Day 1 of Disrupt 2024
Welcome to day 1 of TechCrunch Disrupt 2024! We’re beyond excited to have you here with us as we kick off this incredible event.
Get ready for three action-packed days of immersive tech experiences! Learn from industry leaders onstage and in hands-on sessions, network with fellow innovators, meet the startups shaping the future of technology, enjoy receptions, and so much more.
Want to attend but don’t have a ticket? There’s still time! Register here and be part of the action.
Without further delay, here’s a look at what’s in store for you today!
Stage sessions
We’ve got an incredible lineup of top industry leaders ready to take the stage. For times and more info, view the full agenda.
Disrupt Stage
Assaf Rappaport: From Zero-Day to Hero: Assaf Rappaport, Wiz
Startup Battlefield 200: Judge panel includes Morgan Beller, NFX; Alice Brooks, Khosla Ventures; Rohan Ganesh, Obvious Ventures; Galym Imanbayev, Lightspeed Venture Partners; Corinne Riley, Greylock; Christine Esserman, Accel; Eylul Kayin, Gradient Ventures; Lisa Morales-Hellebo, Refashiond Ventures; Jonathan Rosenbaum, Insight Partners; and Sharon Winter, Atomic.
Vinod Khosla Looks into the Past to See the Future of AI: Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures
Consumer, Culture, and Creators with Erin and Sara Foster: Erin Foster, Sara Foster, and Phil Schwarz, Oversubscribed Ventures
Builders Stage
Found Live with Kai Kloepfer from Biofire: Kai Kloepfer, Founder and CEO, Biofire
What You Need to Raise a Series A Today: Renata Quintini, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Renegade Partners; Corinne Riley, Partner, Greylock; and Elizabeth Yin, Co-Founder and General Partner, Hustle Fund
How AI and XR Will Revolutionize All of Your Devices: Qualcomm
How to Find, and Keep, Product-Market Fit: Spenser Skates, CEO and Co-Founder, Amplitude; April Underwood, Managing Director, Adverb; and Tamar Yehoshua, President, Product and Technology, Glean
Why AI Regulation Is Every Startup’s Business: Martin Casado, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
How to Launch a New Product Against Entrenched Incumbents: Paul Lambert, Founder and CEO, Quilt; Gurinder Nagra, CEO, Furno Materials; and Brigid O’Brien, Managing Partner, RA Capital
Beyond the Hype: Building AI that Means Business: Iliana Quinonez, Director, Customer Engineering, North America Startups, Google, and Jia Li, Co-Founder, President and Chief AI Officer, LiveX AI
Family Offices Want Startup Exposure, but What Are They Looking For?: Eti Lazarian, Family Office Principle, Elle Family Office; and Bruce Lee, CEO and Founder, Keebeck Wealth Management
Space Stage powered by Aerospace
Startups in Dual Use: Even Rogers, CEO and Co-Founder, True Anomaly; Tim Solms, CEO Slingshot Aerospace; and Debra Emmons, Aerospace Corporation
Future of Space Operations Challenge: Judges include Justin Krauss, Dr. Debra Emmons, Cody Bronkar, and Tom Cwik
Peter Beck Takes the Space Industry by the Fins: Peter Beck, Founder and CEO, Rocket Lab
There and Back Again: Solving Orbital Delivery: Kelly Hennig, COO, Stoke Space; and Justin Fiaschetti, Inversion Space
Bridgit Mendler on Moving from Disney Star to Startup Founder: Bridgit Mendler, Founder and CEO, Northwood Space
Cislunar: The Next Frontier: A.C. Charania, Agency Chief Technologist, NASA; and Steve Isakowitz, President and CEO, Aerospace Corporation
Riding the Wave: The Future of Space Investing: Lewis Jones, VP, Seraphim Space; Jordan Noone, Co-Founder and General Partner, Embedded Ventures; and Katelin Holloway, Founding Partner, Seven Seven Six
Fintech Stage
Finding the Consensus of Crypto VC: Morgan Beller, General Partner, NFX; Will Nuelle, General Partner, Galaxy Ventures; and Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner, Dragonfly Capital
How These Neobanks Grew During Challenging Times: Colin Walsh, Founder and CEO of Varo Bank; and Jason Wilk, CEO, Dave
With Tiptop, Postmates Founder Bastian Lehmann Is Hungry for More: Bastian Lehmann, Tiptop
Future of Work: Lindsey Martin, Head of Engineering, Check; Marcelo Lebre, President and Co-Founder, Remote; and Josh Reeves, CEO, Gusto
BaaS in a Post-Synapse Meltdown World: Itai Damti, Co-Founder and CEO, Unit; Peter Hazlehurst, CEO and Co-Founder, Synctera; and Sheetal Parikh, General Counsel and CCO, Treasury Prime
Visa Everywhere Initiative: The Ultimate Fintech Pitch Competition
Startup Battlefield 200
Get ready for the excitement of Startup Battlefield 200, featuring 20 hand-picked, remarkable startups in one of Disrupt’s highlight events. Experience the action as they pitch on the Disrupt Stage, vying for a $100,000 equity-free prize and the coveted Disrupt Cup, judged by prominent venture capitalists.
First Session: 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Second Session: 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Interactive, deep-dive sessions
Engage in interactive sessions that fuel in-depth conversations about the key issues facing tech leaders today and how to tackle them head-on. Visit the complete agenda for times and more info on each session.
Roundtable Sessions
Join these 30-minute collaborative sessions, but make sure to pre-register on the event app. Expo+ Passes do not include access to these Roundtables.
