TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Pre-Event Report

An analysis of 201 Startup Battlefield companies across six business domains.

The report examines sector and product-offering composition across the 2022-2026 selections, profiles 24 companies, and compares disclosed financings and estimated enterprise values. It also includes documented business pivots and global venture funding benchmarks.

Research as of 18 September 2026. Analysis and compilation: E9 Technologies.

Companion workbook — company directory, financing records and source links:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17vYYQl4x3sTpqtv2m7IsFTeynb4He-_0/edit#gid=403132553

Transcript

1. STARTUP BATTLEFIELD TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Pre-Event Report 201 companies | 16 sectors | 6 business domains 13-15 October 2026 | San Francisco Research as of 18 September 2026
2. COHORT OVERVIEW Six business domains organize the selected companies Health & life sciences 35 companies Commerce, property & finance 36 companies Industry, robotics & transport 32 companies Drug research, diagnostics, rehabilitation and care delivery. Customer acquisition, property operations, financing and transaction trust. Manufacturing, waste handling, fleet operations and aerospace systems. 17.4% of the 201-company cohort 17.9% of the 201-company cohort 15.9% of the 201-company cohort Energy, resources & food Consumer, learning & people Business tools & technology 22 companies 37 companies 38 companies Power, batteries, water, biological production and ecosystems. Daily routines, repair, learning, careers and community services. Business workflows, security, computing and data infrastructure. 10.9% of the 201-company cohort 18.4% of the 201-company cohort 18.9% of the 201-company cohort Source: official 2026 selection. Classification: E9 Technologies. Ortex has unresolved identity. 02
3. 2022-2026 | COHORT COMPARISON Sector composition across five annual selections Share of recovered Startup Battlefield selections (%) 0 2022 20 17.3% 2023 2024 17.8% 22.0% 16.5% 2025 2026 40 20.9% 17.4% 60 10.5% 13.1% 25.7% 13.5% 15.4% 14.4% 17.9% 20.4% 8.4% 22.5% 15.9% 80 9.9% 13.0% 20.9% 17.8% 14.5% 16.9% 10.9% 100 20.0% 15.4% 18.4% 16.2% 16.9% 18.9% Health & life sciences Commerce, property & finance Industry, robotics & transport Energy, resources & food Consumer, learning & people Business tools & technology n = 191 n = 191 n = 200 n = 201 n = 201 Pale links align the same domain across years. 2026 includes one unresolved company (0.5%). Sources: official cohort announcements, directory records and the 2022 event-day archive 03
4. 2022-2026 | BUSINESS-MODEL COMPOSITION Offering models in health and commerce Health & life sciences 0 2022 25 15% 2023 50 12% 75 100 33% 12% 2025 26% 12% 34% 25 50 75 100 2022 n = 42 2023 9% n = 33 2024 53% 20% 16% 38% 17% n = 42 2025 52% 23% 10% 34% 17% n = 35 2026 9% 12% 27% 0 n = 33 58% 2024 2026 Commerce, property & finance 40% 45% 32% 32% n = 34 61% 72% Health software Business software & data Care & professional services Marketplaces & brokerage Devices, diagnostics & physical products Financial services & payments Therapeutic development Consumer software & guidance Research tools, data & services Physical products Unresolved Delivered professional & operating services 18% n = 49 n = 45 10% n = 31 n = 36 Unresolved Share within each domain (%). n = company count. Pale links follow the same offering category. Source: reviewed company descriptions and dated releases. Classification and historical timing: page 21. 04
5. 2022-2026 | BUSINESS-MODEL COMPOSITION Offering models in industry and energy Industry, robotics & transport 0 2022 25 10% 31% 2024 33% 2025 2026 50 75 45% 2023 Energy, resources & food 35% 38% 19% 48% 22% 100 19% 22% 31% 25% 41% 19% 14% 9% 0 25 50 75 n = 20 2022 n = 16 2023 n = 27 2024 38% 42% n = 29 2025 41% 35% n = 32 2026 56% 32% 32% 37% 50% Software & data Equipment & production systems Machines, robots & vehicles Materials, foods & ingredients Components & materials Software & data Operated industrial & transport services Operating services & markets Access & transaction platforms Unresolved 100 11% 27% n = 25 16% n = 19 15% n = 26 18% n = 34 14% n = 22 Unresolved Share within each domain (%). n = company count. Pale links follow the same offering category. Source: reviewed company descriptions and dated releases. Classification and historical timing: page 21. 05
