We’re gearing up for the 9th Annual Crunchies Awards, which will take place at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco on Monday, February 8th. Think of the show as an “Oscars for startups and technology.”
Chelsea Peretti will host the event, and we have some fabulous tech figures on stage to present the winning startups and individuals with their Crunchies. Here’s who you can expect to see, and when they’ll be taking the stage. You can still get tickets to the Crunchies here.
Troy Carter is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Atom Factory, an entertainment management company defining popular culture globally. As a digital and social entrepreneur, Carter has defined the careers of numerous recording artists, including multi-platinum, Grammy-Award winner Lady Gaga. Carter will present the award for Fastest Rising Startup at 8:15pm.
Drew Houston is the co-founder and CEO of Dropbox. He has led Dropbox’s growth from a simple idea to a service used by millions around the world. Houston will present the award for Founder of the Year at 8:20pm.
Jacquelline Fuller leads Google.org which provides more than $100 million yearly to support tech innovators making transformational impact in areas such as education, development and renewable energy. Jacquelline joined Google in 2007 and serves as the Managing Director in charge of Google’s philanthropic work and advocacy. Fuller will present the Include Diversity Award at 8:25pm.
Jessica Livingston is a founding partner at Y Combinator. She is also the organizer of Startup School, the big annual startup conference, and the author of Founders at Work, a collection of interviews with successful startup founders. Livingston will present the Best Hardware Award at 8:30pm.
Dave McClure is a venture capitalist and founding partner at 500 Startups, a venture capital firm & startup incubator headquartered in Silicon Valley founded by PayPal and Google alumni, with over $200M in assets under management. Dave has been geeking out in Silicon Valley for twenty-five years as a developer, entrepreneur, startup advisor & investor, blogger, and internet marketing nerd. McClure will present the VC of the Year Award at 8:35pm.
Andre Iguodala is an NBA Champion and Finals MVP currently signed with the Golden State Warriors. He advises Twice, a startup acquired by eBay in 2015. Iguodala will present the Best New Startup Award at 8:40 pm.
Kimberly Bryant is the founder and executive director of Black Girls CODE, a non-profit organization dedicated to “changing the face of technology” by introducing girls of color (ages 7-17) to the field of technology and computer science with a concentration on entrepreneurial concepts. Bryant will present the Biggest Social Impact Award at 8:50pm.
Michael Arrington is a general partner at CrunchFund, a serial entrepreneur and the founder of TechCrunch. Arrington will present the Angel of the Year Award at 8:55pm.
Om Malik is the founder of GigaOM and a venture partner at True Ventures. He is also a technology journalist.Prior to that, he worked as a Senior Editor at Forbes.com. He also worked at H&Q Asia Pacific as an investment manager before returning to the media world as a senior writer for the Red Herring magazine and later at Business 2.0. In 2003, he published his first book Broadbandits: Inside the $750 billion Telecom Heist. Malik will present the Angel of the Year Award at 8:55pm.
Roelof Botha is a partner at Sequoia Capital, and works with a broad range of companies. Some democratize technology access (Square, Eventbrite, Unity, Nimbula); some create global user communities (YouTube, Tumblr, Instagram); and others disrupt markets through innovative business models (Evernote, Weebly, Xoom). Botha will present the Best Mobile Application Award at 9:00pm.
Bastian Lehmann is the CEO of Postmates, the on-demand delivery company he co-founded in 2011. The idea for Postmates was originally conceived in 2005 when Bastian was relocating from Munich to London and he struggled with finding a simple solution for moving goods around a city. He later pursued this notion of “ride-sharing for stuff” through AngelPad in San Francisco, where he met his co-founders Sean Plaice and Sam Street. Postmates now operates in 40 US markets. Lehmann will present the Best Technology Achievement Award at 9:05pm.
Marc Benioff is chairman and CEO of Salesforce. One of the pioneers of cloud computing, Benioff founded the company in 1999 with a vision to create an on-demand, information management service to replace traditional enterprise software technology. Under his leadership, Salesforce has grown from a groundbreaking idea into the fastest growing top ten software company in the world and the largest customer relationship management (CRM) company. Benioff will present the CEO of the Year Award at 9:10pm.
Mary Meeker is a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. She focuses on investments in the firm’s digital practice and helps lead KPCB’s Digital Growth Funds, targeting high-growth Internet companies that have achieved rapid adoption and scale. Mary serves on the boards of Square, Lending Club and DocuSign and has been involved in KPCB’s investments in SoundCloud, LegalZoom, Spotify, Twitter, Instacart, NextDoor, Stance, slack, Bitstrips, Houzz, Affectiva, One Kings Lane, Trendyol and Jawbone. Meeker will present the Best Overall Startup Award at 9:15pm.
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