Tag: disrupt sf 2018

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Why exhibit in Startup Alley at Disrupt SF?

Hey startups! Disrupt SF is in three months exactly. Registration is open for startups looking to showcase their product or company to thousands of people on the Disrupt floor. Last year, according to Crunchbase, startups that exhibited in Startup Alley at Disrupt SF 2017 raised more than $37 million in seed and Series A funding six months post-Disrupt.

For $1,995, you’ll get one full day to exhibit, three full-conference passes to Disrupt SF (if you buy a table before 7/25), and admission to our After Party (as long as you’re over 21). Ready to join us? You can secure your exhibit spot here.

What else do you get with your participation in Startup Alley, you might ask?

Well, you get access to CrunchMatch, Disrupt’s startup and investor-matching program. It’s designed to make it easy for startups to meet investors based on a curated analysis of which startups fit with a given investor’s profile.

In addition to CrunchMatch, Startup Alley companies have the opportunity to be selected as “Wild Card” and participate in the renowned Startup Battlefield competition. Through a combination of attendee votes and TechCrunch editorial votes, one startup will be chosen on each day to participate in Battlefield. At Disrupt NY 2017, RecordGram went from Startup Alley to Wild Card to winner of the Startup Battlefield competition — and took home $50,000!

Over the course of the three-day conference, you’ll make tons of connections with other tech enthusiasts, listen to panels covering topics ranging from artificial intelligence and machine learning to hardware, and more.

So, if your company is pre-series A, Startup Alley is the place for you. Secure your table here before we sell out!

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Hackers, sign up for Disrupt SF Virtual Hackathon today

Calling all creative hackers, coders and programmers around the world. We’ve cooked up a special Virtual Hackathon to celebrate TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2018 — our biggest Disrupt event ever. Think of it as a Hackathon without borders. Teams from across the globe can submit their most impressive hacks. Sign up for the Hackathon right now, and start creating today.

In previous Disrupt Hackathons, teams had only 24 hours to work their magic. But when you call for thousands of worldwide competitors to join the fun, well, you gotta give them a bit more time. That’s why we’re launching today — plenty of time to form your team, come up with an idea and get your hack on in the run-up to Disrupt SF 2018, which takes place on September 5-7.

Here’s how the virtual Disrupt SF Hackathon works. Our expert judges will review, evaluate and score every eligible submitted hack. The 70 highest-scoring teams will receive 5 Innovator passes to TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018.

From that group, the top 30 teams will exhibit their hacks in our Hackathon Demo area at Disrupt SF to over 10,000 attendees and a separate panel of judges who will determine the 10 teams that get to demo their creation on The Next Stage. Out of those 10, the judges will choose one winner to be our very first Virtual Hackathon Champion. Oh, yeah — the winner gets the $10,000 cash prize.

Now a Disrupt Hackathon, virtual or otherwise, wouldn’t be a Hackathon without lots of very real sponsored prizes, cash and swag. You won’t be disappointed on that front, trust us. We have some great prizes from TomTom, BYTON and Viond on tap so far, and many more to be announced in the coming weeks.

Need more inspiration? Disrupt Hackathons have resulted in some pretty sweet hacks. Just take a look at the range of products the grand-prize winners of Hackathons-past created:

  • Disrupt London 2016: The Emotion Journal — a voice journaling app that performs real-time analysis to assess and track the user’s emotional state over time
  • Disrupt NY 2017: reVIVE — a VR product that provides diagnostic and treatment mechanisms for ADHD
  • Disrupt SF 2017: Alexa Shop Assist — lets you ask Alexa to locate products in a store
  • Disrupt Berlin 2017: Quick Insurance — a simple way to purchase insurance for all your valuable stuff

They created these awesome hacks in a mere 24 hours. Now just imagine what thousands of tech coders, creators, hackers and programmers from around the world can create between now and when Disrupt SF ’18 kicks off on September 5. The mind boggles.

Disrupt San Francisco 2018 takes place September 5-7. The Virtual Hackathon starts now. Do you have the raw tech talent and creativity to win it all? There’s only one way to find out. Sign up for the Hackathon today.

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Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd is coming to Disrupt SF

Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd has always done things her own way.

Whether it’s standing up for her political beliefs, building a company with fully outsourced engineers or avoiding the usual startup fundraising runaround, Wolfe Herd follows her own instincts in building a business. Which is why we’re super excited to announce that Whitney Wolfe Herd will join us at TC Disrupt SF 2018.