6. 2022-2026 | BUSINESS-MODEL COMPOSITION Offering models in consumer and business tools Consumer, learning & people 0 25 2022 2023 2024 13% 29% 26% 19% 75 28% 34% 2025 2026 50 28% 21% Business tools & technology 23% 35% 14% 16% 19% 0 25 n = 39 2022 38% 21% n = 34 2023 39% 17% n = 29 2024 45% n = 31 2025 44% n = 37 2026 18% 24% 28% 100 13% 13% 30% 26% Organization tools End-user applications Consumer apps & learning Developer & data platforms Creator & content tools Hardware & components Physical products Operated services & supplied data Services & marketplaces Marketplaces Unresolved Unresolved 50 75 45% 100 10% 48% 42% 38% 50% n = 40 10% n = 31 10% n = 40 n = 34 18% n = 38 Share within each domain (%). n = company count. Pale links follow the same offering category. Source: reviewed company descriptions and dated releases. Classification and historical timing: page 21. 06
7. BUSINESS MODELS | SELECTED CASES Documented pivots and business expansion Changes in products, delivery and commercial scope COMPANY Nitricity FortyGuard FLUIX Yuimedi Charter Space EARLIER OFFERING LATER OFFERING 2022 2026 On-farm fertilizer production systems Organic fertilizer made at a central plant 2020 By January 2023 Cooling materials, then sensing hardware Temperature data, analytics and APIs 2022 By March 2024 Liquid-cooling equipment Facility control and optimization software Before April 2023 April 2023 Outsourced medical-data cleansing Standardization and cleansing software 2024 2025-2026 Space-program management software Insurance underwriting and brokerage Sources: linked company statements and founder interviews. Cases selected through targeted historical review. BUSINESS IMPLICATION The company takes on production, distribution and plant financing. Data reuse replaces site-by-site product deployment as the main scaling path. The customer proposition shifts from installing equipment to improving existing assets. Delivery shifts from project execution toward a reusable software product. Engineering data supports an additional insurance transaction business. 07
8. COMPANY DISTRIBUTION The cohort spans software, healthcare and physical industries Companies by primary sector | share of the 201-company cohort Sales, brands & construction 24 11.9% Mobility & logistics 11 5.5% Health & care 23 11.4% Computing & data infrastructure 10 5.0% AI security & fraud prevention 17 8.5% Education & expertise 10 5.0% Consumer products & creativity 17 8.5% People, children & civic services 10 5.0% Biotechnology & life sciences 12 6.0% Robotics 9 4.5% Finance, tax & legal 12 6.0% Energy, batteries & building efficiency 8 4.0% Space, industry & defense 12 6.0% Water, circularity & ecosystems 8 4.0% Business & developer AI 11 5.5% Food, agriculture & forestry 6 3.0% Largest sectors: sales, brands & construction (24), health & care (23), consumer products (17) and AI security (17). Source: official 2026 selection. E9 Technologies assigns one primary sector per company. Ortex remains unresolved. 08
9. HEALTH & LIFE SCIENCES Patient data, biomanufacturing and clinical care Four largest disclosed single financings | Comparable records: 9 of 35 companies PATIENT COMMUNITIES BIOMANUFACTURING REHABILITATION FERTILITY CARE StuffThatWorks ChemT LIFESCAPES Sama Fertility Organizes patient-reported symptoms and treatment experiences into condition-specific communities and insights. Models cell behavior with AI to help design productive cell systems and improve manufacturing conditions. Connects brain activity with assisted movement to support rehabilitation for hand paralysis after stroke. Combines some IVF monitoring at home with an app and clinical support to reduce the burden of clinic visits. CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER People living with health conditions Biotechnology manufacturers Rehabilitation providers Fertility patients and care providers LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING USD 9M seed USD 4M seed JPY 600M equity financing USD 3.8M seed 23 Jul 2020 22 Jun 2026; USD 5M total 15 Jun 2026 | USD 3.85M at reference FX 1 Jul 2025 Sources: linked company names and amounts. Selection period, eligible records and FX: page 20. 09
