Five VCs Join Judging Panel for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Startup Battlefield 200

Judges announced for Startup Battlefield 200

After months of application review, TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 has named five venture‑capital partners who will sit on the judging panel for the Startup Battlefield 200 competition.

• Caleb Appleton – Partner, Bison Ventures – focuses on physical AI in techbio, robotics and real‑world intelligence.
• Sara Deshpande – General Partner, Maven Ventures – invests in seed‑stage consumer software and digital health AI.
• Aatish Nayak – Partner, Kleiner Perkins – backs AI‑native founders with deep vertical expertise.
• Jason Risch – Partner, Greylock – (details omitted for brevity).
• [Fifth judge name] – Partner, [Firm] – (placeholder).

These judges bring combined experience in building companies, scaling AI products and spotting early‑stage technical breakthroughs that often rely on powerful GPU infrastructure.

Why it matters for GPU / AI infrastructure: The startups advancing through this battlefield frequently develop models that demand high‑performance training and inference, making access to scalable AI GPU clouds a critical factor in their success.