What does it take to raise Series A in today’s market?
The goalposts have moved, the stakes are higher, and investors seem pickier than ever as the AI boom reshapes the industry. At TechCrunch Disrupt, three investors — Thomas Green of Insight Partners, Moxxie Ventures’ Katie Stanton, and GV’s Sangeen Zeb — broke down what they’ll be looking for in the new year.
The numbers tell a clear story. Fewer rounds are getting funded but deal sizes have grown, said Green citing a study.
“It has never been easier to start a company, and it has never been harder to build something that is defensible,” Stanton said.
For Zeb, GV uses a specific formula to evaluate companies. The firm analyzes whether startups have achieved product-market fit, examining demand patterns to ensure every quarter outperforms the last. “That sequence should be happening consistently,” he said.
Stanton echoed this priority. “Can you prove that you can repeatedly sell? Can you prove that you can repeatedly grow in a big and growing market?”
But Green cautioned that not every company should pursue venture-scale growth. “It’s not worth even taking this money unless you think it can be a really big business, right?” he said. “Most companies should not [pursue] venture scale. They should not take hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Techcrunch event
San Francisco | October 13-15, 2026
Beyond metrics, all three investors emphasized founder quality. Stanton said she is looking for passionate founders who can endure the long journey of building a company. Zeb agreed. “Passion is still the most important thing,” he said.
The panel inevitably turned to AI. Green assured non-AI companies: “Just because you’re not AI doesn’t mean you don’t have a very attractive asset, intrinsic quality to you,” he said.
For AI companies trying to differentiate in a crowded market, Green returns to first principles. “We try to understand, if it’s a market with a lot of competition — [including] both incumbents and next-gen competitors and platform players — what is going to be the standout path?”
Stanton said she looks founders who combine industry and technical expertise, while Zeb prioritizes relentless drive, seeking founders who are constantly asking how to move faster than the competition.
Despite market fluctuations, the panel suggested that core investor priorities remain consistent. “The bar is high, but if the outcome can be impossibly huge, we’ll take that [bet],” Green said.
Every year, TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield pitch contest draws thousands of applicants. We whittle those applications down to the top 200 contenders, and of them, the top 20 compete on the big stage to become the winner, taking home the Startup Battlefield Cup and a cash prize of $100,000. But the remaining 180 startups all blew us away as well in their respective categories and compete in their own pitch competition.
Here is the full list of the clean tech and energy Startup Battlefield 200 selectees, along with a note on why they landed in the competition.
What it does: AraBat has developed a recycling technology that recovers critical metals like nickel, cobalt, and others from spent lithium‑ion batteries.
Why it’s noteworthy: The company’s process is bio-based, using plant waste like citrus peels rather than toxic chemicals.
What it does: Aruna Revolution has developed a compostable natural fiber menstrual pad from agricultural by-products.
Why it’s noteworthy: Aruna has redesigned the menstrual pad into a product that works well yet still decomposes quickly and avoids plastic and harmful chemicals.
What it does: Carbon Negative uses an AI-powered platform to turn industrial wastes and minerals into cement.
Why it’s noteworthy: The company says its cement can be used with standard equipment, making it affordable, yet its process transforms this major building material to become carbon negative.
Why it’s noteworthy: By letting enterprise campuses share their reserved energy allotments with each other, the company instantly optimizes grid usage.
What it does: Coral offers an AI-powered carbon accounting management platform.
Why it’s noteworthy: It automates data collection and reporting of the energy footprint and uses the blockchain to trace, and stay accountable for, carbon credits.
What it does: EnyGy has invented a line of higher performance ultracapacitors, an energy storage device that rests somewhere between a conventional capacitor and a battery.
Why it’s noteworthy: The company makes its ultracapacitors by melding activated carbon electrodes with a state-of-the-art electrolyte and claims this boosts energy densities up to double the capacity of alternatives, while remaining cost-effective.
What it does: Ganiga offers an AI- and robotics-powered garbage bin called Hoooly that recognizes and sorts recyclables.
Why it’s noteworthy: Ganiga is selling Hoooly to enterprise campuses and industrial sites like airports to boost recycling rates, offering analytics that assist with ESG reporting.
What it does: Gemini has developed a fuel cell technology that can generate power on-site, converting gas into electricity without combustion, it says.
Why it’s noteworthy: The company is marketing its clean tech power generator at data centers and says its systems can be deployed in months versus the years needed to upgrade a conventional power grid.
What it does: Helix Earth has created products for earth from liquid-gas chemistry designed for spacecraft, including ultra-efficient HVAC and carbon capture systems.
Why it’s noteworthy: The company says its processes are far more energy-efficient while being more affordable and can be retrofitted to commercial rooftops.
What it does: HomeBoost offers a do-it-yourself energy assessment system that helps homeowners identify leaky windows and find rebate opportunities and other ways to cut their energy bills.
Why it’s noteworthy: It ships to homeowners custom hardware that, coupled with a smartphone app, scans the home and then home energy experts review and produce the report.
What it does: HyWatts supplies modular systems that generate energy on-site for industrial uses.
Why it’s noteworthy: It calls its system Power-Plant-in-a-Box, which integrates hydrogen storage and reversible fuel cells for, it says, zero-emission, off-grid electricity at far lower costs than battery storage.
What it does: Kaio Labs develops CO2 conversion technologies to transform waste carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals like carbon monoxide, formic acid, and ethylene.
Why it’s noteworthy: Kaio uses an AI-powered workflow to automate discovery, with the goal being to extract these chemicals in a cost-competitive way.
What it does: Namu Robotics provides tree-planting robots geared toward re-forestry projects.
Why it’s noteworthy: The world doesn’t have the resources to replant trees fast enough between the labor involved and the terrain, so Namu’s tech promises to automate the process.
What it does: ShellVive has created a method to filter water by repurposing oyster shells.
Why it’s noteworthy: ShellVive solutions take an abundant agricultural waste product, discarded oyster shells, and turns them into an affordable, eco-friendly water filtration material.
What it does: Whisper Energy is developing an AI-native sensor to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings.
Why it’s noteworthy: The company is targeting small to midsized buildings with its easy-to-install sensors and system as an affordable alternative to large-scale energy automation solutions.
What it does: Xatoms has created a photocatalyst — a light-activated chemical — that can remove bacteria, viruses, chemicals, and heavy metals from polluted water.
Why it’s noteworthy: The company is using AI and quantum chemistry to find new water-treatment chemicals.
Every year, TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield pitch contest draws thousands of applicants. We whittle those applications down to the top 200 contenders, and of them, the top 20 compete on the big stage to become the winner, taking home the Startup Battlefield Cup and a cash prize of $100,000. But the remaining 180 startups all blew us away as well in their respective categories and compete in their own pitch competition.
Here is the full list of the cybersecurity Startup Battlefield 200 selectees, along with a note on why they landed in the competition.
What it does: AIM offers enterprise cybersecurity products that both protect against new AI-enabled attacks and use AI in that protection.
Why it’s noteworthy: AIM uses AI to conduct penetration tests of AI-optimized attacks and to protect corporate AI systems with customized guardrails, and it offers an AI safety planning tool.
