Aug 9, 2024

The  Startup Battlefield is the crown jewel of Disrupt, and we can’t wait to see which of the thousands of applicants will be selected to pitch to panels of top-tier VCs at  TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 , taking place on October 28–30 in San Francisco. It’s always epic, and every contender is on the road to making a huge impact on the world. We’re thrilled to reveal our first group of investors who will assess the startups and follow up each pitch with an intense, revealing Q&A. Be on the lookout for more names being announced soon! The judges’ feedback provides insight into the criteria they use to determine whether a company is viable or not. Watch and learn what investors look for, what motivates them and what pushes them to schedule a meeting. Here are the first five VCs ready to help decide the champion of Startup Battlefield 2024. Erin Harkless Moore, Managing Director, Pivotal Ventures Erin is the Managing Director of Investment for Pivotal Ventures , a Melinda French Gates company created to accelerate social progress. Erin leads the organization’s fund and direct investment decisions, overseeing a diverse portfolio of investments that drive breakthrough innovations. With nearly 20 years of investment experience in building and managing customized portfolios for endowed institutions and family offices, Erin’s commitment to discovering and cultivating relationships with leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and founders has been a driving force behind her success. Eylul Kayin, Partner, Gradient Ventures Eylul is a partner at Gradient Ventures . Prior to Gradient, Eylul was an investor with NEA and SoftBank, where she supported a number of category-defining companies, including Brex, Cato, Chime, Claroty, Digits, Eargo (NASDAQ: EAR), Ethos, Flexport, Material Bank, Neotract (acquired by Teleflex) and Revelle Aesthetics (incubation). Victor Lazarte, General Partner, Benchmark Victor is a general partner at Benchmark , where he focuses on a variety of investment areas, including AI, gaming and fintech. Victor co-founded Wildlife Studios in 2010 and built it into one of the largest mobile gaming companies in the world, engaging billions of players around the globe. From 2010 to 2023, Victor served as the co-founder and CEO of the company, before transitioning to chairman of the board in June of 2023. Victor has also served as a board member of Brex since 2018. Ana Leyva, General Partner, Pear VC Ana leads the go-to-market team at Pear VC . With a rich background in enterprise sales from companies like Vanta, ServiceTitan, and Box, she is passionate about helping early-stage founders build high-performing sales motions. An entrepreneur herself, she founded and served as the CEO of the edtech startup Lelu. Corinne Riley, Partner, Greylock Corinne partners with early-stage founders who are creating data and AI products at the infrastructure and application layers. She works with companies like Adept, Baseten, Braintrust, Common Room, Opal, and WarpStream. Corinne built Greylock ’s Edge program, which is a company-building program that seeks out promising founders and ideas at the earliest stages and works with them to get those ideas off the ground. She also launched Greylock’s Scout program, which invites top angel investors to form a special relationship with Greylock. Don’t miss it! The winner of Startup Battlefield, who will walk away with a $100,000 equity-free prize, will be announced at Disrupt 2024 . This is your chance to see the future of tech unfold — don’t miss it! Grab your tickets now. More TechCrunch