The judging panel for Startup Battlefield 2025 is becoming even more formidable.We are adding more elite investors who will interrogate entrepreneurs, break down the important questions, and help choose this year’s $100,000 winner at TechCrunch Disrupt, which will take place October 27–29 at San Francisco’s Moscone West. Our initial round of VCs brought significant firepower.
Similar to the renowned investors who have made decisions in previous years, this next group offers the knowledge, expertise, and intuition that can alter a founder’s course in a single Q&A.The following group of investors is prepared to bring their most pointed queries to the Disrupt Stage. Get your ticket now to watch the pitch-off live and save over $650.
Thomas Krane, Insight Partners’ Managing Director
Since joining Insight Partners as an analyst in 2012, Thomas Krane has held the position of managing director.His areas of interest as an investor are application software, DevOps, cybersecurity, and IT automation.Some of his ventures, such as Recorded Future, Adaptive Shield, Thycotic, Nearpod, Cylance, and QASymphony, have seen successful strategic exits, while five of them—Tenable, JFrog, Darktrace, 1stdibs, and SentinelOne—have realized an initial public offering (IPO). Thomas completed his master’s degree in four years while studying astrophysics at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate.
Charles Hudson, Managing Partner, Precursor Ventures
Charles Hudson is the managing partner and founder of Precursor Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. He invests in people over product at the earliest stage of their entrepreneurial journey. Under his leadership, Precursor has raised four funds and has $250+ million under management. He has invested in over 400+ companies and has supported 450+ founders, including the teams behind Bobbie Baby, Carrot, Incredible Health, Juniper Square, Modern Health, Pair Eyewear, Rad AI, and The Athletic (sold to the New York Times for $525 million in 2022).
Nicolas Sauvage, President, TDK Ventures
As president of TDK Ventures, the corporate venture capital division of TDK Corporation, Nicolas Sauvage oversees the $350 million investment fund’s mission to support earlystage companies advancing energy and digital innovation.Three unicorns, Ascend Elements, Groq, and Silicon Box, are among the 45 firms that TDK Ventures has supported since its establishment in 2019.
One of just two corporate venture capitalists elected into the esteemed Kauffman Fellows program, Sauvage is wellknown throughout the world and has been on the GCV Powerlist for six years running, most recently placing No. 17 among the top 150 corporate venture leaders.
Katie Stanton, Founder And General Partner, Moxxie Ventures
The founder and general partner of Moxxie Ventures, an early-stage entrepreneurial fund, is Katie Stanton. Stanton held a variety of executive operations positions at Twitter, Google, Yahoo, and Color before joining Moxxie. Stanton started her career as a banker at J.P. Morgan Chase and has worked in Silicon Valley, the Obama White House, and the State Department. Stanton was once on the board of Time Inc. and is currently on the board of Vivendi, a French global media business with its headquarters located in Paris. As a founding partner of #Angels, she began her venture capital career and has since invested in more than 100 early-stage businesses, including as Airtable, Calm, Cameo, Carta, Coinbase, Literati, Modern Fertility, and Shape Security.
Santi Subotovsky, General Partner, Emergence
Since joining Emergence Capital in 2010, Santi Subotovsky, a general partner, has been instrumental in some of the company’s most profitable ventures, such as Chorus and Openpath. When Zoom (NASDAQ: ZM) was a little-known business, he oversaw Emergence’s investment in it. He is still on the board of the company, which today has a $24 billion market valuation. In addition, he works closely with startup studio and accelerator High Alpha and Quasar Ventures, which supports Latin American entrepreneurs in bringing innovative ideas to life, and is a board member of prominent firms such as Crunchbase, Logik.io, Zipline, Tundra, and Class.
Disrupt: Where Tech Innovation Launches — And Lasts
Awaiting you is the final worldwide pitch-off. San Francisco’s Moscone West will become the tech hub when 10,000+ entrepreneurs and venture capitalists gather for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 on October 27–29. Even if the startup landscape has evolved, founders continue to announce tomorrow’s innovations at Disrupt. Attend the meetings, close deals, and watch Startup Battlefield in action. Get your ticket soon to avoid price increases.
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