Startups

Five, count ’em, five reasons you need to be at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023

Comment

Why should you go to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco on September 19–21? Let us count the reasons. We could hit double digits, but we’ll stop at five because you’re busy people with unicorns to chase. Besides, these five should be tempting enough for anyone interested in building a bigger, better startup — in less time.

Five reasons to go to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023

1. Network, connect and collaborate

You simply won’t find a better time or place to expand your network, with the right people, than at Disrupt. More than 10,000 attendees gather, looking for ways to learn, connect, collaborate and build. Start with our event app — it lets you find and schedule meetings with people who share your business goals.

Networking at Disrupt also includes plenty of organic ways to meet, greet and create startup magic in a variety of settings:

  • Deal Flow Café, our brand-new investor-to-founder networking area.
  • Enhance your trip to San Francisco at After-Hours Events happening during Disrupt week throughout the city.
  • Meet like-minded travelers in the many engaging breakout sessions, roundtable discussions, meetups and Q&As in the expo.

We could go on and on, and we’ll keep you posted on more speakers, topics and events you won’t want to miss at TC Disrupt.

2. Seven new industry stages

Well, aren’t we sneaky? Tucking seven reasons into one, giant opportuni-palooza. You’ll find innumerable opportunities within your own sector, plus the rare chance to explore collaboration across different industries — all under one roof. Click the links below to see the top founders, VCs, builders, researchers and policy makers who will share their insights on the hot topics, current trends, future technology and more across seven breakthrough sectors on seven stages.

3. World-class speakers

The startup ecosystem is packed with brilliant minds, and you’ll always find the best and brightest leaders across the startup spectrum speaking on the stages at Disrupt. Here’s just a sample, and you’ll find all of them listed in our speaker roster — and we’re still adding to the list!

4. The Startup Battlefield 200

Thousands of early-stage startups have applied to join the Startup Battlefield 200 cohort this year. Only the top 200 will make the cut and exhibit for all three days of Disrupt. Spend time on the expo floor and meet these amazing founders as they demo their cutting-edge tech. Each Startup Battlefield company will also fast-pitch live on the expo’s Pitch Showcase Stage.

Of those Startup Battlefield 200 companies, only 20 will be chosen to compete for the $100,000 (equity-free) prize in the epic Startup Battlefield competition. Watching is one of the best ways to learn how VCs think and what motivates them to invite you to that all-important first meeting. Do not miss this world-class showcase! Want to know more about the experience? Listen to our four-episode Inside Startup Battlefield podcast

5. Breakouts & Roundtables

Expert-led breakout sessions and roundtable discussions — some of the most popular draws at Disrupt — focus on individual topics designed to help you build a better business. Here are a couple of examples of what you can expect:

Breaking into the Healthcare Monolith: Strategies for Working with Payors and Providers: Presented by InterSystems.

Setting the Stage for Women of Color Founders to Equitably Share the VC Spotlight: With Brittany S. Hale, interim CEO NS COO, Digitalundivided. Presented by Digitalundivided.

War Stories with Founder Equity and Cap Tables: With Sam Wong, startup coach and fractional founder, Fundable Startups.

Rapidly Grow your AI Startup: With Jeremiah Owyang, investor, Blitzscaling Ventures. Presented by Llama Lounge.

TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 takes place on September 19–21 in San Francisco.

Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

More TechCrunch

Google today is issuing new guidance for developers building AI apps distributed through Google Play, in hopes of cutting down on inappropriate and otherwise prohibited content. The company says apps…

Google Play cracks down on AI apps after circulation of apps for making deepfake nudes

The British retailers association also takes aim at Amazon’s “Buy Box,” claiming that Amazon manipulated which retailers were selected for the coveted placement.

UK retailers file a £1.1B collective action against Amazon over claims of data misuse

Featured Article

Rivian overhauled the R1S and R1T to entice new buyers ahead of cheaper R2 launch

Rivian has changed 600 parts on its R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck in a bid to drive down manufacturing costs, while improving performance of its flagship vehicles.  The end goal, which will play out over the coming year, is an existential one. Rivian lost about $38,784 on every vehicle…

33 mins ago
Rivian overhauled the R1S and R1T to entice new buyers ahead of cheaper R2 launch

Twitch has come up with a solution for the ongoing copyright issues that DJs encounter on the platform. The company announced Thursday a new program that enables DJs to stream…

Twitch DJs will now have to pay music labels to play songs in livestreams

Google said today it is partnering with RapidSOS, a platform for emergency first responders, to enable users to contact 911 through RCS (Rich Messaging Service).

