Day 1 of TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 gets underway.

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 kicked off Day 1 at Moscone West in San Francisco, drawing more than 10,000 startup founders, investors, and technology leaders. The event features over 250 speakers across six new industry stages, with tracks covering scaling, AI, fintech, climate tech, and more. Startup Battlefield, the conference's flagship pitch competition, selected 20 early-stage startups from thousands of applicants to compete for a $100,000 equity-free prize and the Disrupt Cup.

Registration and Exhibition Floor

Registration runs from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Level 1 lobby of Moscone West. Badges use Klik technology for contact exchange, and the event app retains those contacts after the event. More than 300 exhibiting startups are showcasing technologies across industries on the Expo Hall floor, which serves as the central meeting point for attendees.

Startup Battlefield Fast Pitches

The Pitch Showcase Stage at the back of the Expo Hall hosts rapid-fire, one-minute lightning pitches from promising startups representing their home countries and regions.

Built World

The Startup Battlefield 200 Built World category features early-stage companies working on real estate, construction, architecture, smart cities, and infrastructure.

Sustainability

The Startup Battlefield 200 Sustainability category highlights companies addressing environmental and climate challenges, including renewable energy, carbon capture, circular economy platforms, sustainable agriculture, and clean water solutions. Founders in this category present two-minute pitches.

Stage Sessions

Day 1 stage sessions cover physical AI, intelligent systems, fundraising, hiring, and scaling. The full agenda includes more than 200 sessions.

Startup Battlefield judges for the Space and Physical AI category include Anu Bharadwaj (ICONIQ), Sara Deshpande (Maven Ventures), Benjamin Narasin (Tenacity Venture Capital), Aatish Nayak (Kleiner Perkins), and Michael Palank (MaC Venture Capital). The Energy and Manufacturing category judges are Caleb Appleton (Bison Ventures), Feyza Haskaraman (Felicis), Sho Sho Leigha Ho (General Catalyst), and Leah Solivan (Precedent.vc).

Other sessions include RJ Scaringe (Rivian) on "Building the Impossible," Andrew Feldman (Cerebras Systems) on "Can AI Keep Scaling?", and Max Hodak (Science Corporation) on "Beyond Screens."

The Equity podcast records live on the Builders Stage, covering startup, venture, and technology stories heading into 2027. Sessions include "What Happens When OpenAI Ships Your Roadmap" with Rob Toews (Radical Ventures), Linda Tong (Webflow), and Michel Tricot (Airbyte); "The Rise of Agentic AI: Lessons for Hardware Founders" with Ziad Asghar (Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.) and Florence Ion (PCMag); and "Competing for AI Talent: Pay, Equity, and Retention" with Matt Birnbaum (Wylder.co), Ioana Hreninciuc (Runware), and Atli Thorkelsson (Redpoint Ventures).

Additional sessions feature Stephan Bitton (Google Cloud) on the builder's playbook for the agentic era; Anu Bharadwaj (ICONIQ), Rajeev Dham (Sapphire Ventures), and Rahul Vohra (Superhuman) on PMF red flags; Robby Stein (Google) on scaling product decisions from MVP to billions of users; and a NYSE Wired-hosted session on machines in the workforce with Brian Baumann (New York Stock Exchange), Dr. Adam Campbell (Gatik), Samir Menon (Dexterity AI), and Sankaet Pathak (Foundation Future Industries, Inc.).

Hiring sessions include Michelle Johnson (Insight Partners), John Koelliker (Leland), and Josh Reeves (Gusto) on AI as co-founder. Fintech sessions cover money movement in the agentic economy with Nikhil Chandhok (Circle), Rodney Robinson (TabaPay, Inc.), and Carlotta (Lotti) Siniscalco (Emergence Capital); AI, trust, and verification in financial services with Hannah Bozian (American Express), Pedro Sanzovo (Plaid), and Victoria Zuo (QED Investors); and Abhishek Fatehpuria (Robinhood) on winning the modern financial consumer.

Smart Systems Stage

The Smart Systems stage covers AI infrastructure and energy. Sessions include Ben Longmier (Ambrosia Energy) and Bill Thayer (Bloom Energy) on AI infrastructure winners; Deepak Garg (SEW.AI) and Paul Lau (SMUD) on vertical AI in energy; Jeff Lawson (Twilio) on the power problem; David Kirtley (Helion) and Brandon Sorbom (Commonwealth Fusion Systems) on fusion for the grid; and Apoorv Bhargava (Weave Grid, Inc.), Kristin Eberhard (Rewiring America), and Tim Heidel (VEIR) on rewiring the grid.

Breakout Sessions

Breakout sessions at the end of the Expo Hall include expert panels with audience Q&A. Topics include physical AI with Susan Schofer (SOSV HAX), Parikshit Sharma (SOSV SF), Duncan Turner (SOSV HAX), and Pae Wu (SOSV SF); data teams providing context to AI with George Fraser (Fivetran + dbt Labs); the quantum revolution with Andrew Dzurak (Diraq); Taiwan's role in AI with Michelle Chan (Phison Electronics USA), BoGaun Chen (ITRI International), Erica Lin (ITRI International), and Mingche Wang (ITRI International); building trustworthy AI with Robbie Goldfarb (Forum AI); and the inference economy with Hagay Lupesko (Cerebras Systems) and Ali Mahmoud (Glasswing Ventures).

Roundtables

Roundtables require pre-registration on the event app. Sessions include Radha Basu (iMerit) on physical AI data challenges; Eléonore Crespo (Pigment) and Sofia Fatakhova (Chime) on AI and IPO-ready finance; Rob Biederman (Asymmetric Capital Partners) on modernizing legacy industries; Jackson Feder (MetaProp) on physical AI for the physical world; Srishti Chaudhary (Walmart eCommerce) on commerce AI; Brian Butler (Questa Capital) on healthcare's adoption of generative AI; Dr. Maha Achour (Kodamai), Pankaj Kedia (2468 Ventures), and Yasser Shaaban (Humain) on trusted agentic AI for the enterprise; Dani London (Base10 Partners) on specialty post-training data; Cal Amir (Introduction Lab) on powerful introductions; Logan Farrell (Rugged Robotics) and Austin Yount (Brick & Mortar Ventures) on building physical AI that works; Matt Burns (Insight Media Group) and Roman Hölzl (RobCo) on labs versus factory floors in physical AI; Weston Moyer (MVP Ventures) on architecting a fundraise; and Stephen Ward (Brightmind Partners) on critical mistakes in a CISO career.

Networking

The Networking Lounge, powered by Signify Business Cash World Elite Mastercard by Wells Fargo, is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Deal Flow Cafe opens at 9:00 a.m. exclusively for founders and investors.

Side Events

Company-hosted Side Events are running across San Francisco throughout the week. Tonight's events include The Irish Shark Tank hosted by Enterprise Ireland, a SafetyWing Happy Hour at Harrington's, and the Born2Global Founder Networking Night hosted by WayFounder. RSVP is required for each.

What to Watch Next

Disrupt 2026 continues through the final day with more Startup Battlefield pitches, stage sessions, and networking. Tickets remain available for purchase through the event's last day. The Startup Battlefield competition, with its $100,000 equity-free prize and Disrupt Cup, remains the central event for early-stage founders seeking investor attention.