Disrupt 2026 Adds Five Side Events for October 13-14
TechCrunch has added five partner-run Side Events to the Disrupt 2026 calendar for October 13 and 14 in San Francisco. The new listings join a Side Events program that runs across the city during Disrupt Week, outside Moscone West. TechCrunch
Disrupt 2026 itself runs October 13 to October 15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. The main program is expected to bring together 10,000 founders, VCs and operators. TechCrunch Side Events are hosted independently but listed by TechCrunch as part of Disrupt Week. That setup lets sponsors, trade agencies, which are government groups that help home-country companies expand abroad, and startups run smaller, focused rooms alongside the main conference floor, like small classrooms next to a big lecture hall.
October 13: three events on opening night
Three of the new listings are on October 13, the opening day. Times overlap, so attendees will need to choose.
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 listed as a pitch-style session, meaning short startup presentations, under the Enterprise Ireland banner. The venue is Ireland House, separate from 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. The listing shows a pub venue rather than a conference room, with a four-hour window for drop-in visits.
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. The event will feature 18 emerging startups from the Republic of Korea. The stated focus is founder networking for investors and operators working on Korea-U.S. connections.
October 14: pavilion programming and a practitioner room
Two additions are scheduled for October 14, the middle day. Both run in the evening, after daytime programming at Moscone West.
KOTRA Silicon Valley will organize 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's programming. The Korea Pavilion is a grouped showcase for Korean companies. The event is listed as a pavilion-linked networking night rather than a standalone brand event.
KOTRA is also offering complimentary Expo+ passes, meaning free tickets to the expo part of the event, to qualified applicants who do not have a ticket to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Details on qualification were not disclosed in the listing, so applicants will need to apply through KOTRA to confirm eligibility.
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. The listing describes a social built around table tennis and focused on identity and data infrastructure, the tools that handle logins and protect customer data.
The broader context here is that the main stage provides scale and the Side Events provide selection. Trade agencies bring a curated group to one room at one hour. Vendors and service providers meet people away from the noise of the expo hall.
In my view, that split is practical, and it gives founders more useful ways to spend the week. No one can attend everything, with three overlapping events on October 13 and two overlapping on October 14, including two separate Korea-linked evenings on back-to-back nights. The workable approach is to pick the room that fits the meetings you need and allow time to travel across San Francisco.
