Presler (IVP): A growth equity specialist who works with first-time founders on expansion-stage deals in enterprise software, healthcare, and security.
- Aidan Madigan-Curtis (Eclipse Ventures): An AI and physical automation investor recognized by Business Insider as a top robotics investor; previously led manufacturing scale-up efforts at Apple and grew Samsara from pre-revenue to $1 billion-plus ARR.
Why this matters#
The judges' role extends beyond selecting winners. During the six-minute pitches and subsequent questioning, they model how institutional investors evaluate startups—assessing team capability, market opportunity, timing, and competitive defensibility. This dissection serves as a masterclass for the thousands of founders and investors observing the competition.
These investor perspectives have already proven valuable: founders at previous Disrupt events have cited the judge feedback as instrumental to shaping their strategies and attracting future capital.