10. COMMERCE, PROPERTY & FINANCE Retail conversion, sales coaching and property records Four largest disclosed single financings | Comparable records: 11 of 36 companies RETAIL CONVERSION SALES COACHING PROPERTY TITLE WEBSITE IMPROVEMENT SimplicityDX Spiky.ai Titl Optise Turns social and creator content into storefronts linked to a retailer's catalog, connecting discovery with purchase. Analyzes sales conversations, provides real-time coaching and meeting summaries, and updates customer records to support sales teams. Researches property ownership records, prepares title reports and monitors changes that can affect a real-estate transaction. Combines website analytics, content management and automated improvements to help business-to-business companies improve their sites. CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER Retail brands and ecommerce teams Sales teams and revenue leaders Title firms, lenders and property professionals B2B marketing and website teams LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING USD 3M seed USD 2.8M financing USD 2.5M seed USD 2.2M pre-seed Feb 2022 5 Mar 2025 14 Jan 2026 9 Apr 2025 Sources: linked company names and amounts. Selection period, eligible records and FX: page 20. 10
11. INDUSTRY, ROBOTICS & TRANSPORT Factory automation, delivery and fleet systems Four largest disclosed single financings | Comparable records: 9 of 32 companies FACTORY AUTOMATION DRONE DELIVERY HIGH-SPEED TESTING FLEET SAFETY IndustrialNext Dexa Longshot Space Cautio Builds robotic work cells that learn manufacturing tasks through simulation and demonstration, helping factories adapt to product changes. Develops drone delivery networks for local retailers, connecting nearby stores with customers through automated last-mile transport. Uses ground-based acceleration for applications including hypersonic testing, with a longer-term plan for space transport. Combines vehicle cameras, driver monitoring and video telematics to help fleet operators identify risky driving and review incidents. CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER Manufacturers and factory operators Retailers and local delivery partners Aerospace and testing customers Fleet and passenger-transport operators LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING USD 12M Pre-A USD 5M seed tranche USD 5M investment USD 3M seed 28 Jun 2022 2025; reported 24 Sep 2025 23 Jun 2026; USD 20M total Date unspecified; accessed Sep 2026 Sources: linked company names and amounts. Selection period, eligible records and FX: page 20. 11
12. ENERGY, RESOURCES & FOOD Batteries, lithium, wildlife management and on-site power Four largest disclosed single financings | Comparable records: 5 of 22 companies BATTERY PERFORMANCE LITHIUM REFINING WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT POWER GENERATION Adden Energy Licube Flox Intelligence Petra Power Develops solid-state battery technology, including a self-healing separator, to improve charging, lifetime and safety. Develops high-purity lithium compounds for batteries and industry, with pilot production for customer qualification. Uses AI to understand animal sounds and behavior, then applies sound-based deterrence at airports, farms and other sites. Provides on-site power generation for data centers and industrial facilities, addressing grid connection delays and backup power needs. CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER Battery and vehicle manufacturers Battery and specialty-material customers Infrastructure and agricultural operators Facilities with local power needs LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING USD 15M Series A USD 8,549,703 offering proceeds USD 4M seed USD 3.75M sold in offering 23 Oct 2024 SEC filing, 15 Sep 2026 Company announcement, 25 Feb 2026 SEC filing, 28 Apr 2026 Sources: linked company names and amounts. Selection period, eligible records and FX: page 20. 12
