TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 begins on October 13 at 8 a.m. PT at Moscone West in San Francisco, featuring more than 300 startups in the Expo Hall and 20 Startup Battlefield 200 finalists competing for a $100,000 prize and the Disrupt Cup. The event will also host over 200 sessions with more than 250 tech leaders discussing AI, fundraising, go-to-market strategy, and scaling. Attendees can still save up to $100 on passes, with discounts for groups and a 50% off second ticket offer.
Alongside the main TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 conference running October 13-15 in San Francisco, a range of independently organized side events are scheduled from October 10 through 16. These include national and regional tech meetups hosted by groups like Poland's PAIH, Innovation Norway, and Pakistan's Software Export Board, plus startup workshops and networking sessions.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will host a Builders Stage session titled 'The Zero-to-1K Playbook,' featuring Gamma CEO Grant Lee, Engine CEO Elia Wallen, and GV general partner Crystal Huang. The panel will discuss tactics founders use to acquire their first 1,000 customers without a marketing budget, including community building, product-led growth, and founder-led sales. Gamma, the AI presentation and content platform Lee co-founded, was reported in March 2026 to be nearing 100 million users after surpassing $100 million in annual recurring revenue in 2025.
TechCrunch's Disrupt 2026 conference takes place October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, expecting around 10,000 attendees including founders, investors and tech executives. Online ticket discounts of up to $100 expire when the event opens at 8 a.m. PT on October 13, with a discounted Expo+ Pass available for those affected by layoffs and a 50%-off second-ticket offer.
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, leaders from Ambrosia Energy and Bloom Energy discussed how the physical infrastructure supporting AI is becoming a critical area for innovation. They emphasized that as AI models and applications expand, the demand for power, cooling, and data center capacity grows, creating new business opportunities. The session focused on the challenges and emerging categories within AI infrastructure that could shape future market dynamics.
Attendees have until October 13 at 8 a.m. PT to purchase discounted passes for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, with savings of up to $100. Multiple ticket options are available, including discounts for pairs and groups of four or more, before the event begins at Moscone West.
Alexander Embiricos, who leads OpenAI's Dots product, will appear at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco on October 13-15, shortly after OpenAI launched Dots. Dots is described as an always-on personal AI agent that runs on its own cloud computers, connects to everyday apps, and continues working toward goals in the background. Embiricos will discuss the product's design and OpenAI's vision for personal agents in a session titled 'What Comes After the Chatbot?'
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 runs October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, expecting over 10,000 founders, investors, and operators. The event will include a series of interactive roundtables on topics like physical AI data challenges, the future of enterprise SaaS, and AI's role in IPO readiness, led by speakers including Radha Basu of iMerit, Rajeev Singh of Smartsheet, and Eléonore Crespo of Pigment.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 runs October 13-15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, expecting over 10,000 attendees, 200+ sessions across six stages, and a startup Expo Hall. Online ticket discounts of up to $100 end before doors open, with a 50% second-pass offer and a $75 Expo+ Pass for laid-off attendees. The event includes Startup Battlefield 200, a pitch competition offering a $100,000 prize, with confirmed speakers including Mark Wahlberg, RJ Scaringe, and executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, and NVIDIA.
The upcoming TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 event in San Francisco will feature a series of 50-minute breakout sessions where industry leaders will address pressing questions about AI, physical AI, and startup growth strategies. Attendees can participate in Q&A segments designed to foster deeper understanding and practical insights, with limited room capacity and first-come, first-served access.
TechCrunch has outlined programming for its Disrupt 2026 conference focused on how AI startups choose between open-source models, proprietary APIs, and multi-model architectures. One confirmed session, featuring executives from CapitalG, Together AI, and Pathway, will examine why companies use multiple AI models rather than standardizing on one, and how they weigh cost, performance, and flexibility. The event is also promoting discounted ticket pricing, including a layoff-affected attendee rate.
TechCrunch announced the five judges who will select the winner of Startup Battlefield at Disrupt 2026, running October 13-15. The panel includes Stacy Brown-Philpot of Cherryrock Capital and Chi-Hua Chien of Goodwater Capital, among others, chosen from thousands of applicants narrowed to 200 startups and 20 finalist pitches. After judging concludes, the five will take part in a live audience Q&A on the Builders Stage.
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