Google partners with RapidSOS to enable 911 contact through RCS

Featured Article

A social app for creatives, Cara grew from 40k to 650k users in a week because artists are fed up with Meta’s AI policies

Artists have finally had enough with Meta’s predatory AI policies, but Meta’s loss is Cara’s gain. An artist-run, anti-AI social platform, Cara has grown from 40,000 to 650,000 users within the last week, catapulting it to the top of the App Store charts. Instagram is a necessity for many artists,…

48 mins ago
A social app for creatives, Cara grew from 40k to 650k users in a week because artists are fed up with Meta’s AI policies

Google has developed a new AI tool to help marine biologists better understand coral reef ecosystems and their health, which can aid in conversation efforts. The tool, SurfPerch, created with…

Google looks to AI to help save the coral reefs

Only a few years ago, one of the hottest topics in enterprise software was ‘robotic process automation’ (RPA). It doesn’t feel like those services, which tried to automate a lot…

Tektonic AI raises $10M to build GenAI agents for automating business operations

SpaceX achieved a key milestone in its Starship flight test campaign: returning the booster and the upper stage back to Earth.

SpaceX launches mammoth Starship rocket and brings it back for the first time

There’s a lot of buzz about generative AI and what impact it might have on businesses. But look beyond the hype and high-profile deals like the one between OpenAI and…

Sirion, now valued around $1B, acquires Eigen as consolidation comes to enterprise AI tooling

Carlo Kobe and Scott Smith believed so strongly in the need for a debit card product designed specifically for Gen Zers that they dropped out of Harvard and Cornell at…

Kleiner Perkins leads $14.4M seed round into Fizz, a credit-building debit card aimed at Gen Z college students

A new app called MyGlimpact is intended not only to help people understand their environmental footprint, but why they shouldn’t feel guilty about it.

How many Earths does your lifestyle require?

Prolific Machines believes it has a way of transitioning away from molecules to something better: light.

Prolific Machines, with a $55M Series B, shines ‘light’ on a better way to grow lab proteins for food and medicine

It’s been 20 years since Shira Yevin, the lead singer of punk band Shiragirl drove a pink RV into the Vans Warped Tour grounds, the now-defunct punk rock festival notorious…

Punk singer Shira Yevin pushes for fair pay with InPink, a women-focused job marketplace

While the transport industry does use legacy software, many of these platforms are from an earlier era. Qargo hopes its newer technologies can help it leapfrog the competition.

Qargo raises $14M to digitize and decarbonize the trucking industry

When you look at how generative AI is being implemented across developer tools, the focus for the most part has been on generating code, as with Github Copilot. Greptile, an…

Greptile raises $4M to build an AI-fueled code base expert

The models tended to answer questions inconsistently, which reflects biases embedded in the data used to train the models.

Study finds that AI models hold opposing views on controversial topics

A growing number of businesses are embracing data models — abstract models that organize elements of data and standardize how they relate to one another. But as the data analytics…

Cube is building a ‘semantic layer’ for company data

Stock-trading app Robinhood is diving deeper into the cryptocurrency realm with the acquisition of crypto exchange Bitstamp.

Robinhood acquires global crypto exchange Bitstamp for $200M

Torpago’s Powered By product is geared for regional and community banks, with under $20 billion in assets, to launch their own branded cards and spend management programs.

Fintech Torpago has a unique way to compete with Brex and Ramp: turning banks into customers

Over half of Americans wear corrective glasses or contact lenses. While there isn’t a shortage of low-cost and luxury frames available online or in stores, consumers can only buy them…

Eyebot raised $6M for AI-powered kiosks that provide 90-second eye exams without an optometrist

Google on Thursday said it is rolling out NotebookLM, its AI-powered note-taking assistant, to over 200 new countries, nearly six months after opening its access in the U.S. The platform,…

Google’s updated AI-powered NotebookLM expands to India, UK and over 200 other countries

Inflation and currency devaluation have always been a growing concern for Africans with bank accounts.

Starting in war-torn Sudan, YC-backed Elevate now provides fintech to freelancers globally

Featured Article

Amazon buys Indian video streaming service MX Player

Amazon has agreed to acquire key assets of Indian video streaming service MX Player from the local media powerhouse Times Internet, the latest step by the e-commerce giant to make its services and brand popular in smaller cities and towns in the key overseas market.  The two firms reached a…

8 hours ago
Amazon buys Indian video streaming service MX Player

Dealt is now building a service platform for retailers instead of end customers.

Dealt turns retailers into service providers and proves that pivots sometimes work

Snowflake is the latest company in a string of high-profile security incidents and sizable data breaches caused by the lack of MFA.

Hundreds of Snowflake customer passwords found online are linked to info-stealing malware

The buy will benefit ChromeOS, Google’s lightweight Linux-based operating system, by giving ChromeOS users greater access to Windows apps “without the hassle of complex installations or updates.”

Google acquires Cameyo to bring Windows apps to ChromeOS

Mistral is no doubt looking to grow revenue as it faces considerable — and growing — competition in the generative AI space.

Mistral launches new services and SDK to let customers fine-tune its models

The warning for the Ai Pin was issued “out of an abundance of caution,” according to Humane.

Humane urges customers to stop using charging case, citing battery fire concerns

The keynote will be focused on Apple’s software offerings and the developers that power them, including the latest versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS and watchOS.

Watch Apple kick off WWDC 2024 right here