The pitch competition runs October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, with a $100,000 prize on the line.

TechCrunch named five more venture capitalists to the Startup Battlefield 200 judging panel for Disrupt 2026, adding to the first 10 judges already listed on the agenda. The competition runs October 13 through 15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, where founders get six minutes to pitch and the winner collects a $100,000 prize.

The new judges include Vaibhav Agrawal, co-founder and general partner at ODDBIRD VC, a pre-seed fund he started in 2024 to back AI companies focused on health, bio, supply chains, and real-world automation. Anu Bharadwaj, a partner at ICONIQ Growth, spent nearly 12 years as president and COO of Atlassian, and Sho Sho Leigha Ho joins from General Catalyst’s seed team.

For builders, the pitch competition doubles as a map of what investors probe before writing checks. Judges press founders on execution, market size, timing, and defensibility, the same questions enterprise buyers and hiring managers raise during diligence and procurement cycles.

Disrupt 2026 takes place October 13 through 15 at Moscone West, with more than 10,000 attendees expected. Pass prices rise on September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT, and the Startup Battlefield 200 winner takes home $100,000.

What matters

• Five new venture investors join the Startup Battlefield 200 judging panel at Disrupt 2026.
• Founders pitch in six minutes, then face the diligence questions investors and buyers ask.
• Disrupt runs October 13 to 15 at Moscone West, and the winner takes home $100,000.

Why it matters

Disrupt runs October 13 to 15 at Moscone West, and the winner takes home $100,000.

This GenAI News article was prepared in original wording using reporting and materials published by TechCrunch AI. Source reference: https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/21/meet-the-next-wave-of-vcs-judging-startup-battlefield-200-at-techcrunch-disrupt-2026/.

Drafted by the GenAI News review pipeline.