First Startup Battlefield 200 VC Judges Revealed for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

TechCrunch revealed the first group of VC judges for Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. The competition features 200 early-stage founders competing for a global spotlight, with the live competition scheduled for October 13-15 in San Francisco.

The announcement positions the judging panel as a key part of the competition, with investors and operators assessing which founders advance.

The first judges named are Janelle Teng Wade of Bessemer Venture Partners, Puneet Agarwal of True Ventures, Benjamin Narasin of Tenacity Venture Capital, Leah Solivan of Precedent.vc, and Andrew Brackin of Gradient.

Their backgrounds span AI infrastructure, enterprise investing, pre-seed investing, future-of-work and health-tech startups, vertical AI, healthcare, and the application layer.

TechCrunch says the judges will challenge assumptions, test business models, question product decisions, and help determine which founders move forward. That makes the panel more than a ceremonial lineup: for competitors, it is a high-pressure audience of investors and operators.

Startup Battlefield has been running for more than 15 years and has featured companies including Dropbox, Cloudflare, Discord, and Trello before they became widely known.

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is set to bring together 10,000+ tech leaders, VCs, and founders. For attendees, Startup Battlefield 200 is framed as a front-row view into emerging companies and sectors shaping the startup ecosystem.

TechCrunch also notes that ticket savings of up to $200 are available before rates increase after September 25, with additional savings for group registration.