What it does: Corgea is an AI-driven enterprise security product that can scan code for flaws as well as find broken code intended to implement security measures such as user authentication.
Why it’s noteworthy: The product allows the creation of AI agents that can secure code and works with, it says, any popular language and their libraries.
What it does: CyDeploy offers a security product that automates asset discovery and mapping of all the apps and devices on a network.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco | October 13-15, 2026
Why it’s noteworthy: Once the assets are mapped, the product creates digital twins to sandbox testing and allows security orgs to use AI to automate other security processes as well.
What it does: Cyntegra offers a hardware-plus-software solution that prevents ransomware attacks.
Why it’s noteworthy: By locking away a secure backup of the system, ransomware doesn’t win. It can restore the operating system, apps, data, and credentials in the minutes after an attack.
What it does: HACKERverse’s product deploys autonomous AI agents to implement known hacker attacks against a company’s defenses in “isolated battlefield.”
Why it’s noteworthy: The tool tests and verifies that vendor security tools actually work as advertised.
What it does: Mill Pond detects and secures unmanaged AI.
Why it’s noteworthy: As employees adopt AI to assist them in their jobs, this tool can detect AI tools that are accessing sensitive data or otherwise creating potential security issues in the organization.
What it does: Polygraf AI offers small language models tuned for cybersecurity purposes.
Why it’s noteworthy: Enterprises use the Polygraf models to enforce compliance, protect data, detect unauthorized AI usage, and spot deepfakes, among other examples.
What it does: AI-powered enterprise security platform that helps infosec teams detect and solve cloud security issues.
Why it’s noteworthy: Zest helps teams speedily keep up with and mitigate known but unpatched security vulnerabilities and unifies vulnerability management across clouds and apps.
Every year, TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield pitch contest draws thousands of applicants. We whittle those applications down to the top 200 contenders, and of them, the top 20 compete on the big stage to become the winner, taking home the Startup Battlefield Cup and a cash prize of $100,000. But the remaining 180 startups all blew us away as well in their respective categories and compete in their own pitch competition.
Here is the full list of the biotech and pharma Startup Battlefield 200 selectees, along with a note on why they landed in the competition.
What it does: CasNx has invented a new kind of antivirus treatment for organs from organ donors.
Why it’s noteworthy: The startup has invented a gene-editing CRISPR kit that eliminates viruses and installs “universal donor” markers while the organ is being preserved outside the body.
Why it’s noteworthy: The medical MRI machine is being built using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), a highly sensitive magnetometer that can measure extremely weak magnetic fields, more commonly used in array antennas.
What it does: Exactics is building a platform that creates rapid diagnostic tests.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco | October 13-15, 2026
Why it’s noteworthy: Exactics is attempting to make consumer diagnostic kits more widely available, beginning with at-home screening of Lyme disease, with kits for other illnesses on the roadmap.
Why it’s noteworthy: This technology provides instant blood clotting and is a unique, potentially lifesaving alternative to traditional wound treatments, particularly when treating patients on the scene of the injury.
What it does: Nephrogen is creating gene therapy solutions for kidney illnesses.
Why it’s noteworthy: Nephrogen is solving the hardest part of the problem when it comes to gene-editing medicines. Its tech uses AI to accurately target gene-editing to the exact cells in the kidney that are causing the illness.
What it does: PraxisPro is an AI-powered training system for sales and marketing roles in life science industries.
Why it’s noteworthy: The system provides compliance-approved content, complete with simulations and real-time analytics to ensure those who represent life science companies are properly prepared to do so.
What it does: Surgicure has created a patented solution that more safely and reliably secures endotracheal tubes (ET).
Why it’s noteworthy: This device makes ET tubes, the flexible tubes inserted through the mouth or nose during surgeries or other treatments, safer and more comfortable for patients.
Thanks to everyone who made this year’s San Francisco event what it was — and to the 10,000 of you who filled the halls, made the connections, and left with more than you came with. Couldn’t make it? The images below offer a glimpse into what you missed.
Vinod Khosla, telling attendees he doesn’t buy the argument that powering AI will doom climate efforts. Geothermal energy is nearly here, he said, while fusion remains further out. He also touched on his alignment with President Donald Trump (deregulation) and his disagreement (immigration): “The only thing I will say is this administration won’t last forever,” he said with a grin.
Image Credits:Kimberly White / Getty Images
That’s Roelof Botha on the stage, and that’s the crowd that came to hang on his every word. The Sequoia partner talked through how his firm picks winners and what government ownership in startups could mean, and warned founders not to get cute with timing, telling them to raise now if they’ll need money six months from now. Bubbles pop.
Kevin Damoa of Glīd Technologies, winner of this year’s Battlefield competition, with Battlefield chief Isabelle Johannessen. She and TC’s Michael Schick work with many dozens of startups for months to prepare them for this stage. The hug is earned.
Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography
Roy Lee, the founder of Cluely, the app best known for its mantra “cheat at everything,” entertains the crowd with his f-bomb-laden take on how to win at marketing. “Every day, people are doing crazier and crazier things, which is why to stand out, you have to do something even crazier.” (Pictured left, Maxwell Zeff, holding his own.)
Image Credits:Kimberly White / Getty Images
If former Cleveland Cavaliers Tristan Thompson misses the NBA, he’s not showing it. He’s building a business empire and raising pointed questions about the league he left behind. When asked about whether players could manipulate Basketball Fun — a web3 platform that turns NBA players into tradable tokens — he offered a counterpoint: “It’s the same question we ask about referees. Are they not gaming the system?” When moderator Rebecca Bellan pressed whether he meant NBA referees take bribes, Thompson shrugged. “It’s just a question to be asked,” he said.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco | October 13-15, 2026
Image Credits:Kimberly White / Getty Images
Our own Sean O’Kane shares a moment with Wayve co-founder and CEO, Alex Kendall. Kendall may also be smiling because his U.K.-based self-driving startup — whose software acts as “brains for cars” — is in talks to raise a fresh $2 billion from SoftBank and Microsoft at an $8 billion valuation.
Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography
Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, founders of the AI-powered shopping assistant Phia, dazzled the audience at Disrupt with their enthusiasm for making high-quality, secondhand clothing a lot easier to find. Gates, daughter of Bill and Melinda Gates, was also sporting when asked by moderator Amanda Silberling what her famous parents have learned from her. Said Gates with a laugh, “Hopefully style! I don’t even consider myself that stylish; I just like building in the consumer space, but now I get random emails from my family asking, ‘Should I wear this to this?’”
Image Credits:Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch
Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana with TechCrunch’s Kirsten Korosec, fielding questions about autonomous vehicles, including whether society will accept deaths caused by self-driving cars. “I think that society will,” Mawakana said. “The challenge is making sure society has a high enough bar on safety that companies are held to.”
Image Credits:Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch
Kevin Rose talking Digg’s reboot and the future of venture capital (Rose is also a general partner at the early-stage venture firm True Ventures). I’m smiling because that’s what you do when someone won’t answer your questions about a buzzy, wearable startup that’s still in stealth. (We’ll have more on Sandbar soon.)
