Nine early-stage South Korean startups pitched this week at DETO 2026 in Seoul competing for a spot in TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield 200 at Disrupt 2027. Voinosis, which uses AI voice analysis to detect brain health changes, won the competition among entrants spanning healthcare, fintech, energy, semiconductors and AI. All nine companies are pursuing U.S. market entry as part of broader international expansion plans.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-11-12
TechCrunch's Disrupt 2026 Startup Battlefield 200 concluded with Intero Biosystems winning the $100,000 equity-free prize and Disrupt Cup, with Apate as runner-up. The event narrowed thousands of applicants to 200 startups, then 20 finalists, before five companies pitched live for the top prize. TechCrunch also highlighted standout Showcase Stage pitches across categories including Built World, Sustainability, Enterprise, Health, and Consumer, plus a Best Booth award for Legali AI.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-22
Intero Biosystems, a Denver-based startup spun out of the University of Michigan, won the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. The company, founded by Charlie Childs and Madeline Eiken, makes lab-grown human intestinal 'organoids' sold under the product name GastroScreen to test how drugs and other compounds affect the body. Apate, an Australian startup using AI agents to combat scammers, took runner-up honors among five finalists selected from 20 competitors.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-15
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 held its third and final day at Moscone West, drawing over 10,000 founders, investors and technology leaders. The day included AI, fundraising and growth-strategy sessions, a Startup Battlefield component, and an Expo Hall featuring more than 320 exhibiting startups.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-15
TechCrunch has selected five startups to compete in the Startup Battlefield finals at Disrupt 2026, chosen from 20 companies that pitched across four categories: space and physical AI, energy and manufacturing, health tech and life sciences, and enterprise and security. The finalists include Apate.ai, which uses AI agents to bait scammers; Flox Intelligence, which builds a sensor-based wildlife deterrent system; and Intero Biosystems, which grows lab organoids that mimic human intestines for drug testing. The finals take place the following day, with a judging panel awarding the winner a $100,000 equity-free prize and the Startup Battlefield Cup.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-15
Gudea, founded in 2023 by Keith Presley, Jonathan Sperber, and James Thomin, presented its platform at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026's Startup Battlefield. The company uses AI to analyze behavior and information flow across more than 500 websites and platforms, including X, Reddit, and TikTok, to help organizations detect potentially damaging narratives before they escalate.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-15
TechCrunch is offering half-price tickets for the remaining two days of its Disrupt 2026 conference at San Francisco's Moscone West, running October 14-15. Discounted passes range from $175 for Expo+ to $600 for Investor access, covering speakers like Mark Wahlberg, Replit CEO Amjad Masad, and Amazon's Panos Panay, plus AI-focused programming from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Hugging Face.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-14
B2B sales startup Floqer plans to open-source the technology behind its autonomous customer knowledge database, pending security reviews, with release targeted for early 2027. The company, pitching at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, says it has surpassed $1.2 million in annual recurring revenue after roughly tenfold revenue growth over the past year. Founded by Shivam Mahajan and Zaaheda Islam, Floqer began as a Chrome extension called 'Super Chat' before pivoting to automate CRM data cleanup for enterprise clients.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-14
Laplace Intelligence, a one-year-old Ann Arbor startup founded by Howie Sun and Henry Liu out of the University of Michigan, is developing automated systems that stress-test robotics and physical AI before deployment. The company grew out of academic research on challenging autonomous driving AI in simulation, including a 2023 paper the pair published in Nature. Laplace is presenting at TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield competition on October 13.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-13
TechCrunch has selected its Startup Battlefield Top 20 for the 2026 Disrupt conference, chosen from thousands of applicant founders. The finalists will pitch on the Disrupt Stage in six-minute sessions beginning October 13, competing for a $100,000 prize and the Disrupt Cup. Companies in the group span space logistics, physical AI, biotech, robotics, and fraud detection, including Longshot Space's hydrogen-powered cargo launcher and Veritas's brand-authentication microchips.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-13
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 kicked off at Moscone West, drawing more than 10,000 founders, investors and tech leaders. Day 1 features Startup Battlefield, six industry stages covering scaling, AI, fintech and climate tech, over 300 exhibiting startups, and 250+ speakers.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-13
Honeyjar, a startup appearing at TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield 200, is building an AI-driven communications platform that automates writing announcements, identifying journalists to pitch, and finding speaking opportunities for companies. It was founded by Michelle Masek and Nadia Jamshidi, both veteran PR professionals who previously worked in-house and at agencies, with Masek having led marketing and communications at Obvious Ventures.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-12
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