Intero Biosystems startup won the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

US BioTech startup Intero Biosystems won the Startup Battlefield competition at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco. The company received the grand prize of $100,000 and the Startup Battlefield trophy.

This year, 200 startups from around the world participated in the competition. Five companies reached the final: Intero Biosystems, Apate, Flox Intelligence, Industrial Next, and Satlyt. The second place was taken by Australian startup Apate, which uses AI agents to collect data on fraudsters. The winner was chosen by investors from Inspired Capital, Goodwater Capital, Construct Capital, M13, and Cherryrock Capital.

Intero Biosystems grows tiny models of the human intestine in the lab—organoids about one millimeter in size. They contain intestinal cells, neurons, blood vessels, and muscle tissue, allowing them to accurately replicate the function of a real organ. These models help test how drugs and other substances affect humans even before clinical trials and without animal testing.

The company’s main product is called GastroScreen. It is purchased by pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food, and chemical companies. The organoids are grown from stem cells that can be obtained even from a standard blood test. This makes it possible to create patient-specific models in the future.

The company was founded in 2024 by Charlie Childs and Madeline Aiken. The startup grew out of research at the University of Michigan and is now based in Denver. The team consists of seven people, and annual revenue has exceeded $400,000. Previously, Intero Biosystems raised $2.3 million in investment.

The company plans to automate production and grow hundreds of thousands of organoids at once. In the future, Intero Biosystems aims to advance personalized medicine and create an artificial intestine.

Source: TechCrunch