The Startup Battlefield 2025 judging panel is getting even stronger. Our first wave of VCs introduced severe firepower, and now we’re including extra prime buyers who will grill founders, unpack the massive questions, and assist crown this 12 months’s $100,000 champion at TechCrunch Disrupt, October 27–29 in San Francisco’s Moscone West.
Just like the legendary buyers who’ve judged in years previous, this subsequent group brings the perception, expertise, and instincts that may change a founder’s trajectory in only one Q&A.
Right here’s the following set of buyers able to deliver their sharpest inquiries to the Disrupt Stage. Safe your ticket now to save lots of $650+ and to witness the pitch-off reside.
Meet the following wave of our SB200 Judges
Introducing the second batch of 5 VCs who will assist crown this 12 months’s Startup Battlefield champion, with extra buyers on the way in which. Examine the Disrupt speaker web page to get to know our judges.
Crissy Behrens, Principal, Perception Companions
Crissy Behrens joined Perception Companions in 2021 to concentrate on investments in high-growth software program companies throughout SaaS, DevOps, and infrastructure. She beforehand frolicked at Major Enterprise Companions as a seed investor and at B Capital Group as a progress investor. Throughout her investing profession, Behrenshas partnered with corporations at each stage of progress, from pre-seed to IPO.
Earlier than changing into an investor, Behrens labored in go-to-market roles at a number of B2B startups and developer platforms. These customer-facing roles gave her invaluable problem-solving abilities which have made her a real associate to the founders and entrepreneurs she invests in.
Charles Hudson, Managing Accomplice, Precursor Ventures
Charles Hudson is the managing associate and founding father of Precursor Ventures, an early stage enterprise capital agency centered on investing within the first institutional spherical of funding for essentially the most promising software program and {hardware} corporations. He invests in folks over product on the earliest stage of their entrepreneurial journey. Underneath his management, Precursor has raised 4 funds and has $250+ million beneath administration. He has invested in over 400+ corporations and has supported 450+ founders, together with the groups behind Bobbie Child, Carrot, Unbelievable Health, Juniper Sq., Fashionable Health, Pair Eyewear, Rad AI, and The Athletic (offered to the NY Occasions for $525 million in 2022).
Techcrunch occasion
San Francisco
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October 27-29, 2025
Nicolas Sauvage, President, TDK Ventures
Nicolas Sauvage is president of TDK Ventures, the company enterprise capital arm of TDK Company, the place he leads the agency’s $350M mandate to put money into early-stage startups driving digital and power innovation. Since its founding in 2019, TDK Ventures has backed 45 startups beneath its management, together with three unicorns — Ascend Parts, Groq, and Silicon Field.
Acknowledged globally, Sauvage has appeared on the GCV Powerlist for six consecutive years, most lately rating #17 among the many prime 150 heads of company enterprise. He’s additionally one in every of solely two company VCs inducted into the distinguished Kauffman Fellows program.
Katie Stanton, Founder & Common Accomplice, Moxxie Ventures
Katie Stanton is the founder and basic associate of Moxxie Ventures, an early-stage enterprise fund. Previous to Moxxie, Stanton served in quite a few govt working roles at Twitter, Google, Yahoo, and Colour. Along with working in Silicon Valley, Stanton served within the (Obama) White Home and State Division and commenced her profession as a banker at J.P. Morgan Chase. Stanton sits on the Board of Vivendi, a French multinational media firm headquartered in Paris, and beforehand served on the Board of Time Inc. She began her enterprise profession as a founding associate of #Angels and has invested in over 100 early-stage corporations together with Airtable, Calm, Cameo, Carta, Coinbase, Literati, Fashionable Fertility, and Form Safety.
Santi Subotovsky, Common Accomplice, Emergence
Santi Subotovsky is a basic associate at Emergence Capital, the place he has been a driving drive behind among the agency’s most profitable investments since becoming a member of in 2010, together with Refrain and Openpath. He led Emergence’s funding in Zoom (NASDAQ: ZM) when it was a little-known startup and stays on its board as the corporate stands as a $24 billion market cap large. He additionally serves on the boards of main corporations like Crunchbase, Logik.io, Zipline, Tundra, and Class, and works intently with startup studio and accelerator Excessive Alpha, and Quasar Ventures, which helps Latin American entrepreneurs deliver disruptive concepts to life.
Disrupt: The place tech innovation launches — and lasts
The final word international pitch-off awaits. This October 27-29, TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 brings collectively 10,000+ startups and VC leaders, turning San Francisco’s Moscone West into the tech epicenter. The startup area could have modified, however Disrupt stays the place founders launch tomorrow’s innovation. Be a part of the periods, make the offers, and witness Startup Battlefield reside. Safe your ticket now earlier than costs rise.
