Founders Fund, Index Ventures, Canvas Ventures be a part of TC Disrupt Startup Battlefield judges

Only one extra month till 20 of the world’s prime early-stage startups take to the Disrupt Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco to vie for an equity-free, $100,000 prize. They’ll face powerful scrutiny from our judges, and at present buyers from Founders Fund, Index Ventures and Canvas Ventures be a part of that high-powered pack.

Be within the room: Purchase your move now, and save as much as $400. Keep away from the worth hike on the door!

Watching the Startup Battlefield is a thrill experience, and it’s additionally a possibility for buyers and founders alike.

Buyers: It’s an unparalleled probability to see and meet startups that include the TechCrunch seal of approval in motion. Which of them would match into your portfolio?

Founders: Watching different founders pitch and listening to the questions buyers ask provides perception into the factors VCs use to find out whether or not an organization is viable or not, what specifics they search for, what motivates them and what pushes them to schedule a gathering.

Spherical 5: Startup Battlefield judges at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023

We’re excited to announce the following trio of top-tier buyers who will choose the Startup Battlefield.

Sam Blond, companion, Founders Fund

Sam Blond invests in firms in any respect phases and works with founders and go-to-market leaders on accelerating income progress and rising the worth of their enterprise.

Beforehand, Blond served as chief income officer at Brex, the place he oversaw income progress from lower than $1 million to a number of hundred million {dollars} of annualized income. Blond joined the corporate earlier than its official launch, and when he left 4 years later, the corporate was valued at $12.5 billion.

Previous to Brex, Blond served as VP of gross sales at Zenefits, the place he oversaw income progress from lower than $1 million to $70 million of annual recurring income (ARR) in two years. Sam joined the corporate pre-Sequence A as worker quantity 18. When he left, the enterprise had greater than 1,500 staff and was valued at $4.5 billion.

Throughout his time at Brex and Zenefits, Blond was an energetic angel investor backing 25 software program startups starting from seed to Sequence C.

Mark Fiorentino, companion, Index Ventures

Mark Fiorentino leads investments focusing largely on fintech and SaaS. He’s particularly focused on fintech infrastructure, verticalized fee workflows and SaaS instruments disrupting legacy incumbents. Fiorentino represents Index because the board member or lead investor in quite a lot of firms, together with RevenueCat, Mercantile and Catch.

Previous to Index, Fiorentino helped construct and lead enterprise technique and finance at Stripe, driving key initiatives for gross sales operations, world progress and fundraising. He helped the corporate assess worldwide product market match, develop from a few hundred to almost 2,000 folks and transfer upmarket into late-stage and enterprise.

Beforehand, Fiorentino was an investor at GI Companions, specializing in vertical SaaS and insurance coverage marketplaces, together with the acquisition of MRI Software program. He was additionally an funding banker at Goldman Sachs and served as a board member of the Stonestown YMCA for 3 years.

Fiorentino graduated from UC Berkeley with a BS in enterprise administration. He’s an authorized sommelier and an avid CrossFitter having competed within the Open a number of years operating.

Rebecca Lynn, co-founder and basic companion, Canvas Ventures

Rebecca Lynn leads early-stage investments in fintech, well being tech and AI. She has been named to Forbes’ Midas Listing 5 years operating, and has been named a Lady to Watch: Senior Deal Maker by the Wall Avenue Journal and a Prime Lady VC by the New York Occasions.

Throughout Lynn’s first entry into enterprise, she led an early-stage funding in Lending Membership, which became the biggest U.S. expertise IPO of 2014 and the fourth largest U.S. Web IPO since 2001, behind Fb, Twitter and Google. Different notable early-stage investments embody Examine (acquired by Intuit), Doximity (NYSE: DOCS), RelateIQ (acquired by Salesforce), Apply Fusion (acquired by Allscripts), Luminar (NASDAQ: LAZR) and Casetext (acquired by Thomson Reuters).

Lynn has a level in chemical engineering from the College of Missouri, and a JD/MBA from the College of California, Berkeley. She serves on the board of Skydeck, the College of California Berkeley incubator, and is a frequent lecturer at Stanford and Berkeley.

TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 takes place on September 19–21 in San Francisco. Purchase your move at present, save as much as $400 and keep away from the worth hike on the door. Be a part of us for the Startup Battlefield competitors!

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