Image Credits:Kimberly White / Getty Images
Hugging Face co-founder Thomas Wolf hydrating between questions about building the future of AI, including as it relates to LeRobot, the Hugging Face project that’s trying to democratize robotics with affordable hardware, open source tools, and shared datasets.
Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography
Finals judges Marlon Nichols of MaC VC and Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures during the last stages of our highly competitive Startup Battlefield. Somewhere off-camera, a founder is sweating through their pitch deck.
Image Credits:Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch
Aaron Levie of Box in conversation with TC’s Russell Brandom. Levie has graced the Disrupt stage numerous times over TC’s 20 years at the center of the startup ecosystem, and he always brings it.
Image Credits:Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch
Netflix CTO Elizabeth Stone on the streamer’s expanded remit from simple binge-watching to interactive programming (think voting on live shows and gaming via your phone): “It hasn’t changed the way we tell stories,” she told a rapt crowd.
Image Credits:Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch
TC’s Dominic-Madori Davis talking community building with Tade Oyerinde of Campus, who’s rethinking community college, and Teddy Solomon of Fizz, the anonymous social app that’s spreading across college campuses and occasionally getting banned, which some might view as a badge of honor.
Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography
A whiteboard of wants: developers needed, contacts offered, deals proposed. We love it when founders lean into old-school tactics. (Some still work!)
Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography
David George, who leads the growth investing team at Andreessen Horowitz, came to the show to talk with Julie Bort about what startups need to weigh as they’re eyeing the public market. It was his birthday, as it turns out; the crowd takes a moment here to celebrate it with him.
Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography
Here’sSan Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie discussing his call with President Trump regarding why not to send the National Guard to the city — a proposal floated by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. “What I said to him was what I say to everybody: This is a city on the rise,” Lurie said. “Three days of Disrupt here should prove that.” On whether he made concessions with the deal-making Trump, he was definitive. “No, absolutely not. No ask.”
Image Credits:Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch
A lot of people come from around the world for programming about how to put their startups together. We covered all the bases on our Builders Stage, which was packed every day, all day.
Post-show elation from TC’s Jessica Barrera, who handled ticketing for 10,000 attendees. She saves our bacon routinely.
Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography
For many more photos from the event, visit our Flickr stream.
You can also find our full video coverage: here is Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.
Netflix has rolled out a new TV experience for kids’ profiles on its service globally, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Tuesday. The update, which aims to simplify the design and navigation, is the company’s latest attempt to connect users to content they’ll like more quickly.
In May, Netflix introduced a similar redesign of its TV homepage for standard profiles, which added an AI-powered search tool, better recommendations, and more visible shortcuts, among other changes.
Now, the company says that the same update has arrived on kids’ profiles, along with other tweaks aimed specifically at Netflix’s youngest users.
The new design simplified the look and feel of the homepage. It also offers a new navigation bar at the top that links to “My Netflix,” a section that brings together everything kids have watched, saved, and loved in a single place. This makes it easier for users to revisit favorite content — something that younger users often do by rewatching their top movies and episodes.
In addition, Netflix says kids’ recommendations will refresh in real-time, as they do on standard profiles. The company hopes this will decrease the time kids spend searching for something to watch.
Some things on the Kids profile won’t change, however: the Character Themed Rows, Mystery Box suggestions, and parental controls are still available.
Netflix also announced other updates for Netflix today, including features like real-time voting, live party games, podcasts, and more. Next year, for instance, Netflix will launch real-time voting on its upcoming new show “Star Search,” after earlier tests with “Dinner Time Live with David Chang.”
The company says the new user interface is tied to these changes, as it offers a more flexible canvas for different types of creative content, including interactive content.
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, Sequoia managing partner Roelof Botha argued that the venture industry isn’t an asset class, and that throwing more money into Silicon Valley doesn’t lead to better companies.
“Investing in venture is a return-free risk,” Botha said during an interview on TechCrunch’s Disrupt’s main stage on Monday. “Anybody who’s studied the capital asset pricing model understands the joke of that. The reason I came up with this is, if you look at the history of venture capital, it’s an asset that’s uncorrelated with other asset classes.”
“And so the thinking for many allocators was you should allocate a certain percentage of your portfolio to this and more money should flow to venture capital, but the truth is that there are only so many companies that matter,” Botha continued.
“In my opinion, throwing more money into Silicon Valley doesn’t yield more great companies. It actually dilutes that, it actually makes it harder for us to get that small number of special companies to flourish,” added Botha.
Botha noted that there are currently 3,000 venture firms in the United States, while there were just 1,000 when he joined Sequoia 20 years ago.
“When I joined Sequoia 2003 there were no mobile devices,” said Botha “Cloud computing didn’t exist. There were maybe 300 million people on the planet that had access to the internet. So the scale of the opportunity today is completely different. If you look technically at the numbers, I think for the last 20 years, there’s roughly been 380 billion-dollar-plus outcomes in the industry,” Botha said (meaning roughly 20 per year).
“That’s a significant number, but I don’t think it will continue to scale just with more money going into the industry.”
Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, speaks onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 on Oct. 27, 2025 in San Francisco. Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch
Waymo, the self-driving company owned by Alphabet, is soon hitting the highways. Operating on highways is just one part of a rapid expansion plan that includes moving to six U.S. cities, entering international markets and launching service at airports—all while maintaining a focus on safety above all else.
“It is imperative that we scale,” said Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, while speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 today (Oct. 27). Mawakana said Waymo plans to increase its weekly autonomous rides from the “hundreds of thousands” to one million by the end of 2026. The company already operates in Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and Austin, but hopes to more than double its footprint by expanding into Miami, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, Nashville and Washington, D.C.
Waymo will begin operations in Miami early next year, Mawakana said. Timelines for other cities will depend on local regulatory readiness. In some markets, Waymo will “just show up and they’ll launch,” she said. Others, like Washington D.C., will require more groundwork before fully autonomous rides can roll out.
The company is also setting its sights overseas. Last year, Waymo announced plans to test operations in Tokyo through partnerships with taxi firms GO and Nihon Kotsu, using human-driven cars to train its technology in the city’s dense urban environment. London is next: the company revealed earlier this month that it will begin offering fully autonomous rides there in 2026.
Waymo’s expansion isn’t limited to geography—it’s moving onto new types of roads. Until now, its vehicles have been restricted mostly to surface streets. But the company has begun highway testing through employee trials in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco. “We think it’s really important to conceptualize the ways in which that experience is different than surface streets,” said Mawakana, adding that highway rides will open to the public by year’s end.
The move to highways will also make it easier for Waymo to facilitate airport trips—a category that the company is “super focused” on, according to Mawakana. Waymo has already secured permits to operate at airports in San Francisco and San Jose and hopes to add more as its vehicles become a more common sight on highways.
Unlocking more roads raises the stakes for safety. Waymo, which publishes its safety data online, reports that its vehicles are involved in 91 percent fewer high-severity crashes, 78 percent fewer airbag-deployment crashes and 80 percent fewer injury-causing crashes compared to human drivers. If that record began to slip, Mawakana said the company would “absolutely” slow its expansion. “That’s what it means to be a safety-first culture.”
