Meet the five companies competing in the Startup Battlefield finals at Disrupt 2026
TechCrunch has announced the five finalists for its 2026 Startup Battlefield competition, featuring innovations in AI, wildlife management, and biotechnology. The winner will be selected by a panel of judges to receive the Startup Battlefield Cup and a $100,000 equity-free prize.
Why it matters
This competition highlights emerging trends in deep tech and venture-backed innovation that could significantly impact security, environmental conservation, and medical research.
Over the past two days, 20 startups have been pitching on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 , presenting live demos and answering tough questions from our expert judges. Now it’s time to unveil the five companies that will be competing in the Startup Battlefield finals.
This year’s Battlefield spanned four categories — space and physical AI, energy and manufacturing, health tech and life sciences, and enterprise and security — and our finalists are working on everything from miniature human organs to fighting scams to computing in space.
The finals will kick off tomorrow (Thursday) at 11:30 am Pacific — you can watch them on stage at Disrupt or on the livestream here. The founders will be presenting for another panel of expert judges who will pick the winner; that winner gets to take home the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000, equity-free.
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