Meet the primary batch of VCs set to evaluate Startup Battlefield 200 at Disrupt 2025

[ad_1] From Dropbox to Cloudflare, Startup Battlefield alumni have redefined industries. Who will win $100,000 and the highlight this 12 months?

Startup Battlefield 200 is the crown jewel of TechCrunch Disrupt — and this 12 months’s competitors guarantees to be unforgettable. From hundreds of candidates, solely the highest 20 will take the Stage at Disrupt 2025 (October 27–29, San Francisco) to pitch their imaginative and prescient to panels of top-tier VCs in entrance of a dwell viewers. Each contender is chasing game-changing influence — and we’re right here for the drama, the breakthroughs, and the large reveals.

We’re thrilled to announce our first wave of judges who will put these startups to the take a look at with rigorous, no-holds-barred Q&A. Their candid suggestions provides a uncommon window into how world-class buyers measurement up an organization — what excites them, what issues them, and what makes them wish to take the subsequent assembly.

Profitable Startup Battlefield has launched firms like Dropbox, Mint, Vurb, and Cloudflare into the highlight — and with a $100,000 equity-free prize on the road, the subsequent massive identify may very well be born on the Disrupt Stage this October.

Don’t miss this high-stakes startup pitch-off on a world stage. Study from rising founders what it takes to ship a successful pitch, and listen to straight from the buyers judging the contenders. Register now for Common Hen financial savings.

First look: Meet the VCs taking the judges’ seats

Listed below are the primary 5 VCs prepared to assist crown the Startup Battlefield 2025 champion — with extra prime buyers to come back quickly.

Philip Clark, Investor, Thrive Capital

Philip Clark is an investor at Thrive Capital, the place he has partnered with main software program and {hardware} firms which can be engineering breakthrough developments in AI and robotics, together with Anduril, Cursor, Neuralink, Bodily Intelligence, and Wiz. He beforehand invested at Bridgewater. Philip graduated from Stanford with levels in Pc Science and Administration Science and Engineering. He continues to advise the Hoover Establishment on numerous subjects in rising applied sciences.

Techcrunch occasion

San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025

Madison Faulkner, Companion, NEA

Madison Faulkner is a associate at NEA investing in early-stage information, infrastructure, developer instruments, information science, and AI, and he or she additionally leads the information and AI platform internally for improved funding decision-making. Throughout her investing profession, she has labored with startups together with World Labs, Manufacturing facility, Ceramic, Metabase, Datafold, Delphina, Mindtrip, Fixify, and others. Previous to investing, Madison was head of knowledge science and machine studying at a progress startup, Thrasio, Head of knowledge science at Greycroft, and led an information science workforce at Fb targeted on the advert public sale and deep studying with FAIR. Madison acquired a BS in Engineering from Stanford and grew up in Colorado performing in rodeos.

Leslie Feinzaig, Founder & Basic Companion, Graham & Walker VC

Leslie Feinzaig is the founder and normal associate at Graham & Walker, an early-stage enterprise fund backing extraordinary founders and concepts that break the mildew, whose mission is to alter the face of public markets by backing a brand new guard of founders and CEOs. Previous to launching the fund, Ms. Feinzaig was a 2x startup exec with 8- and 10-figure exits who began her profession beneath the tutelage of HBS Professor Clayton Christensen, writer of the seminal principle of disruptive innovation.

Ilya Kirnos, Founding Companion & CTO, Signalfire

Ilya Kirnos is the co-founder, managing associate, and CTO of ~$3 billion AUM early-stage enterprise agency SignalFire. He leads the event of SignalFire’s in-house Beacon AI information platform, which he’s been constructing for a decade with the agency’s workforce of AI PhDs, engineers, and information scientists. Beacon tracks greater than 660 million staff and 80 million firms to information the fund’s investing by surfacing high-quality founders and fast-growing firms, and assists its portfolio firms with recruiting and buyer acquisition. As an investor, Ilya focuses on backing seed to Collection B firms in enterprise infrastructure and developer instruments. He helps extremely technical startups in SignalFire’s portfolio, together with Horizon3 (autonomous pen-testing), OneSignal (notification infrastructure), and PlanetScale (scalable databases).

Doug Pepper, Companion, ICONIQ

Doug Pepper is a normal associate at ICONIQ Progress. He joined ICONIQ Progress in 2019. Doug has helped lead ICONIQ Progress’s investments in Airtable, Guild Training, Reify, and others. Previous to becoming a member of ICONIQ Progress, Doug was a managing director at Shasta Ventures, a premier early-stage enterprise capital agency. Beforehand, he was a normal associate at InterWest Companions for 15 years, the place he was the primary investor in Marketo and served on its board of administrators for 10 years. He started his profession working at Goldman Sachs and Amazon.com.

Register now to affix the pitch-off motion in October

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 marks 20 years because the launchpad for tech innovation. The startup panorama has advanced, however Disrupt stays the place the place business leaders form the long run. From invaluable classes and game-changing connections to Startup Battlefield, all of it occurs right here this October. Lock in your ticket at low charges now.

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Meet the primary batch of VCs set to evaluate Startup Battlefield 200 at Disrupt 2025

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