Leverage Data Standards to Accelerate Your Startup: Qi Li, InterSystems; and Nicholai Mitchko, InterSystems
Tackle Every Challenge Head-on with Affiliate Marketing: Adam Weiss, Awin
How to Build & Run Your Board: Mike Seckler, Justworks
Consumer Social Network Effects with Vently: Gargi Kand, Vently; and Nicolas Meader, Lioncrest Ventures
Berkeley Connect: Experience the World’s #1 Startup Ecosystem: Harsha Gundala, Moonshine; Amy Jain, Swipefund; Jai Williams, OptiGenix; and Kate Sullivan, Uncracked
Shoppertainment 2024: The Future of Consumer and Commerce: Khanh Ngo, TikTok
Consumer AI Startups: Sara Deshpande, Maven Ventures
Winning at Startup PR Without Paying for an Agency, with ex-TechCrunch Editor Josh Constine: Josh Constine, SignalFire
Successfully Raising Your Seed or Series A in 2024: Brian Rothenberg and Medha Agarwal, defy.vc
Unlocking Human Intelligence via Events: Atul Todi, 10Times
Next-Gen Medicine: AI Simulation Generating New Data to Accelerate Drug Discovery: Marianna Bonanome, SandboxAQ
AI Outlook: Where VCs Are Placing Their Bets in AI Today — and Where We Go Next: Kevin Dunlap, Calibrate Ventures
Creating Inclusive Hiring Practices in Fast-Growing Companies: Lori Lizotte, WomenTech Network
Breakout Sessions
These 50-minute Q&A sessions with a panel of industry leaders are on a first-come, first-served basis. All ticket types are welcome.
The Future of High-Growth Tech: Beyond the Apple App Store: Sofia Dolfe, Index Ventures; James Ding, DraftWise; and Jordan Taylor, Vizcom
How AI Is Supercharging Tools for Knowledge Workers: Harpinder Singh, Innovation Endeavors; Tanguy Chau, Paxton AI; Luke McGartland, Sequence; and Dion Almaer, Augment Code
Generative AI: Beyond the Hype — Building Real-World Applications: Priyanka Vergadia, Microsoft
Beyond Snowflake and Databricks: Insights from the Frontlines of Data Transformation Disruption: Led by Colin Zima, Omni; Toby Mao, Tobiko Data; Jordan Tigani, MotherDuck; Daniel Svonava, Superlinked; and Tomasz Tunguz, Theory Ventures
Navigating the Funding Landscape for Women: Natalie Pan, Mariane Bekker, and Jeni Chang, Women Founders Bay; and Aury Cifuentes, How Women Invest
Powering Ahead: The Future of Energy & Infrastructure: Rachel Payne and Troy Helming, EarthGrid; and Nicholas Larson, Silicon Zombies
IPO or Bust? Tactical Approaches for Late-Stage Success: Jai Das, Sapphire Ventures; and Karthik Subramanian, Goldman Sachs
Expo Hall
The Expo Hall will host startups from all stages and regions worldwide. Engage with them and explore the groundbreaking innovations they’re thrilled to showcase. Opens at 8:00 a.m.
Pitch Showcase Stage
Make your way to the Expo Hall and watch as some of our exhibiting startups deliver their pitches.
9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.: Korea Pavilion Pitch Session — KOTRA
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: Startup Battlefield 200 Fast Pitches, Hardware, Robotics + IoT
1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Japan Pavilion Pitch Session — JETRO
1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.: Startup Battlefield 200 Fast Pitches, Health Tech + Biotech
3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.: Korea Pavilion Pitch Session — KOTRA
4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.: Ukraine Pavilion Pitch Session — USAID Ukraine
Networking galore
In addition to casually mingling with fellow Disrupt attendees, elevate your networking experience using the Braindate app. You can create or explore topics on the app for deeper conversations. Meet in person at the Networking Lounge powered by Braindate on level 2 for 1:1 or small-group discussions anytime between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Connect over coffee with other investors
Investor Pass holders are invited to savor their morning coffee with fellow investors at the Deal Flow Cafe, opening at 8:00 a.m.
Pre- and after-hour Side Events
Over 60 company-hosted Side Events will take place across San Francisco throughout the week, allowing you to keep the Disrupt excitement going. These are the ones taking place today. Visit the Side Events page for times and more details.
Unlock Your Investor Potential: How Tech Workers Can Become LPs Using Vested Stock Units: Hosted by Musa Capital
Making Money in the Energy Transition: Hosted by DNV Ventures
『MELT』150+ Founders x Investors Dynamic Network: Hosted by MELT
Semiconductors and AI for Climate Startup Cup — Finalists Announcement and Reception: Hosted by Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC)
Startup Grind Happy Hour with Microsoft for Startups, Justworks, Withum, Qapita & DuploCloud: Hosted by Startup Grind
Investor Talks by w.tech: Hosted by w.tech
Pitch&Drink with P2S.VC: Hosted by Pre-seed to success (AltaIR Capital, Yellow Rocks, Smart Partnership Capital, I2BF Global Ventures)
A Well Tech Terrace Party!: Hosted by Well Now! & Love Soul AI
Startup x VC Mixer with Simon Lancaster, Founder of Omni Ventures: Hosted by NEC X
Privacy and Social Media Happy Hour with Germ Network x Citizens: Hosted by Germ Network
It’s not too late to register for Disrupt
If you’re hesitating to register for Disrupt 2024 because you think it’s too late, worry not! There are plenty of immersive experiences waiting for you, and tickets will remain available until the final day. Register for yours here.
