This year, TechCrunch Disrupt showcased the amazing talents and groundbreaking creativity within our 2026 Startup Battlefield lineup of 200 individuals.
From thousands of applications, we selected 200 startups with the most potential, each of which brought unique innovations to their respective industries. The competition came to an exciting conclusion with an event where these companies had the opportunity to conduct live pitch presentations and showcase their solutions over a period of three days.
Among the top 20 finalist companies, the editorial team of TechCrunch selected the top five companies, which then competed for a $100,000 prize without equity and the highly sought-after Disrupt Cup. In the end, Intero Biosystems emerged as the winner, while Apate came in second place.
In Startup Battlefield 200, there are also many industry-defining companies participating in exhibitions and roadshows at Showcase Stage. Here are some of the highlights:
Best Showcase Stage Roadshows in Various Industries
- Built WorldLola Vision Systems provides a full-stack AI platform that is capable of implementing sensor fusion, secure communication, and real-time inference on current hardware, and plans to launch dedicated chips in the future.
- SustainabilityKrokos Bio is cultivating the most valuable components of nature in a way that is both lower in cost and higher in reliability, starting with saffron.
- Enterprise Group 1Rein Security is a security layer for customized enterprise agents – these production-grade AI agents are operating businesses for enterprises around the world.
- Enterprise Group 2Lumai is an optical computing company dedicated to addressing the scalable AI needs of the inference era.
- HealthUhura Bionics has developed a bionic larynx that can be used for singing, laughing, and conveying emotions.
- ConsumerMaka provides carefully selected programs that satisfy both parents' concerns and appeal to children – powered by AI.
Best Booth
Legali AI provides a trauma-informed AI legal accompaniment tool and ecosystem, targeting the middle class and AI indigenous companies, with a focus on women who have experienced abuse. Their all-pink, woman-centered booth stands out prominently in the exhibition area. Visitors write encouraging messages on sticky notes and stick them on the banners of Legali AI, while also learning about the outstanding work they are undertaking. The founder, Ira Puteri, has even arranged different pink outfits for each day. Indeed, it shows great perseverance.
Disrupt Spirit Award
The Spirit Award was unanimously granted to Ardook Data, the founder and CEO of Shogher Atanesyan. Her journey towards achieving Startup Battlefield 200 is truly inspiring; she first came into contact with Disrupt while volunteering in 2023. Last year, she approached the Battlefield team with a simple request: to have “Social Impact” designated as a separate category in the event App. We gladly agreed, and just a few months later, she applied to participate in the competition. She was selected based on her own merits, as the judging panel was very impressed by her concept of collecting real-world family training data from a network of caregivers who are willing to participate and receive compensation. Subsequently, this data is sold to entities AI and robotics companies that need it.
Atanesyan might be the most selfless founder we have seen in the five years of managing Startup Battlefield. Specifically, it's all the things she did for visitors to San Francisco. She organized dozens of student volunteers to help these startups manage their booths, coordinated the shipment of many items to her home to avoid high transportation costs, and even held a party for these founders at her own home. In addition, she continuously helps founders with questions within the community Discord and during weekly phone meetings. Startup Battlefield is not just a pitch competition; it's also an opportunity to build connections, allowing founders to support each other, as well as investors, potential customers, and other founders, on this entrepreneurial journey together.
While celebrating the achievements of this year's winners, we also look forward to seeing how they will shape their respective industries and drive innovation in the coming months and years. Congratulations to all participants of Startup Battlefield 200, and we would like to express our special gratitude to the judges and sponsors for their support, which contributed to the great success of TechCrunch Disrupt 2026.
