Benchmark's entire current partnership—Jack Altman, Peter Fenton, Chetan Puttagunta, Everett Randle and Eric Vishria—will join a single main-stage panel at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco, marking the first time the full team has appeared together on the Disrupt Stage. The session, titled 'What We Believe Now,' will focus on where future startups may emerge and which founder assumptions deserve rethinking. The panel follows Benchmark's recent expansion, having raised roughly $2 billion this year across a new flagship fund and its first growth fund.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-21
TechCrunch announced another five investors joining the judging panel for its Startup Battlefield 200 pitch competition, which runs October 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West as part of Disrupt 2026. Founders selected for the contest get six minutes to pitch followed by investor questioning, with a $100,000 prize awarded to the winning startup. This group joins ten judges previously revealed for the event.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-21
Palo Alto startup ScrollEd, presenting at TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield 200, has built an app that transforms text files like PDFs and textbooks into short-form vertical feeds resembling Instagram Reels or TikTok. Users scroll through AI-generated video, audio, text, and quizzes, swiping up for new topics and sideways to dig deeper into a subject. Co-founders Utsav Gupta and Rebecca Neff, both current students, bootstrapped the company after growing frustrated with unproductive doomscrolling.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-20
TechCrunch is offering discounted early registration for its Disrupt 2026 conference, with savings of up to $200 expiring September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. The event, running October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, will feature over 250 speakers, 200+ sessions across six stages, and more than 300 exhibiting startups. Attendees can also access networking tools like AI matchmaking and the Deal Flow Café to connect with investors and partners.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-20
TechCrunch has announced that its current discounted ticket pricing for Disrupt 2026 expires Friday, Sept. 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT, after which rates rise. The conference will take place October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, expecting over 10,000 founders, investors, and tech leaders.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-19
In a Fortune commentary, Zocdoc founder and CEO Oliver Kharraz argues that Walmart's shuttered clinic network and IBM's sold-off Watson Health division both collapsed because they treated healthcare as a technology problem rather than a tangle of misaligned incentives and regulations. Walmart closed 51 clinics and its virtual care unit in 2024 after reimbursement and cost pressures made the business unsustainable, while IBM sold most of Watson Health in 2022 after sinking roughly $4 billion into it.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-09-18
TechCrunch is closing applications for volunteers at its Disrupt 2026 conference, set for October 13-15, on Tuesday, September 22. Selected volunteers receive a free three-day event pass in exchange for committing at least 12 hours of work and attending an in-person orientation on the Monday before the event.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-17
Chinese AI startup Moonshot announced Thursday that its Kimi models now integrate directly with financial data providers including S&P Global Market Intelligence, Crunchbase, Wind, Tianyancha, SEC EDGAR filings, the IMF, World Bank and FRED. The company said clients such as CICC and venture firm Hong Shan (formerly Sequoia China) are already using Kimi's new financial-services tools, which are offered through tiered subscriptions ranging from 49 to 699 yuan per month.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-17
Pulley, a cap table management platform founded by Yin Wu in 2020, is ceasing operations on December 8. The company has arranged to transfer its customers to competitor Carta and is directing new prospects there as well, despite the two firms having been rivals in the space.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-16
Wayve, the self-driving software startup valued at roughly $8.5 billion, has named Elisa de Martel as its new chief financial officer. De Martel spent 2022 to January 2026 as Waymo's CFO, overseeing a period when the Alphabet unit expanded commercial operations and raised $5.6 billion at a $45 billion-plus valuation. She replaces Max Warburton, who is shifting to a strategic advisory role at Wayve.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-16
A business commentator argues that traditional startup strategies—flashy offices, perks and slow-moving hierarchies—no longer work in a market reshaped by AI and instant gratification. The piece uses an example of a graphic designer competing with AI tools, suggesting entrepreneurs should blend automation with human skill rather than resist it.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-09-16
TechCrunch announced another group of five venture capitalists who will judge the Startup Battlefield 200 competition at Disrupt 2026, held October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. Among those named is Aditi Maliwal, a general partner at Upfront Ventures who invests in fintech, enterprise SaaS, AI applications, and developer tools, with a portfolio including Clair and Writer. Early-bird ticket discounts of up to $200 are available until September 25.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-16
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