Wolfe Herd first came on the scene as a co-founder and VP of Marketing at Tinder, where she helped grow the dating app into one of the world’s biggest dating platforms. But after a lawsuit over sexual harassment and discrimination, which was settled out of court, Wolfe Herd left the company to build an app focused on compliments and positive affirmations.

Originally, she wanted nothing to do with the dating space. But after meeting Andrey Adreev, Badoo founder and Bumble’s majority stakeholder, she realized that giving women a voice in digital dating could be revolutionary. And so, Bumble was born in 2014.

The app has grown to 30 million users, and continues to grow in popularity based on a simple premise: women make the first move.

But Wolfe Herd’s ambitions don’t stop at dating. The 28-year-old founder has added new verticals to the app, letting users find friends and make professional connections via Bumble.

And all the while, Bumble’s cap table has never changed, with Wolfe Herd’s 20 percent stake as yet undiluted. Wolfe Herd was named one of Time 100’s most influential people this year, and has herself become a brand that represents authenticity and self-empowerment.

We can’t wait to talk to Wolfe Herd at Disrupt SF 2018. You can buy tickets to the show here.

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Startup Battlefield application deadline extended by one week

Here’s a heartfelt gift for all you procrastinating early-stage startup founders who haven’t gotten your act together to apply to compete in Startup Battlefield at Disrupt San Francisco 2018 on September 5-7. You’re strapped for time, we get it. So, we’re extending the application deadline by one week.

You now have until June 13 — that’s seven days to collect your team and take your shot at winning $100,000. Yup, we doubled the prize money this year because we’re supersizing Disrupt SF. We’ve moved to Moscone Center West, which offers three times the floor space. That’ll make it much more comfortable for the more than 10,000 attendees, 1,200 exhibitors and more than 400 media outlets we expect to take in all that Disrupt has to offer.

Like, for example, Startup Battlefield — humanity’s best launching pad for early-stage startups. Seriously, winning this gig can have life-altering implications. Consider New York-based chore wizard Hello Alfred, which won Startup Battlefield at Disrupt SF back in 2014. The company — founded by Jessica Beck and Marcela Sapone — is ready to scale having just scored $40 million in a Series B round of funding. That’s what we call a good ROI.

In case you’re wondering how well other Battlefield competitors have fared, listen up. The Startup Battlefield alumni community consists of more than 800 companies and has collectively raised more than $8 billion in funding and produced more than 100 exits. You may recognize a few of them: Mint, Dropbox, Yammer, Fitbit, Getaround and Cloudflare. The networking opportunities alone make applying worth your time.

And let’s not forget all the press and investor interest. The competition takes place on the Disrupt Main Stage in front of a live audience that numbers in the thousands. The funding you seek is no doubt sitting in that audience. If you make the cut, experienced TechCrunch editors will coach you on the finer points of startup-pitching, so you’ll make the best impression possible.

We live-stream the entire event around the world on TechCrunch.com, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. And it’ll be available later, on demand. Remember, applying and competing in Startup Battlefield is 100 percent free. Where else will you find media and investor exposure at that price?

Battlefield competitors also get to exhibit their company in Startup Alley for all three days of the show — for free. Remember all those attendees and media outlets? They spend a lot of time combing the Alley for the next big thing. Competing in the Battlefield is the gift that keeps on giving.

Disrupt San Francisco 2018 takes place on September 5-7 at Moscone Center West. You have one extra week to get your application to us. Don’t delay any longer. Apply to Startup Battlefield right now.

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Meet the author of The Lean Startup at Disrupt SF

One of the many new features at TechCrunch Disrupt SF (Sept. 5-7) is the addition of a second stage and programming track at the show, which we’re calling The Next Stage. The goal of The Next Stage is to deliver more insights and wisdom to Disrupt SF attendees, especially founders, to help them navigate the startup odyssey better and faster. The Next Stage is also where much of the programming for the 14 tracks of Disrupt will take place.

Learn what’s next for The Lean Startup

Eric Ries is the author of the 2011 best seller, The Lean Startup, which has sold over a million copies and remains a must-read for aspiring founders who hope to keep the burn to a minimum. The Lean Startup helped familiarize the world with “pivots” and other features of early stage startup life, which in turn also helped investors place investments earlier than ever. Few understand that better than August Capital General Partner David Hornik, who has 20 years of venture investing experience,  launched the first blog about venture capital, (aptly named Ventureblog), and teaches the Startup Garage class at Stanford Business School (which uses the lean startup methodology). They will discuss what’s changed (and what has not) for founders since The Lean Startup was published in 2011.