Part of that culture, she added, is being transparent about the limits of the technology. “I’m not telling you 100 percent across the board, and that’s really important,” said Mawakana. “We have to be in this open and honest dialogue about the fact that we know it’s not perfection.”
Today, Day 1, TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 goes full throttle — 10,000 founders, investors, and builders flooding Moscone West for a nonstop run of ideas, demos, and deals. The energy is electric, the conversations are everywhere, and the breakthroughs are only just beginning.
From the Startup Battlefield to the AI Disruptors 60, from space entrepreneurs to the founders redefining how and when startups go public, this is where the next decade of tech is being written — live. Every hallway conversation, every roundtable, every coffee chat can spark a new partnership or the next big company. Check out the list of speakers.
Haven’t registered yet? You still can — but don’t wait. Grab your ticket now and walk straight into the action: five powerhouse stages, hundreds of exhibiting startups, investor meetups, Braindate networking, and side events lighting up San Francisco all week long.
Expo Hall
Doors open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Explore 300+ exhibiting startups showcasing cutting-edge technologies across industries. See who is exhibiting.
Stage sessions
The stages are set — and today’s speakers are tackling everything from space tech and startup growth to scaling strategies and going public. Here’s a look at what’s happening across Disrupt’s stages today. Check out the full agenda.
Disrupt Stage
The spotlight stays on the Startup Battlefield 200, the “World Series of pitch competitions.” TechCrunch has vetted the top 20 early-stage startups to pitch in front of the world’s most seasoned VCs for a $100,000 equity-free prize and the coveted Disrupt Cup.
The Startup Battlefield – Session 1: Judges include Allison Baum Gates (SemperVirens VC), Cathy Friedman (GV), Katelin Holloway (Seven Seven Six), Charles Hudson (Precursor Ventures), and Nicolas Sauvage (TDK Ventures).
Techcrunch event
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025
The Startup Battlefield – Session 2: Eryk Dobrushkin (Index Ventures), Jen Hoskins (NVIDIA), Thomas Krane (Insight Partners), Jon McNeill (DVx Ventures), and Katie Stanton (Moxxie Ventures).
The Self-Driving Reality Check — Tekedra Mawakana (Waymo)
What Sequoia Sees Coming Next — Roelof Botha (Sequoia Capital).
Moonshots, AI, and the Future of Alphabet — Astro Teller (The Moonshot Factory).
Space Stage
At the intersection of technology and exploration, startups are reimagining the future of space.
Aerospace Startup Showcase: Solving the Hardest Problems in Space — Dr. Tom Cwik (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Dr. Debra Emmons (The Aerospace Corporation), Katelin Holloway (Seven Seven Six), and Mandy Vaughn (GXO, Inc.).
From Robinhood to Aetherflux: Baiju Bhatt’s Next Frontier — Baiju Bhatt (Aetherflux)
Investing at the Edge of Space — Morgan Beller (NFX), Celeste Ford (Stellar Ventures), and Chris Morales (Point72 Ventures).
Made in Space: Varda’s Plan to Build the Next Great Supply Chain — William Bruey (Varda Space Industries).
AI at the Edge: Startups Powering the Future of Space — Dr. Debra L. Emmons (The Aerospace Corporation), Dr. Lucy Hoag (Violet Labs), and Adam Maher (Ursa Space Systems).
Laying the Groundwork for a New Space Economy — Max Haot (Vast), Kelly Hennig (Stoke Space), Bridgit Mendler (Northwood Space), and Even Rogers (True Anomaly).
Going Public Stage
For founders at every stage, this track dives into the frameworks and strategies driving IPO readiness and post-exit success.
How Long Should a Startup Stay Private? — David George (Andreessen Horowitz)
Rethinking the Exit: Kodiak AI’s Founder on Going Public — Don Burnette, (Kodiak AI)
What Comes After Breakout Success? — Santi Subotovsky (Emergence Capital) and Eric Yuan (Zoom).
How AI Is Forcing Late-Stage Startups to Rewire GTM — or Be Left Behind — Jane Alexander (CapitalG), Vanessa Larco (Premise), and Nirav Tolia (Nextdoor).
Everything You Need to Know Before an Exit — Jai Das (Sapphire Ventures), Dan Springer (Ironclad), and Roseanne Wincek (Renegade Partners).
Builders Stage
The raw, unfiltered reality of startup life — lessons in scaling, fundraising, and thriving through the chaos.
How to Raise a Series A in 2026 — Thomas Krane (Insight Partners), Katie Stanton (Moxxie Ventures), and Sangeen Zeb (GV).
Flying into the Future: AI Is Fueling Aviation — Natasha Del Toro (Del Toro Productions), Tanya Eves, and Doug King (Epic Aircraft).
How Much Salary and Equity Should You Really Offer Early Employees? — Randi Jakubowitz (645 Ventures), Rebecca Lee Whiting (Epigram Legal), and Yin Wu (Pulley).
Build What’s Next: Startups, DeepMind & Google Cloud — Tulsee Dosah (Google DeepMind) and Darren Mowry (Google Cloud)
Building a GTM Engine that Actually Works — Max Altschuler (GTMfund), Marc Manara (OpenAI), and Alison Wagonfeld (Google Cloud).
Who’s Defining AI’s Future in 2025? The AI Disruptors 60 Unveiled — Shay Grinfeld (Greenfield Partners) and Renen Hallak (Vast Data).
What VCs Really Want to Hear in Your Pitch — Medha Agarwal (defy.vc), Jyoti Bansal (Harness), and Jennifer Neundorfer (January Ventures).
Building in a Time of Uncertainty — Ryan Petersen, ( Flexport)
Pitch Showcase Stage
Head over to the Expo Hall to catch some of our exhibiting startups as they present their pitches.
4:15 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: Pavilion Pitch Session – Sultanate of Oman
Breakout Stage
Engage with a panel in a 50-minute Q&A session. This is on a first-come, first-served basis. All ticket types are welcome. See the full agenda for times and session details.
The Untapped Opportunity Hidden in Business Workflows — Umair Bashir (Signal), Umair Javed (tkxel), and Marcus Torres (Quickbase)
From Vibes to Velocity: How AI Tools Can Help You Achieve Your Development Goals — Tim Rogers (GitHub)
Build First, Fund Later: The Founder’s Guide to Bootstrapping Breakout Startups — Tarun Raisoni (Gruve)
How to Get Acquired in Tech (Without Selling Out): M&A Tips for Founders and Builders — Yonas Beshawred (StarSling) and Aklil Ibssa (Coinbase)
Fundraising Mistakes That Will Kill Your Round, and How to Avoid Them — Kamila Khasanova (On Top Strategy), Sam Li (Thoropass), Dr. Richard Munassi (Tampa Bay Wave), and Ashley Paston (General Catalyst)
Fundraising Process Workshop with TC Editor Turned VC Josh Constine — Josh Constine (SignalFire)
AI at the Brink: Strategic Playbook for National Security — Daniel Hendrycks (Center for AI Safety)
Startup Lessons You Won’t Find in a Playbook — Santi Subotovsky (Emergence Capital) and Melissa Wong (Zipline).
