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Startup Modal Motors, founded by Michael Van Steenburg, is developing electric motors that avoid rare-earth magnets altogether, aiming to manufacture in the U.S. rather than rely on Chinese supply chains. The company is preparing two products—a small drone motor and a flat 'Hybrid Enigma Drive' motor—ahead of its appearance in Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt next month.
TechCrunch has announced a StrictlyVC programming track at Disrupt 2026, running October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. The October 14 session includes networking and a panel discussion, with speakers such as Ryan Flanagan of ICR addressing how companies prepare for IPOs amid a changing venture funding landscape. Attendees can register with an Investor Pass, with a discount available for sign-ups by September 25.
TechCrunch has three days left on its early ticket pricing for Disrupt 2026, offering savings of up to $200 before the discount expires on September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. The event runs October 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West and expects more than 10,000 founders, investors, and operators to attend, with features including AI-powered 1:1 meeting matchmaking and a dedicated Networking Lounge.
TechCrunch has published the complete agenda for its one-day Founder Summit at Boston's SoWa Power Station on November 4. Sessions include Underscore partner Brian Devaney on fundraising strategy and HubSpot co-founder and Sequoia partner Brian Halligan on evolving as a CEO through company growth stages, alongside talks on AI-native company building. Tickets are currently on sale at discounted early pricing.
TechCrunch has outlined five sessions at its 2026 Disrupt conference focused on AI safety and security, spanning the AI Stage and Real World AI Stage. Topics include enterprise deployment of Claude, agent security risks, and other trust-related challenges facing founders building autonomous systems, robots, and AI agents. Anthropic's Head of Applied AI, Cat de Jong, is among the speakers set to discuss what separates successful AI deployments from stalled pilots.
Massachusetts startup Noble Carbon has built circuit breakers that dynamically adjust electricity flow to EV chargers, heat pumps, and induction stoves, letting homeowners avoid costly electrical panel upgrades. The company will present at TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield in October as one of 200 competing startups, with 20 advancing to the main stage.
Hello Robot co-founder Aaron Edsinger will showcase Stretch 4, the company's wheeled home-assistance robot, in a live demonstration at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Launched in May with its first production batch already sold out, Stretch 4 uses a single telescoping arm and wheels rather than legs or humanoid form to help people with severe mobility impairments perform everyday tasks like eating or closing blinds.
TechCrunch has reopened exhibitor bookings for its Disrupt 2026 conference, giving startups that missed the original deadline a final window to secure a table. The event runs October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco and is expected to draw over 10,000 founders, investors, and industry professionals. The new booking deadline is September 30 at 11:59 p.m. PT, with tables allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
TechCrunch is offering early registration discounts of up to $200 off passes for its Disrupt 2026 conference, plus 50% off a second ticket, with the deal expiring September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. The event runs October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco and will feature over 10,000 attendees, 200+ sessions, and 250+ tech leaders across six stages.
TechCrunch is offering discounts of up to $200 on tickets for its Disrupt 2026 conference, set for October 13-15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, with the reduced pricing ending September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Buyers can also get a second ticket of the same type at half price, and the event will host over 10,000 attendees along with 200 early-stage startups in its Startup Battlefield program.
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.
Robby Stein, Google's vice president of product for Search, will join a fireside chat at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, running October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. The session, titled 'From MVP to Billions of Users,' will examine how product teams manage the shift from early-stage experimentation to decision-making at massive scale.