Intero Biosystems Wins Startup Battlefield 2026 and $100,000
Intero Biosystems wins Startup Battlefield 2026 and $100,000 for GastroScreen, using 1mm lab-grown intestinal organoids to test drugs and compounds earlier.
Summary
On October 15, 2026, Intero Biosystems won the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000 at Disrupt 2026 after three days of competition in San Francisco. Twenty startups, selected from Startup Battlefield 200, gave live demonstrations to venture capital and technology judges. Five reached the finale: Apate, Flox Intelligence, Intero Biosystems, Industrial Next and Satlyt. Final judging came from 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.
Denver-based Intero, founded by Charlie Childs and Madeline Eiken and spun out of the University of Michigan, develops 1mm human intestinal organoids, lab-grown tissue that mimics the gut for assessing drugs and other compounds before human testing. It sells flagship product GastroScreen to pharmaceutical, biotech, food and chemical companies. Runner-up Apate, founded by Dali Kaafar from research at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, deploys thousands of AI agents posing as victims to answer scam calls, engage with suspicious messages and emails, follow phishing links and enter social media groups. Customers also receive a portal analyzing scams targeting users, employees, brands and products. The pair joins finalists and winners including Trello, Discord, Cloudflare and Mint. More than 1,700 program alumni have collectively raised over $30 billion and achieved more than 200 exits.
Positives
- Intero Biosystems secured the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000 after competing against 19 other startups.
- GastroScreen gives pharmaceutical, biotech, food and chemical companies 1mm gut-mimicking organoids for pre-human compound testing.
- Apate deploys thousands of AI agents to engage fraudsters across calls, emails, messages, phishing links and social media groups.
- More than 1,700 Startup Battlefield alumni have raised over $30 billion and completed more than 200 successful exits.
- Five finalists demonstrated their products before investors from Inspired Capital, Goodwater Capital, Construct Capital, M13 and Cherryrock Capital.
Risks & concerns
- Fifteen of the 20 startups did not advance to the five-company finale after three days of competition.
- GastroScreen evaluates compounds before testing in people, leaving human trials necessary to determine effects in the body.
- Apate must address scams spanning calls, messages, emails, phishing links and social media groups.
- Revenue, customer totals and performance validation were not disclosed for either Intero Biosystems or Apate.