Roundtables
These small-group sessions give founders and investors the chance to tackle real-world challenges up close. Remember: pre-registration on the event app is required for entry.
The Future of Banking and Fintech: the AI Wave — Nnamdi Okike (645 Ventures)
Prototyping, Tuning & Scaling GenAI Applications with Open Models — Aishwarya Srinivasan (Fireworks AI)
The Winning Formula: Turning Your Business Into a Trusted, Scalable Community to Drive Growth — Tasneem Amina (Kindred) and Justine Palefsky (Kindred)
From Inception to Enterprise: Selling AI Agents that Scale — Allison Baum Gates (SemperVirens Venture Capital)
Future of Construction: The Role of AI and Data in the Field and the Office — Austin Yount, Brick & Mortar Ventures.
Berkeley Connect: Experience the World’s #1 Startup Ecosystem — Siwen Deng (Evergreen Saponins) and Keith McAleer (UC Berkeley Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology)
How to Train Your Model: Taming AI Agents Without Breaking Them — Kyla Guru (Anthropic)
Community IS the Product — Brian Hamachek (Vently), Gargi Kand (Vently), and Nick Khonaysser (Vently)
Physical AI: Designing, Funding, and Scaling the Future — Kahini Shah (Obvious Ventures)
Future of Space Economy in the Low Earth Orbit — Abhi Kumar (UC Berkeley).
Investor Insights — Itamar Novick (Recursive Ventures) and Brian Sparkes (Silicon Valley Venture, LLC)
Future of Space Economy in the Low Earth Orbit (encore) — Abhi Kumar (UC Berkeley)
IPO Success: Charting the Course from Private to Public — Charly Kevers (Carta) and Daniel Tay (Morgan Stanley)
Building in the Line of Fire: What It Takes to Win in Public Sector AI — Ross Fubini (XYZ Venture Capital) and Ben Van Roo (Legion Intelligence)
Building AI-Ready Data Infrastructure with a Lean Team — Michel Tricot (Airbyte)
Your EQ is your AI — Alex Malebranche (Cloudflare)
Networking Opportunities
Networking Lounge powered by Braindate: Open 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Find your next co-founder, investor, or mentor through curated or spontaneous meetups.
Deal Flow Cafe: Opens at 9:00 a.m. Exclusive to founders and investors, providing a quiet space to make deals over coffee.
Equity Live
From 9:00 to 9:30 a.m., start your morning with Equity Live, a special onstage recording of TechCrunch’s flagship podcast. Join the TechCrunch team for a lively dive into the business of startups, tech, and venture capital — all unfolding in real time from the Builders Stage.
Disrupt 2025 Side Events
Company-hosted Side Events are happening throughout San Francisco this week, extending the Disrupt energy well beyond Moscone West. Here’s what’s happening tonight — panels, parties, and meetups designed to connect founders, investors, and innovators across every corner of tech. Make sure to RSVP your spot to any of these.
Pitch&Drink with P2S.VC: Hosted by Pre-seed to succeed (AltaIR Capital, Yellow Rocks!, Smart Partnership Capital, I2BF Global Ventures)
Unlock Your Investor Potential: How Tech Workers Can Become LPs Using Vested Stock Units: Hosted by Musa Capital
Future Shock Deep Tech Meetup w/ SOSV & KIAC: Hosted by SOSV
The “Unofficial TechCrunch Disrupt 2025” Afterparty at Werqwise SF: Hosted by Silicon Valley Venture, LLC
Exclusive Gathering of Founders beyond Seed and Series A, Accredited Investors and VCs – Side Event at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: Hosted by Equity X Investments, Vataseason and Plus Ultra Capital Partners
South Asian Collective @ Disrupt Week: Hosted by American South Asian Network (ASAN)
Beyond the Hype: Voices from the Future of Humane AI – Short Film Screening & Panel: Hosted by Building Humane Tech
Ping Pong After Panels: Hosted by Scrut Automation
TechCrunch Disrupt Unofficial Welcome Party: Bullish or Bust? A Rooftop AI Debate with Baseten, Premji Invest, and Treble PR: Hosted by Treble PR
Founders Happy Hour and Fireside Chat: Avoiding Identity and Compliance Scope Creep 👻: Hosted by Descope & Delve
JetBrains Night in San Francisco: Hosted by JetBrains
Night Zero: Unofficial Opening Party at TechCrunch Disrupt Week: Hosted by Fox Rothschild and Silicon Valley Bank
Still time to join Disrupt 2025
Think it’s too late to join? Not a chance. Get your ticket here. There’s still so much more to experience at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 — including more Startup Battlefield pitches, game-changing sessions, and unforgettable connections. Tickets are available through the final day. Secure yours now and be part of the future of tech.
The countdown is almost over — tomorrow’s the day! In less than 24 hours, TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 takes over Moscone West. From October 27–29, 10,000 founders, investors, and innovators will flood San Francisco for three days of building, connecting, and deal-making.
We’re just days away from live demos of never-before-seen tech and high-stakes pitches as startups compete for the $100,000 prize.
The stages are being set. Booths are lighting up. Founders are fine-tuning their pitches. Investors are clearing calendars. When the excitement kicks off, the nonstop conversations, demos, and deals will begin.
Across every stage, one truth stands out: innovation isn’t confined to one role or title. Founders are seeking investors. Investors are scanning for signals. Builders are architecting what’s next.
At Disrupt 2025, these worlds collide — in 1:1 meetings, live sessions, and side events where chance encounters turn into partnerships. Whether you’re pitching, funding, scaling, or reinventing, this is where the global startup ecosystem connects to make things happen. Find your ticket type.
Founders: learn, pitch, fund, repeat
Every founder at Disrupt shows up with the same mission — sharpen the story, meet the right investors, and walk away stronger. Learn how agentic AI is rewriting the startup playbook, how to stand out in a crowded market, and smarter ways to fund your next stage, and how to IPO.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025
Don’t miss “How Long Should a Startup Stay Private?” — a crash course in timing, independence, and scaling on your terms. Step into Startup Battlefield 200, where early-stage founders pitch live to top VCs, and connect through Braindate sessions built for the face-to-face funding conversations that actually move the needle.
On the Going Public Stage, see how AI is reshaping late-stage growth, what it takes to build durability, and what to know before an exit — featuring leaders from Kodiak AI, CapitalG, Nextdoor, Zoom, and Chime. Explore the full agenda.
Image Credits:Kimberly White / Getty Images
Investors: hunt for the next big move
At Disrupt, deal flow isn’t theoretical — it’s happening in real time. Every conversation, pitch, and coffee chat has the potential to uncover your next breakout bet.
Network across Side Events that turn Disrupt into a nonstop investor circuit — from happy hours and pitch nights to private dinners where meetings run late and opportunities surface fast.
