Startup Battlefield 200 is a major highlight at every Disrupt, and we’re thrilled to find out which of the thousands of startup applicants will get the chance to pitch to top-tier VCs at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. Join us at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 28–30 to witness the epic showdown where every contender is set to make a significant impact.
Get an insider’s view of what the judges look for in a viable company as they provide detailed feedback on their evaluation criteria. Don’t miss the chance to learn from their expert insights and discover the crucial traits that lead to startup success, only at Disrupt 2024.
We’re excited to introduce our next set of investors who will evaluate the startups and dive into each pitch with a thorough and probing Q&A session. Stay tuned for more big names coming your way soon!
Alice Brooks, Partner, Khosla Ventures
Alice is a partner at Khosla Ventures interested in sustainability, food, agriculture, and manufacturing/supply chain. She has worked with multiple startups in robotics, IoT, retail, consumer, and STEM education and has run mechanical, electrical, and app development teams in the U.S. and Asia. She has also established and managed manufacturing operations at factories in China and Taiwan. Prior to KV, Alice was founder and CEO of Roominate, a STEM education company helping girls learn engineering concepts through play.
Mark Crane, Partner, General Catalyst
Mark Crane is a partner at General Catalyst, a venture capital firm that works with seed to endurance-stage founders to help build companies that can withstand the test of time. He focuses on sourcing and investing in later-stage investment opportunities such as AuthZed, Bugcrowd, Resilience, and TravelPerk. Prior to joining General Catalyst, Mark was a vice president at Cove Hill Partners in Massachusetts. Previously, he was a senior associate at JMI Equity and an associate at North Bridge Growth Equity.
Sofia Dolfe, Partner, Index Ventures
Sofia partners with founders who leverage their unique perspective and personal understanding of a problem to create businesses that lead to behavioral shifts, powerful network effects, and the reshaping of entire industries, from grocery and e-commerce, to financial services and healthcare. Sofia is also one of Index Ventures’ gaming leads, working with some of the top gaming companies in Europe, creating the next generation of iconic gaming titles. She spends most of her time in the Nordics but works with entrepreneurs across the continent.
Christine Esserman, Partner, Accel
Christine Esserman joined Accel in 2017 and focuses on software, internet, and mobile technology companies. Since joining Accel, Christine has helped lead Accel’s investments in Blackpoint Cyber, Linear, Merge, ThreeFlow, Bumble, Remote, Dovetail, Ethos, Guru, and Headway. Prior to Accel, Christine worked in product and operations roles at a number of startups. Christine is from the Bay Area and graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in finance and operations.
Techcrunch eventJoin 10k+ tech and VC leaders for growth and connections at Disrupt 2025
Netflix, Box, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just some of the 250+ heavy hitters leading 200+ sessions designed to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech. Grab your ticket before Sept 26 to save up to $668.
Join 10k+ tech and VC leaders for growth and connections at Disrupt 2025
Netflix, Box, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just some of the 250+ heavy hitters leading 200+ sessions designed to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech. Grab your ticket before Sept 26 to save up to $668.
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025 REGISTER NOWHaomiao Huang, Founding Partner, Matter Venture Partners
Haomiao from Matter Venture Partners is a robotics researcher turned founder turned investor. He is particularly passionate about companies bringing digital innovation into physical economy businesses, with a focus on sectors like logistics, manufacturing, and transportation and on advanced technologies like robotics and AI. Haomiao spent four years investing in hard tech alongside Wen Hsieh at Kleiner Perkins. Prior to that he founded the smart home security startup Kuna, built self-driving cars at Caltech, and, as part of his PhD research at Stanford, pioneered the aerodynamics and control of multi-rotor UAVs. Kuna was part of Y Combinator’s Winter 14 batch.
Don’t miss it!
The Startup Battlefield winner, who will walk away with a $100,000 equity-free prize, will be announced at Disrupt 2024 — the startup epicenter. Join 10,000 attendees to witness this groundbreaking moment and see the next wave of tech innovation.
Register here and secure your seat to witness this epic startup battle.