These two join a line-up of speakers we’ve already announced, including founder of AOL and Revolution Steve Case, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Forerunner Ventures founder Kirsten Green, and many more.

This is just some many great sessions you’ll get to see at Disrupt SF. Video of all the sessions from The Next Stage will be able available on demand only for Innovator, Insider, and Founder Pass holders. Time to get your pass now and take advantage of early bird pricing!

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Two days left to apply for Startup Battlefield at Disrupt SF 2018

Listen up, early-stage startup founders! Do you know the line that Marlon Brando made famous in the classic film, “On the Waterfront?” Well, if you don’t act within the next 48 hours and apply to compete in Startup Battlefield, the phrase “I coulda been a contender” might haunt you for a very long time.

TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2018 — which takes place September 5-7 — is going big this year. We’re taking over Moscone Center West, tripling our floor space and playing host to more than 10,000 attendees, 1,200 exhibitors and more than 400 accredited media outlets. With such a <cough> disruptive Disrupt, no “ordinary” Startup Battlefield would do. So, we doubled the money to a very chill $100,000 equity-free cash prize.

You have absolutely nothing to lose by applying and a lot to gain if your company makes the cut. TechCrunch charges no fees and takes no equity from startups; applying to and competing in Startup Battlefield is 100 percent free. The selection process is highly competitive — savvy TechCrunch editors review every application and choose anywhere from 15-30 startups. The acceptance rate ranges between three and six percent.

But here’s the thing: Just making the first cut comes with a hefty load of benefits in the form of investor interest, media coverage and free exhibition space in Startup Alley — a birthing ground for magical wheeling and dealing — for all three days of the show.

Consider, for example, the case of Aircall, a cloud-based call center solution that competed in Startup Battlefield SF back in 2015. It didn’t move beyond round one but, trust us, they aren’t crying about it. Probably because Aircall recently scored $29 million in another round of funding. That brings its total funding to $40.5 million since its Battlefield debut.

Here’s another bennie at which you ought not sneeze. Every competing team joins the ranks of the Startup Battlefield alumni community. Imagine the connections you can make among the more than 800 companies in this elite cohort. Companies that have, by the way, collectively raised more than $8 billion in funding and produced more than 100 exits.

If you suffer from performance anxiety, we’ve got you covered on that score. Every Startup Battlefield team receives free expert pitch coaching from our experienced, seen-it-all TechCrunch editorial team. We’ve been doing this since 2007, folks. You WILL be prepared to step into the ring to give it your best shot.

Disrupt San Francisco 2018 takes place September 5-7 at Moscone Center West. Your chance to apply and be a contender disappears in just two short days. Steer clear of Palooka-ville. Apply to Startup Battlefield right now.

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Announcing space speakers and startups featured at Disrupt SF

At Disrupt SF (Sept. 5-7), TechCrunch is running two big stages and doubling the amount of programming compared to past years. The goal is to cover more of the ever expanding startup ecosystem, including those amazing founders aiming to get off planet earth and tap the vast domain of space (Yes, the final frontier!)

Space startups will also have a dedicated section of Startup Alley. (Founder tip: TechCrunch is offering five free exhibition spots in the space section of Startup Alley as part of our Top Picks program. Apply here – applications are open until June 29. Or lock in your spot in Startup Alley spot now.)

We have enlisted great speakers to talk space, and we’re especially excited to announce Alan Stern, co-author of of the recently released “Chasing New Horizons, Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto,” and also an engineer and planetary scientist, who has held executive roles at NASA and now leads New Horizons, NASA’s mission to the Pluto system and the Kuiper Belt. He has served as a consultant to private space exploration projects, including Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, and he is a co-founder of Worldview Enterprises, which has raised $42 million to provide an accessible, affordable way to access nearspace with high-altitude balloons.

In addition to a fireside chat on stage, Stern will also participate in a separate Q&A session and sign copies of his new book.

We’re also very pleased to announce three speakers who are building the ecosystem of companies and technologies to reach and exploit the earth’s orbit and beyond, a play investors are betting will become a big business in the years ahead.

Natalya Bailey is co-founder and CEO of Accion Systems, a startup spun out of MIT’s Space Propulsion Laboratory has developed an ion propulsion system that is size of a postage stamp and is designed to power small satellites. The company has raised a total of $12.5M in 2016 in an A-round led by Shasta Ventures. Bailey earned her PhD in AeroAstro at MIT.