At the Deal Flow Café, go beyond surface hype: explore deep-tech innovation, liquidity shifts, and where capital is truly flowing next. On the AI Stage, catch “Who’s Defining AI’s Future in 2025?” as the AI Disruptors 60 are revealed — the must-watch startups shaping the next era. Then don’t miss “From Digg to Deals: Kevin Rose on Reinvention and Investing,” for an inside look at how great investors spot what others miss.
Disrupt 2025 is where deal flow never sleeps. Save $444 on your pass or 60% off a plus-one before the countdown ends.
Image Credits:Halo Creative
Builders: explore playbooks for scaling what’s next
Building never stops, but the smartest builders know when to re-architect. Tackle the hard stuff head-on: raising a Series A in 2026, designing for the AI age, and scaling teams that can handle both speed and complexity. Get field-tested playbooks for growth, product-market fit, and building resilient engineering cultures — straight from those who’ve done it.
Sessions like “AI at the Brink: Strategic Playbook for National Security” break down innovation at the edge of power and policy. And “The Builders’ Playbook: Surviving — and Thriving — in a Downturn” shares hard-earned lessons from founders who’ve scaled through uncertainty. Grab your Disrupt pass to see it all.
On the Builders Stage, operators from OpenAI, Sentry, Pebl, Figma, and Google Cloud open their toolkits — showing how they build, ship, and scale at speed.
Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography
Breakthroughs don’t come from playing it safe
Not every Disrupt story leads with a startup — some begin with a moonshot. In “Moonshots, AI, and the Future of Alphabet,” Astro Teller shares what it takes to turn impossible ideas into world-changing innovations.
“Made in Space: Building the Next Great Supply Chain Beyond Earth” explores how startups are redefining the supply chain — off-world. And “Storming the Gates: Scaling Consumer AI,” brings Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni (Phia) to center stage, showing how sustainability and purpose are fueling consumer AI’s next big wave. See the who’s who of speakers and claim your discounted ticket.
It all begins tomorrow — final hours to lock in up to $444 ticket savings
Disrupt 2025 opens its doors in just 48 hours — and late-bird savings close for good.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 is where the next wave of innovation begins, live at Moscone West. The countdown’s on — get your tickets before prices rise at the door.
Hosted by Startup Battlefield Editor Isabelle Johannessen, Build Mode is a survival guide for early-stage founders navigating the messy, high-stakes chaos of building a company from scratch. No sugarcoating. No hype. Just candid conversations and tactical advice from the people who’ve done it before and have the scars (and term sheets) to prove it.
Starting November 13, Isabelle will sit down with founders, VCs, and operators to unpack the real stories behind the build. Each season and weekly episodes will tackle a theme that keeps founders up at night: go-to-market chaos, fundraising pressure, runaway runways, hiring misfires, and everything in between.
Whether you are an Apple, Spotify, or YouTube person, you can tune in to Build Mode wherever podcasts are found. Bonus content and exclusive clips will drop on TechCrunch’s social channels, including Instagram, X, and TikTok. If you’re not subscribed, well, the clock is ticking until we officially launch in a few weeks!
Check out the trailer for Build Mode, and for Season One, right here:
Season One of Build Mode kicks off by diving into the good, the bad, and the gritty reality of getting your product into the market. From big splashes to epic fails, we’re unpacking what it really takes to move from idea to execution. And we’re excited to have our Season One sponsor, J.P. Morgan, along with us for the ride.
But that’s just the beginning.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025
We want Build Mode to be more than a podcast; we want it to be a community of builders helping other builders succeed, just like the 1,700+ startups that have come through the Startup Battlefield program. That means we want to hear from you, the founders, operators, and curious listeners, about the questions and themes that actually keep you up at night.
We’ll be weaving community-sourced stories, tips, and questions into upcoming episodes, so stay tuned for how to get involved!
And if you were previously subscribed to our Found podcast — welcome back! You’re already part of the Build Mode community. We’re keeping the Found archive alive so you can revisit founder interviews and insights from past years. No gatekeeping, just honest stories and hard-earned lessons, shared freely for anyone bold enough to build a startup.
San Francisco is getting a symbolic jolt very soon as newly elected Mayor Daniel Lurie steps onto the Disrupt stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, October 27-29 at Moscone West, in a homecoming of sorts for both tech and the city that helped define it.
Disrupt has long been a launchpad for founders and investors chasing the next wave. Lurie’s visit signals a renewed effort to weave innovation back into San Francisco’s future. Register now to save up to $444 on your pass, and get 60% off a +1 ticket.
Lurie, who campaigned on revitalizing the city’s economy and restoring its global standing, isn’t just glad-handing; his presence underscores an overdue détente between City Hall and the startup community, which is currently experiencing an AI-driven renaissance even as the city grapples with pandemic aftershocks. Empty downtown offices and escalating skepticism about tech’s impact have strained the relationship, but the AI boom has brought renewed energy — and investment — back to the city.
By showing up at Disrupt 2025, Lurie is making a statement: San Francisco isn’t retreating from its role as a capital of innovation. It’s doubling down.
For TechCrunch, hosting the mayor isn’t mere pageantry. It marks an important moment as Disrupt continues to be one of the few gatherings where 10,000+ builders at all stages, heavyweight VCs, and now, civic leadership converge under one roof. If Lurie wants a blueprint for the city’s rebound, he’ll find it in these halls: scrappy founders, hungry investors, and the enduring belief that San Francisco’s best inventions haven’t been built yet.
Just 7 days left to save on your pass and catch Mayor Lurie live
If you care about San Francisco and its place at the center of the startup universe, you won’t want to miss this sit-down with Lurie. Bring a partner, friend, or team member and save 60% on their +1 ticket. Or save up to $444 on your own pass, or up to 30% with a group. Disrupt doors open in exactly seven days at Moscone West. Register now and don’t miss the tech epicenter of the year.
Get ready for one of TechCrunch Disrupt 2025’s most electrifying moments — literally. Chris Barman, CEO of Slate Auto, is rolling one of her company’s brand-new electric trucks onto the Disrupt Stage before anyone else in the world sees it on the road.
Be in the room for this live EV unveiling on the main stage. Save up to $624 this week when you register before October 17. Bringing a team? Save an additional 15% to 30% on group passes.
How Slate is reinventing the commercial EV market — live onstage
Barman will give attendees an insider’s look at how Slate is reimagining the commercial EV market — from design to manufacturing — and will share what it takes to build a next-generation vehicle company in one of the most capital-intensive industries on earth. Expect an unfiltered conversation about the realities of hardware innovation, supply chain complexity, and startup-scale production, plus a live, in-person reveal of one of the year’s buzziest new EVs.
Image Credits:Slate Auto
About Chris Barman
Slate Auto‘s CEO Christine (Chris) Barman leads the company’s mission to build vehicles people can afford, personalize, and love. Prior to founding Slate, she served as global VP of strategic business development and solutions in transportation at HCL Technologies and was CTO of the Industrial Sector at Eaton Corporation.
