The 200 Judges Selecting Startup Battlefield 2026 Champion

Who the Judges Are

Five veteran investors—each a founder or co‑founder of the venture firm they now lead—will decide the Startup Battlefield champion. Their collective experience spans decades of backing high‑growth founders, scaling companies, and making strategic bets that shape entire sectors.

Judge Profiles

• Stacy Brown‑Philpot – Founder and Managing Partner of Cherryrock Capital, focusing on Series A and B software firms led by Black and Latinx entrepreneurs; previously CEO of TaskRabbit and senior executive at Google.
• Chi‑Hua Chien – Co‑Founder and Managing Partner at Goodwater Capital, investing in consumer technology across mobile, fintech, e‑commerce, digital health and AI in the US and Asia; has backed more than 17 unicorns including Spotify, Chime, Monzo, TikTok, Coupang and Udemy.
• Dayna Grayson – Co‑Founder and General Partner at Construct Capital, targeting early‑stage technology for foundational American industries such as manufacturing, logistics, transportation and defense; notable portfolio companies include Veho, Hadrian and Copia Automation.
• Carter Reum – Co‑Founder and Managing Partner of M13, a $1.9 billion consumer‑technology fund investing from seed to Series B in work, commerce, health and finance; has executed over 200 investments including Lyft.

Beyond the Pitch

After the final presentations, the judges will reconvene on the Builders Stage for a live AMA, allowing the audience to probe them on standout pitches, founder qualities, fundraising tactics, and emerging investment themes.

Why It Matters for GPU and AI Infrastructure

The judges’ decisions will spotlight the most promising AI‑driven startups, many of which rely on high‑performance GPU resources for training and inference. Their backing can accelerate access to AI GPU clouds, influence hardware procurement strategies, and signal where the next wave of AI infrastructure investment will flow.