Peter Beck is CEO and founder of Rocket Lab, which is a New Zealand-based startup that delivers “complete rocket systems and technologies for fast and low-cost payload deployment.”  Beck’s passion for rockets goes back to his youth, when he built a rocket to power his bicycle, a feat he somehow survived. In 2009, Beck lead the development and launch of Atea 1, the first rocket to reach space from the Southern Hemisphere. Rocket Lab has raised $75 million in rounds led by Data Collective and Bessemer Venture Partners, and its first commercial satellite launch is slated for this summer.

Will Marshall is co-founder and CEO of Planet, a company  that “builds small satellites and delivers information about the changing planet.” Marshall was a Scientist at NASA/USRA where he was Deputy Systems Engineer on lunar orbiter mission “LADEE”,  and received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Oxford. ZPlanet has raised over $183 million in rounds led by DFJ, International Finance Corporation, and Data Collective.

You’ll also be able to continue the conversation with these panelists as they will be taking attendee questions on our intimate Q&A Stage after their Main Stage panel discussion.

You don’t want to miss all this as well as Disrupt SF’s many other features, including 13 tracks of content across four stages, ranging from AI to new retail to robots, CrunchMatch, Startup Battlefield and much more. Get your early bird tickets today.

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Announcing All Raise roundtable workshop, AMA and office hours at Disrupt SF

TechCrunch is building an epic Disrupt SF (September 5-7) and we’re proud to announce another major building block for the show, this one in line with TechCrunch’s Include program and the Justice/Diversity track at Disrupt.

The recently launched All Raise will run a three-part workshop for women founders over two days at Disrupt SF. In case you missed the news, All Raise launched in April thanks to the efforts of 36 women partners at venture firms committed to promoting diversity among “funders & founders.”

“Our mission is simple — to accelerate the success of female funders and founders,” All Raise co-founder Aileen Lee wrote on Medium. “We believe that by improving the success of women in the venture-backed tech ecosystem, we can build a more accessible community that reflects the diversity of the world around us.”

All Raise will organize the following activities for female founders at Disrupt SF to participate in.

On Thursday, September 6, All Raise will hold a roundtable workshop for women founders at Disrupt SF with the opportunity to participate at one of 12 tables, each representing a major challenge facing female founders. Richly experienced mentors, including Aileen Lee (Cowboy Ventures) and Susan Lyne (BBG Ventures), will lead discussions on topics, including: fundraising, recruiting strategies, company culture, sales and marketing strategies, board/investor management, M&A and more.

The roundtable participants will discuss their experiences as well as strategies for success.

After 90 minutes discussing those topics, the workshop will shift to an AMA with select All Raise leadership.  Workshop participants will have a chance to ask the top women in venture questions about whatever is top of mind. 

On Friday, September 7, All Raise will host Female Founder Office Hours at Disrupt with 18 or more All Raise VC and founder mentors. All female founders at Disrupt may apply for a 30-minute session. There will be 108 sessions over three hours.

Here’s how to participate:

Buy a pass to Disrupt SF. All pass types have access to the All Raise workshop and office hours, but a Founder pass provides access to all of the show’s vast programming, networking and several other female-focused activities to make the most of Disrupt SF.

Can’t swing a pass? All Raise has 50 available to distribute. Apply here.

Eligible pass holders will receive an email from TechCrunch as we get closer to the event with information on the All Raise workshop and office hours, including: 

  • When and where to go to attend the roundtables and AMA on Thursday — first come first serve. (Any female founder is welcome.)
  • Apply up for Office Hours on Friday. (Open to all female founders; applications will be reviewed by the All Raise team to select those founders who might most benefit from an Office Hours session.)

There are many reasons to attend Disrupt, including three days of programming and workshops across four stages, the hugely successful CrunchMatch founder-investor matching service, Startup Alley exhibit area and, of course, the legendary Startup Battlefield competition.

Thanks to All Raise, Disrupt has another fantastic attraction, this one designed specifically for female founders.

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Why now is the time to join Startup Alley at Disrupt SF

TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018 is coming to Moscone West on September 5-7, and this year will be twice as big and better than ever. We’re looking for startups to be a part of our massive menagerie of innovation, Startup Alley. If you’ve never been to a Disrupt, Startup Alley is where hundreds of early-stage companies (which are pre-series A although, we do make some exceptions) showcase their talent and technology to attendees, investors and members of the press. This year, we’re expecting more than 1,200 startups to be in attendance.

