At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco, 20 startups competed in the Startup Battlefield, a contest showcasing the most promising early-stage companies. These startups were selected from a larger pool of 200 and presented live demos to a panel of venture capitalists and industry leaders. After extensive judging, five finalists were chosen: Apate, Flox Intelligence, Intero Biosystems, Industrial Next, and Satlyt.
The final round featured presentations before judges including Alexa von Tobel of Inspired Capital, Chi-Hua Chien of Goodwater Capital, Dayna Grayson of Construct Capital, Karl Alomar of M13, and Stacy Brown-Philpot of Cherryrock Capital. Intero Biosystems emerged as the winner, earning the Startup Battlefield Cup and a $100,000 prize.
Founded by Charlie Childs and Madeline Eiken and spun out of the University of Michigan, Intero Biosystems develops 1mm human intestinal organoidsâlab-grown tissue that replicates the human gut. Their flagship product, GastroScreen, is used by pharmaceutical, biotech, food, and chemical companies to test the effects of drugs and compounds in a controlled environment before human trials.
The runner-up, Apate, is an Australian startup that uses thousands of AI agents to engage with scam calls, phishing attempts, and fraudulent messages. Founded by Dali Kaafar at Macquarie University, Apate provides clients with an insights portal that tracks scam activity targeting users, brands, and employees.
Both Intero Biosystems and Apate join a distinguished list of Startup Battlefield alumni, which includes companies like Trello, Discord, Cloudflare, and Mint. The program has supported over 1,700 startups, with alumni collectively raising more than $30 billion in funding and achieving over 200 successful exits.