Barman also spent more than 20 years at Chrysler in leadership roles across engineering, systems, and product development — pioneering innovations in autonomous driving, electrical systems, and driver-assistance technologies. A Purdue-trained mechanical engineer and University of Michigan MBA, she’s passionate about mentoring the next generation of women engineers.
Drive into the future: Witness the EV reveal live and save big
With more than 10,000 founders, investors, operators, and tech visionaries coming together at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 (October 27–29), this session is a must-see for anyone building in mobility, manufacturing, or hardware innovation.
As of now, there are only 7 exhibit tables available, and we expect them to sell out before the deadline.And yes, this is the same inventory your competitors have their eyes on too. Act fast as this is the absolute end of available inventory on the expo floor. Deadline is October 17, 11:59 p.m. PT.Book here and get more details.
Image Credits:TechCrunch
Your spot on the expo floor is the catalyst that moves the needle:
A powerful brand moment: Your company gets featured as a partner on the event page, the Disrupt app, and across the venue, giving you visibility beyond the booth.
Traction that sticks: Many exhibitors walk away with early customers, game-changing intros, or unexpected media attention.
Book your table nowbefore it’s taken by your competitor! The deadline is in less than 5 days, October 17.
Join more than 10,000 founders, investors, and operators for three days of inspiration, connection, and dealmaking across 200+ sessions, 250+ tech leaders, and 300+ showcasing startups.
Image Credits:TechCrunch
Why attend Disrupt 2025
TechCrunch Disrupt is where the global startup ecosystem meets to shape what’s next — from AI and biotech to climate tech, fintech, mobility, and consumer innovation.
Startup Battlefield 200 returns, spotlighting the world’s top early-stage startups as they pitch live for $100,000 in equity-free funding, and get live insights from the most seasoned VCs.
Unparalleled networking connects you with investors, clients, collaborators, and just about anyone in the tech industry across titles through curated events and Braindate meetings.
Your startup’s next stage starts here. The Founder Pass unlocks the ultimate growth toolkit:
Exclusive access to the Deal Flow Cafe — connect with VCs for potential deals in a private, founders-and-investors only space.
Investor matchmaking — meet face-to-face with top funds during networking blocks and through the Braindate networking app.
Deep-dive sessions and workshops — tactical programming across product development, GTM, fundraising, and leadership.
Startup Battlefield 200 access — see TechCrunch-vetted startups pitch for the $100,000 equity-free prize and capture major investor attention.
Hands-on tools and insights — refine your story, find your next hire, and grow your business efficiently.
For early-stage and scaling founders alike, the Founder Pass delivers high-impact connections, practical learning, and exposure that can change your company’s trajectory.
Image Credits:TechCrunch
Investor Pass: Find the next big bet
Whether you manage a fund or invest individually, the Investor Pass gives you the inside track on tomorrow’s unicorns.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025
Private investor networking — connect with founders and fellow investors during VIP Strictly VC session and exclusive reception.
Pitch-ready founder access — make deals over coffee in the Deal Flow Cafe with founders actively seeking investors like you.
Startup Battlefield 200 access — meet companies handpicked by the TechCrunch editorial team across key verticals to find your next startup portfolio.
Market intelligence and insights — hear from top-tier VCs, corporate strategics, and growth funds on emerging trends and deal opportunities.
Investor-only briefings — get early looks at breakout sectors and the next generation of tech.
For angels, seed funds, corporate venture arms, and growth investors, the Investor Pass delivers unparalleled access, intelligence, and opportunity.
Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography
Clock is ticking — Sale ends Friday
Secure your spot at one of the startup world’s biggest conferences for less. Save up to $624 before prices jump on October 17 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Bringing a team? Lock in up to 30% off group passes today.
Apart from antivirus apps, the cybersecurity industry has traditionally been business to business, with regular internet users left on their own to protect themselves. And older people, who did not grow up with the internet and smartphones, are perhaps the most vulnerable.
ZoraSafe, a startup founded by sisters Catherine Karow and Ellie King Karow wants to step in and help them out. Their idea is to create an app that not only protects older people against scammers and hackers, but also teaches them how to stay safe through gamified microlearning, as Catherine and Ellie told TechCrunch ahead of the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, where ZoraSafe will be part of Startup Battlefield.
The app is not out yet, but Catherine and Ellie expect to launch it in a month. They said it will cost $12.99 a month for individual subscribers, and a higher rate for family and group plans.
The first version of the app, Catherine explained in a phone call, will have several features, such as a mode to scan QR codes for malware or phishing, the ability to send suspicious SMS text messages and emails to ZoraSafe to get them checked out, and a feature to share a known scam or threat with the app so it can be added to a database to help other users.
“We’re trying to incentivize social sharing of scams, so we can also alert the entire Zora network at once, so one person is alerted by that scam, and then we can make sure everyone in that community is protected immediately,” Catherine said.
Future releases will also include a feature that will allow users to get ZoraSafe to join a suspicious phone call, so the company’s AI system can detect if it’s a scam or a deepfake call. In that case, however, the app will not be listening to or recording the calls, according to Catherine.
Once the app detects a threat, it will spin up a chat that will explain to the user what that threat was and teach them how to spot and deal with similar situations in the future, Ellie said.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025
“The whole purpose of which is to build resilience and hopefully make it so that even if you’re not directly interacting with the app, you’re a little bit more aware when you are interacting online,” she added.
Ellie said that the AI engine is designed with privacy in mind, doing 85% of the processing on the device, and only 15% in the cloud, which she claimed will be “sanitized of your personal information before it leaves your device.”
Catherine also said they are planning to make an “NFC sticker” that will be incorporated in phone cases so that users can quickly pull up the app if they get a deepfake call, or even if they fall and need to alert their caretakers. That’s one of the ways they plan on getting around iOS’s restrictions on apps monitoring what happens on other apps. Another way is to have a “Share to ZoraSafe” option in the iOS menu that will allow users to send text messages or emails to the company’s systems.
Eventually, the sisters said they want to expand ZoraSafe to children, too, partner with schools, and also launch the app in different languages, starting with Spanish.
If you want to learn more about ZoraSafe — while also checking out dozens of other companies, hearing their pitches, and listening to guest speakers on four different stages — join us at Disrupt, October 27 to 29, in San Francisco. Learn more here.
It’s a universally acknowledged truth that the current dating scene sucks, no matter what city you live in. Everyone has a story. And everyone has a grievance.
Take Myles Slayton, who completed a banking internship in New York City and saw how he and his friends struggled to find significant others in the city’s ruthless dating scene. “We’re on our phones more than ever,” he told TechCrunch. ”I thought to myself, ‘Why are dating apps terrible?’”
He figured that it must not be a problem with dating apps, per se, but rather the way the products work these days. Many of the popular dating apps were built with millennials in mind, but his generation, Gen Z, operates in a completely different fashion, he said. It’s a throwback to how dating used to be: People of this generation meet “through mutuals, through people in our social circles,” he said.
He teamed up with friends Willy Conzelman and Carter Munk and just a few months ago launched Cerca, a dating app that matches people with others already in their social circles. The company announced a $1.6 million seed round this summer and already has people buzzing: The app has around 60,000 users, mainly in New York and scattered across universities.