Plus, we have some contests and giveaways just for those who sign up for a Startup Alley Exhibitor Package— yup, you have a chance to snag some free stuff! Who doesn’t want in on that?!

All you have to do is buy a Startup Alley Exhibitor Package for $1,995, and you might get one (or more!) of these opportunities:

  • All startups who purchase a Startup Alley Exhibitor Package will be entered into a drawing to win 2 VIP Disrupt SF dinner tickets; a rare chance to mingle with TechCrunch editors, investors and other tech enthusiasts
  • One startup from Startup Alley will be selected at random every week leading up to Disrupt SF to be featured on our website and in an email as the “Startup Alley Spotlight of the Week”
  • 25 startups from Startup Alley will be selected at random every month leading up to Disrupt to have a 60-second flash pitch on the Showcase Stage (that’s 75 startups who get to pitch!)

These incentives are available for Startup Alley Exhibitor Package purchases right now — remember, all you have to do is buy a table (and you get THREE Founder passes to the full conference if you buy before July 25), and you could walk away from Disrupt with some shiny new connections, exposure and more! But don’t take our word for it — the CEO of Testcard.com, Luke Heron said, “If you’re a startup or an entrepreneur, exhibiting at Disrupt is a no-brainer.” Even Vlad Larin of Zeroqode told us that “TechCrunch Disrupt was a massively positive experience. It gave us the chance to show our technology to the world and have meaningful conversations with investors, accelerators, incubators, solo founders and developers.”

So, what are you waiting for? Secure your table today.

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Steve Case and JD Vance are speaking at Disrupt SF on startup opportunities outside of Silicon Valley

We’re excited to announce Steve Case and JD Vance will sit down for a fireside chat at Disrupt SF this September. There’s plenty to talk about, too, including the pair’s latest venture: A massive $150 million seed fund backed by an impressive group of investors that are targeted at startups outside of Silicon Valley.

As The New York Times put it after the fund’s announcement, the complete list of investors in the Rise of the Rest fund “may be the greatest concentration of American wealth and power in one investment fund.” It includes among others Jeff Bezos, Eric Schmidt, John Doerr, Jim Breyer, Dan Gilbert and members of the Walton, Koch and Pritzker families.

This fund is core to what Case and Vance are championing at Revolution . The Washington, D.C.-based venture capital firm primarily backs companies outside of major tech hubs. At Disrupt New York in May, Case told the audience that many regions are overlooked simply because investors can’t “get in their cars and drive to those companies” and he wants to convince other VCs to look outside of their comfort zones.

In August of 2017 Steve Case, founder of AOL and Revolution, tapped JD Vance to run Revolution as its Managing Partner.

“I don’t know if I’m ever going to be comfortable with being the media-dubbed spokesperson,” Vance told TechCrunch at the time. “But I do think you can talk about the issues and try to raise awareness or you can do something about the issues — my goal here is to try to do both. There’s an opportunity I’ve been given here with the platform the book has afforded.”

Vance is seemingly of the same mind as Case. In his book, which is a must read by the way, Hillbilly Elegy, he lays out his upbringing in Appalachia’s working class and explains the importance of striving to overcome obstacles — and startups outside the Valley have different obstacles to overcome than those located around San Francisco. As the managing partner of Revolution, we hear he has a keen focus that resonates with founders. Vance served in the Golf War, eventually graduating from The Ohio State and Yale and went on to serve as a law clerk and a principle at Peter Thiel’s  VC firm, Mithril Capital Management LLC.

Steve Case spoke at Disrupt NY last year about his current passion in shining a light on startups outside traditional tech hubs.

“It’s worth remembering that Detroit 75 years ago was like the Silicon Valley,” said Case at Disrupt NY in 2017. “At the time, it was the hottest innovation city in the country, because the automobile was the hot new technology at the time. Silicon Valley was like fruit orchards. These things change. But they lost their way. Detroit lost 60 percent of its population in the last 50 years and they went bankrupt because they lost their entrepreneur mojo.”

Case’s fireside chat was fascinating and we’re thrilled to have him back with Revolution’s managing partner, JD Vance. While Disrupt SF happens in the heart of Silicon Valley, there are plenty of founders, developers and investors who are constantly looking for opportunities in new regions — just like Steve Case and JD Vance.

If you’re looking to purchase tickets to Disrupt, you can grab those right here.