5 Extra Evening Meetups Around TechCrunch's Big Startup Event
TechCrunch has added five small evening events to its Disrupt 2026 calendar for October 13 and 14 in San Francisco. They are part of a Side Events program held around the city during Disrupt Week, outside the main building, Moscone West. TechCrunch
Disrupt 2026 itself runs October 13 to October 15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. About 10,000 startup founders, investors and company staff are expected. TechCrunch Side Events are run by outside groups but listed by TechCrunch as part of the week. That lets sponsors, government trade groups and startups hold smaller meetings next to the big event. Think of the main event as a big fair, with these side events as smaller gatherings around town.
October 13: three events on the first night
Three new events are on October 13, the first day. Times overlap, so people will need to pick one.
Enterprise Ireland will host The Irish Shark Tank at Ireland House on October 13 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. as a 2026 TechCrunch Disrupt Side Event. It is a pitch event, where startups give short talks, under the Enterprise Ireland name. The location is Ireland House, not Moscone West.
SafetyWing will host the SafetyWing Happy Hour at Harrington's Irish Pub on October 13 from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. PT during TechCrunch Disrupt. It is in a pub, not a meeting room. It runs for four hours, so people can stop by.
WayFounder will host the Born2Global Founder Networking Night on October 13 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. PT as a 2026 TechCrunch Disrupt Side Event. It will include 18 young companies from South Korea. It is meant for founders, investors and others working between Korea and the U.S. to meet.
October 14: two evening events
Two new events are on October 14, the middle day. Both are in the evening, after the daytime talks at Moscone West.
KOTRA Silicon Valley will hold the Korea-US Startup & Investor Networking Night on October 14 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. PT as part of the Korea Pavilion. The Pavilion is a shared space for Korean companies. The event is a group networking night, not a solo company party.
KOTRA is also offering free Expo+ passes, or free tickets to the exhibit area, to approved people who do not have a ticket to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. The listing did not say who qualifies, so people will need to apply through KOTRA to check.
Descope with Skyflow will host Vault & Verify: An Evening of Ping Pong, Cocktails & Conversation on October 14 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. PT as a 2026 TechCrunch Disrupt Side Event. It is a casual social with table tennis about login tools and safe handling of customer data.
The broader context here is that the big meeting brings many people together in one place, while the smaller events bring the right people together in one room.
In my view, that mix is helpful for planning. No one can go to everything, with three events at the same time on October 13 and two at the same time on October 14, including two Korea-related nights in a row. The best plan is to choose the room that fits your goals and leave time to travel across San Francisco.