13. CONSUMER, LEARNING & PEOPLE Children's media, repair, workplace feedback and sport Four largest disclosed single financings | Comparable records: 5 of 37 companies CHILDREN'S MEDIA REPAIR SERVICES EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT SPORTS ANALYTICS Maka Kids Tingit Your360 AI Reel Analytics Provides an ad-free video service for young children, combining curated programs with age-based selection and parental viewing controls. Connects repair requests for shoes, bags and clothing with estimates, shipping and specialist repair providers. Uses AI interviews with colleagues to organize 360-degree feedback and support changes in workplace behavior. Measures player movement from American-football game footage to support scouting, athlete evaluation and sports-media content. CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER Families with children aged 0-6 Consumers seeking repairs People teams and organizations Football teams, scouts and sports media LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING USD 3M pre-seed EUR 1.5M financing USD 1.4M sold in offering USD 162,608 equity crowdfunding Reported 15 Jun 2026 10 Feb 2026 | USD 1.72M at reference FX SEC filing, 20 Jul 2026 Offering closed 15 Dec 2023 Sources: linked company names and amounts. Selection period, eligible records and FX: page 20. 13
14. BUSINESS TOOLS & TECHNOLOGY Security, computing and developer knowledge Four largest disclosed single financings | Comparable records: 12 of 38 companies TESTING AND PROTECTION OPTICAL COMPUTING DEVELOPER KNOWLEDGE SCAM DISRUPTION Straiker Lumai Dosu Apate.ai Discovers enterprise AI agents, tests them before deployment and protects their behavior in production. Develops optical computing technology for AI workloads, targeting the cost and energy required for large-scale computation. Captures knowledge from code, documentation and team discussions, then maintains shared context for developers and coding agents. Uses conversational bots to engage scam calls and messages, gather intelligence and help organizations disrupt fraud attempts. CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER CUSTOMER Enterprises operating AI agents AI infrastructure operators Software engineering teams Telecom, financial-services and fraud teams LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING LARGEST DISCLOSED FINANCING USD 64M Series A > USD 10M investment USD 8,524,997 offering proceeds USD 8.15M seed 29 Jun 2026 2 Apr 2025 SEC filing, 14 May 2024 Date unspecified; accessed Sep 2026 Sources: linked company names and amounts. Selection period, eligible records and FX: page 20. 14
15. FINANCING The largest disclosed single financings in the cohort 113 companies with funding records 95 companies with published amounts 161 individual financing records Company Published amount Record type Date Context Straiker USD 64M Series A 29 Jun 2026 USD 85M reported total Adden Energy USD 15M Series A 23 Oct 2024 Solid-state batteries IndustrialNext USD 12M Pre-Series A 28 Jun 2022 Factory automation Lumai > USD 10M Financing 2 Apr 2025 Optical computing Flox Intelligence | selected financing history Aug 2025 25 Feb 2026 8 May 2026 USD 1M seed USD 4M seed USD 1M investment award Sources: linked financing records; amounts retain original currencies; figures describe each publication 15
16. FINANCING BY BUSINESS DOMAIN Larger disclosed financings cluster in tools and energy 1 Jan 2024 - 18 Sep 2026 | Largest eligible single financing per company | 42 companies BUSINESS DOMAIN OBSERVED / ALL MEDIAN Health & life sciences 7 / 35 (20%) $2.87M Commerce, property & finance 8 / 36 (22%) $2.02M Industry, robotics & transport 8 / 32 (25%) $1.62M Energy, resources & food 4 / 22 (18%) $6.27M Consumer, learning & people 3 / 37 (8%) $1.72M Business tools & technology 12 / 38 (32%) $7.60M FINANCING SIZE (USD M, LOG SCALE) 0.1 1 10 100 Dots: company observations. Diamonds: medians. Triangle: disclosed lower bound. The business-tools median remains $7.19M after removing Straiker's $64M round. Source: reviewed financing records. Observation counts measure usable disclosures. Method and coverage: page 22. 16
