And the winner of Startup Battlefield at Disrupt 2026 is: Intero Biosystems

Intero Biosystems won the Startup Battlefield Cup and the $100,000 grand prize at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, beating 199 other Startup Battlefield companies. Charlie Childs and Madeline Eiken founded the Denver company, a University of Michigan spinout developing 1mm human intestinal organoids, lab-grown tissue that mimics the gut. It sells GastroScreen to pharmaceutical, biotech, food, and chemical companies. TechCrunch's report by Sean O'Kane follows three days of live demos this week in San Francisco.

The piece is for Disrupt followers and for pharmaceutical, biotech, food, and chemical teams that test drugs and other compounds before they are tested in people. It covers the 20 companies drawn from the Startup Battlefield 200, the five finalists, the judges, GastroScreen, and runner-up Apate, plus more than 1,700 alumni, over $30 billion raised, and more than 200 successful exits, including Trello, Discord, Cloudflare, and Mint.

Intero Biosystems: what actually changed

Twenty startups participated in Startup Battlefield across three days this week in San Francisco. The 20 were handpicked to represent the best of the Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Each presented a live demo in front of venture capitalists and tech leaders who served as judges, competing for the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000. After hours of deliberation, TechCrunch editors pored over the judges' notes and named five finalists: Apate, Flox Intelligence, Intero Biosystems, Industrial Next, and Satlyt.

The final five demoed for 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. TechCrunch named Intero Biosystems the winner of Startup Battlefield 2026. Childs and Eiken's Denver company, a University of Michigan spinout, beat 199 other Startup Battlefield companies for the $100,000 grand prize and the Startup Battlefield Cup. The result is listed under Biotech & Health, Startup Battlefield 200, Startups, and TechCrunch Disrupt.

Intero Biosystems: how it works

Intero Biosystems is developing 1mm human intestinal organoids, lab-grown tissue that mimics the gut. That tissue is another way to study how drugs and other compounds might affect the human body before they are tested in people. Charlie Childs and Madeline Eiken founded the company in Denver after it spun out of the University of Michigan. The startup presented a live demo in San Francisco, as did all 20 handpicked companies from the Startup Battlefield 200 during three days this week.

GastroScreen is the flagship Intero Biosystems sells. Buyers are pharmaceutical, biotech, food, and chemical companies, and they use GastroScreen to test drugs and other compounds. The test material is the same 1mm human intestinal organoid, lab-grown tissue that mimics the gut, so a lab can study a compound before any test in a person. Food and chemical companies share that customer list with drug and biotech buyers. The Startup Battlefield Cup and the $100,000 grand prize went to the company selling GastroScreen.

Intero Biosystems: why it matters now

TechCrunch named a winner after hours of deliberation over judges' notes from three days of demos in San Francisco. The cup and $100,000 went to a University of Michigan spinout, with Apate, Flox Intelligence, Industrial Next, and Satlyt beside it in the final five. More than 1,700 alumni have participated in Startup Battlefield. They have collectively raised over $30 billion, and the group counts more than 200 successful exits. Earlier winners and finalists on the Disrupt Stage include Trello, Discord, Cloudflare, and Mint.

GastroScreen is sold to pharmaceutical, biotech, food, and chemical companies for testing drugs and other compounds on a 1mm human intestinal organoid before a test in people. Charlie Childs and Madeline Eiken leave with the 2026 cup for their Denver company. Runner-up Apate, founded by Dali Kaafar, deploys thousands of AI agents that masquerade as innocent victims. Kaafar came up with the idea at Macquarie University in Sydney. The winner and the runner-up were a gut-organoid company and a company built to bait fraudsters.

Intero Biosystems: who is affected

Pharmaceutical, biotech, food, and chemical companies buy GastroScreen to test drugs and other compounds on 1mm human intestinal organoids, lab-grown tissue that mimics the gut, before tests in people. Charlie Childs and Madeline Eiken take the cup and $100,000 to their Denver spinout from the University of Michigan. Apate, Flox Intelligence, Industrial Next, and Satlyt made the final five with them, in front of Alexa von Tobel, Chi-Hua Chien, Dayna Grayson, Karl Alomar, and Stacy Brown-Philpot. Intero Biosystems holds the grand prize.

Dali Kaafar founded Australian startup Apate and came up with the idea while doing research at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. Apate deploys thousands of AI agents that masquerade as innocent victims. The agents answer scam calls, respond to shady messages and emails, follow phishing links, and join social media groups to bait fraudsters. Customers get access to Apate's fleet of agents and an insights portal with intelligence and analytics on scams targeting end users or employees, brands, products, and more.

Intero Biosystems: what to watch

Intero Biosystems leaves as the 2026 winner. GastroScreen is the flagship, built on a 1mm human intestinal organoid, lab-grown tissue that mimics the gut. Pharmaceutical, biotech, food, and chemical companies use it to study how drugs and other compounds might affect the human body before tests in people. Charlie Childs and Madeline Eiken founded the Denver company, a University of Michigan spinout. The cup and $100,000 came against 199 other Startup Battlefield companies, after 20 handpicked teams spent three days demoing in San Francisco.

Apate is the runner-up, and Dali Kaafar's customers get thousands of AI agents plus an insights portal. Flox Intelligence, Industrial Next, and Satlyt are the other finalists kept after TechCrunch editors read the judges' notes. The path ran from the Startup Battlefield 200 to a handpicked 20, then to those five. Intero Biosystems and Apate join winners and finalists such as Trello, Discord, Cloudflare, and Mint. The program counts more than 1,700 alumni, over $30 billion raised, and more than 200 successful exits.