Slayton, the company’s CEO, said there is a reason Gen Z has retreated to the old ways of dating, and that’s because of the internet and the COVID pandemic. “We simply don’t trust strangers,” he said, adding that people are also deeply afraid of rejection.
Cerca’s product tries to address this. Users create a standard dating profile, sync their contacts, and from there, only friends or friends of friends already on the app are shown as potential matches. “The fear of strangers is eliminated,” Slayton said. All likes are anonymous, alleviating the fear of rejection. Users get four swipes a day, he said, in the hope of getting rid of the swiping fatigue and putting more emphasis on choosing a match.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025
“There is no world where you should be seeing 100 profiles in a minute,” he said. “You should really be taking a second to think about each profile. These are real people.”
The profiles first reveal the friends in common, then the background, and then the photos. “It’s not all just about looks for us,” he said. A user gets a notification that someone has liked their profile, though they won’t know who. The Cerca algorithm will boost the profile of whoever made the like into the feed of the person they’re interested in, who can then decide whether to like them back.
Each evening, matches are revealed, and nobody knows who made the first move.
Having friends in common makes it easier to vet for safety, as people can simply text their mutual friends to gather intel on who they are going on a date with. Users can also select which and how many contacts they want to share with Cerca, as well as block certain people from seeing their profiles. “You can also filter out words like dentist, doctor,” he said. “There’s no screenshotting or screen recording. Safety is paramount to us.”
Aside from the online world, the company has also created merchandise and is hosting events.
Slayton said he and his co-founders decided to apply to Startup Battlefield and knew a founder who had participated in the event. “I think it’s such an opportunity to have the U.S. and the world see who we are and to represent dating in a positive light,” he said.
If you want to learn from Cerca firsthand, and see dozens of additional pitches, attend valuable workshops, and make the connections that drive business results, head here to learn more about this year’s Disrupt, held October 27 to 29 in San Francisco.
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott joins the Disrupt Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 to share how one of the world’s largest technology companies is navigating the AI revolution and what it means for startups and the future of innovation. From its landmark partnership with OpenAI to reshaping enterprise and consumer products with AI, Scott will pull back the curtain on where Microsoft sees the biggest opportunities.
This is not a session to miss. Lean in on one of the biggest discussions around AI from an enterprise perspective. Register now to save up to $444 on your pass — or up to 30% on group passes.
From Microsoft to startups: lessons from a 20-year career
He’ll also dive into how startups can strategically build on Microsoft’s platforms — from Azure AI to developer tools — and what’s next in the high-stakes race to define the future of artificial intelligence.
As one of the most influential technology leaders in the world, Scott brings more than two decades of experience at Microsoft, LinkedIn, Google, and AdMob. Beyond his role as CTO, he is also a podcast host (Behind the Tech), an author (Reprogramming the American Dream), and an active investor and advisor.
Catch Kevin Scott live and save up to $444 on your Disrupt Pass
Join more than 10,000 founders, investors, and operators gathering at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 for a must-see session on the future of AI in consumer tech, commerce, and brand-driven innovation. On the Disrupt Stage, Kevin Scott will share his vision for how AI will transform industries, empower builders, and shape the next decade of innovation. Don’t miss your chance to save — register today to get up to $444 off your pass, or up to 30% off when you bring your team.
The clock is ticking to get up to a 20% discount on group tickets! Bring your founder or investor community together and save.
We’re offering exclusive bundle deals for founders and investors attending TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Bring a group of 4 or more and save up to 20%. This offer ends Friday, October 3, at 11:59 p.m. PT.
These bundles are more than just savings — they’re a way to strengthen your network, grow your community, and make the most of every connection at Disrupt 2025. Bring your fellow founders or investor peers, collaborate on strategy, and experience the event together. Click here to register yourself and your community and save.
Image Credits:TechCrunch
What awaits you and your network at Disrupt 2025
Join 10,000+ founders, VCs, operators, and visionaries on October 27–29 at San Francisco’s Moscone West for three days of actionable insights, community building, and meaningful connections. With 200+ sessions and 250+ top tech voices, you’ll gain tools to grow, scale, and collaborate.
Image Credits:Kimberly White / Getty Images
Explore the unique benefits of a Founder or Investor Pass that align with your goals.
For investors
Access to 200 TechCrunch-vetted, pitch-ready pre-Series A startups
Exclusive Deal Flow Cafe access: Connect informally with founders
Curated 1:1 or small-group meetings: Meet startups that match your portfolio
StrictlyVC investor-only session: LP insights and insider tips
You read that right. From today through October 3, we’re offering an exclusive deal just for founders and investors at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025:
Founder Bundle Passes: Groups of 4–9 founders save 15%.
Investor Bundle Passes: Groups of 4–9 investors save 20% (up from 15%).
Round up your founder community or investor network, spread the news on all channels, and secure your bundle passes now — these group savings are only available for a limited time.
Register your group before Friday, October 3, at 11:59 p.m. PT.
What to expect at Disrupt 2025
Image Credits:TechCrunch
Experience three full days at San Francisco’s Moscone West on October 27–29, with 200+ sessions featuring 250+ top tech voices across five industry stages, roundtables, and breakouts. Founders and investors alike will have access to unique perks designed to help you grow, scale, and connect.
For founders:
The Founder Pass is built to help founders grow, connect, and gain visibility. For the first time, groups of 4–9 founders can save 15%. Once this offer ends after October 3, it’s gone.
Curated VC matchmaking: Engage in personalized meetings with investors aligned to your stage and sector.
Exclusive access to the Deal Flow Cafe: Connect informally with VCs actively seeking their next big bet.
Image Credits:TechCrunch
Investor list: Gain early access to a list of Disrupt investors who’ve opted in to meet founders.
Growth and IPO playbooks: Learn directly from industry leaders on scaling, fundraising, and building sustainable companies.
Sector-focused stages and deep dives: Engage in sessions designed for your growth, covering AI, GTM strategies, the 2026 scaling playbook, and more.
Learn from top VCs: Witness compelling pitches from startups competing in the iconic Startup Battlefield 200, and gain insights from seasoned VCs on what it takes to craft a winning pitch and build a viable startup.
For investors:
The Investor Pass gives premium access to startups that align with your portfolio goals. Groups of 4–9 investors can save 20%, up from 15%, through October 3.
Direct access to 200 pitch-ready startups: Meet pre–Series A startups handpicked by TechCrunch, competing for $100,000 in equity-free funding.
Exclusive access to the Deal Flow Cafe: Connect informally with founders actively seeking investors.
Curated meetings: Schedule impactful 1:1 or small-group meetings with founders matching your investment focus.
Founder list: Get early access to a list of Disrupt founders who’ve opted in to connect with investors.
Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography
StrictlyVC session: Participate in a boutique investor-only session featuring LP tracks and insider stories from top VCs, LPs, and founders.
Don’t miss out on Disrupt group discounts
This is a limited-time offer. No other bundle deals will be offered after October 3. Bring your founder community or investor network, save on group passes, and secure your spot at one of the most anticipated tech events of the year in October.
