The winning startup, founded by Charlie Childs and Madeline Eiken, originated as a spin-out from the University of Michigan. Intero Biosystems creates 1 mm human intestinal organoids—lab-grown tissue engineered to replicate gut function. Their primary product, GastroScreen, provides pharmaceutical, biotech, and food companies with a sophisticated testing platform to analyze drug and compound interactions before clinical human trials.
Intero Biosystems Wins TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Startup Battlefield
After three days of intense competition in San Francisco, Denver-based Intero Biosystems claimed the $100,000 top prize at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. The biotech firm beat out four other finalists to secure the Startup Battlefield Cup, joining a prestigious list of alumni that includes industry giants like Discord and Cloudflare.
Australian security firm Apate took the runner-up position with its innovative approach to fraud prevention. Led by founder Dali Kaafar, the company utilizes a fleet of AI agents designed to bait scammers by mimicking human victims. These agents engage with phishing attempts and fraudulent messages, providing clients with deep analytics and intelligence on evolving cyber threats. The two companies emerged from a pool of 20 startups, chosen from the initial Battlefield 200, to face a final panel of investors including Alexa von Tobel and Stacy Brown-Philpot.
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