TechCrunch has announced the first group of venture capital judges for the highly anticipated Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. This event, scheduled for October 13-15 in San Francisco, brings together 200 promising early-stage startups competing for major exposure and investment opportunities. Startup Battlefield has a storied history of launching now household-name companies like Dropbox and Discord, with alumni collectively raising over $32 billion in funding since the competition’s inception.

The judges introduced represent some of the most influential investors and operators in the tech ecosystem. Among them is Janelle Teng Wade, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, whose portfolio spans AI infrastructure, data platforms, and defense tech. Puneet Agarwal, managing partner at True Ventures, leads enterprise investments focused on AI-driven infrastructure and applications. Benjamin Narasin of Tenacity Venture Capital, a pioneer in pre-seed investing, is also on the panel, bringing extensive experience across consumer and enterprise markets.

Leah Solivan, founder and managing director of Precedent.vc, joins as well, focusing on pre-seed investments in future-of-work technologies, AI-native platforms, and health tech. Solivan is known for founding TaskRabbit, which was acquired by IKEA in 2017. Lastly, Andrew Brackin, partner at Gradient, Google's AI-focused seed fund, will judge startups in vertical AI and healthcare sectors. Brackin’s background includes co-founding a clinical trial platform that raised over $100 million in venture capital.

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 expects to gather more than 10,000 tech professionals, investors, and founders who want to witness the future of innovation firsthand. Interested attendees can still register for the event and save up to $200 by purchasing tickets before the price increase on September 25. The Startup Battlefield 200 competition signals a pivotal moment for founders aiming to rise in the AI-driven tech era, with these top-tier judges evaluating the next wave of breakout companies.