Intero Biosystems wins Startup Battlefield with gut organoids for drug testing
The University of Michigan spinout takes TechCrunch's $100,000 equity-free prize as it sells GastroScreen and works to validate its results against human and animal data.
By Ryan Merket · Published
Primary source: X · @TechCrunch
Why it matters
Intero has moved beyond a lab concept to paid customers, but its business depends on proving that GastroScreen's results are reproducible and useful against existing animal and clinical data. The $100,000 prize supports that validation and manufacturing push as FDA guidance gives drug developers a framework for evaluating alternatives.
Intero Biosystems won TechCrunch's 2026 Startup Battlefield on October 15th, taking the Disrupt Cup and $100,000 in equity-free funding for its lab-grown human intestinal models. The company, founded by Charlie Childs, Madeline Eiken and University of Michigan professor Jason Spence, is selling its GastroScreen organoids to drug, biotech, food and chemical companies for preclinical testing.…