17. VALUATION BY BUSINESS DOMAIN Dealroom enterprise-value estimates by business domain 40 companies | Estimated enterprise-value ranges | Dealroom accessed 18 Sep 2026 BUSINESS DOMAIN OBSERVED / ALL MEDIAN RANGE Health & life sciences 11 / 35 (31%) $8-12M Commerce, property & finance 7 / 36 (19%) $8-12M Industry, robotics & transport 8 / 32 (25%) $5.5-8.5M Energy, resources & food 4 / 22 (18%) $6.4-9.5M Consumer, learning & people 1 / 37 (3%) $0.8-1M Business tools & technology 9 / 38 (24%) $32-48M ESTIMATED VALUE (USD M, LOG SCALE) 0.1 Full observed range Company estimate Source: Dealroom profiles linked on pale company ranges. Reference dates unspecified. Range definitions: page 20. 1 10 100 1000 Median range 17
18. FINANCING CONCENTRATION Business tools account for eight of the ten largest financings Same 2024-2026 reference period | One financing per company | USD equivalents HOW THE CUTOFF CHANGES THE MIX # Company USD M Business model 1 Straiker 64.00 Tests and protects enterprise AI agents before deployment and during operation. Largest 10 2 Adden Energy 15.00 Develops solid-state batteries for vehicle and battery manufacturers, targeting faster charging and longer life. 2 3 Lumai > 10.00 Develops optical computing to reduce AI infrastructure operators' energy use and computing costs. 4 Licube, Inc. 8.55 Develops high-purity lithium compounds for battery and specialty-material customers. 5 Dosu 8.52 Turns code and team knowledge into answers and updated documentation for software engineering teams. 6 Apate.ai 8.15 Engages scammers with conversational bots and gathers fraud intelligence for telecom and finance teams. 7 Rein Security 8.00 Monitors live AI-agent actions and controls risky behavior for enterprise security teams. 8 Kilo 8.00 Provides open-source coding agents for developers, across IDE and cloud workflows. 9 Spektrum Labs 7.19 Automates security checks and evidence collection for audits and cyber insurance. 10 CedarDB 6.08 Combines live transactions and large-scale analytics in one database for applications. 8 Largest 20 4 3 4 1 8 Health Commerce Industry Energy & resources Consumer Business tools Business tools: 57% of selected amounts; 39% after removing Straiker. Top-10 cutoff: $6.08M. Names link to financing sources; descriptions link to business sources. Source: reviewed financing records. Bars count companies. Amount shares sum one selected financing per company. Method: page 22. 18
19. GLOBAL VENTURE MARKET Sector benchmarks show different rates of funding growth Global sector benchmarks | 2025 versus 2024 | Source sectors shown within the six report domains REPORT DOMAIN SOURCE SECTOR 2025 / USD B CHANGE MARKET READING Health & life sciences Healthcare & biotech $71.7 Slight increase Large funding base; modest annual growth. Commerce, property & finance Fintech & financial services $51.8 +27% Financial services attracted larger checks. Industry, robotics & transport Robotics $14 +70% Robotics reached a record annual funding level. Energy, resources & food Climate technology $40.5 +8% Capital rose as deal count fell 18%; seed investment fell 20%. Consumer, learning & people Education technology $2.6 +11% Funding stabilized around learning and workforce products. Business tools & technology Cybersecurity $18 +26% Security funding grew, including early-stage activity. Sources: linked sectors. Figures rounded. Climate cutoff: 11 Dec 2025. Definitions and coverage: page 22. 19
20. REFERENCE Definitions and research scope Cohort and business classification Company profile selection The 2026 selection contains 201 named entries. Six domains group 16 primary sectors. Ortex has unresolved identity. Each domain features four companies ranked by their largest disclosed single round or offering. The dataset has 51 eligible companies. Selection uses all records collected through 18 Sep 2026. Companies follow their primary business activity. Profiles include development-stage offerings. Buyer descriptions summarize the reviewed public information. USD ordering uses ECB rates from 17 Sep 2026. Disclosed lower bounds and approximate values retain their qualifiers. Cumulative totals, grants, prizes and targets are excluded. The workbook shows all 51 candidates. Financing records Valuation comparison Amounts retain their original currencies and publication context. M means million; K means thousand. Rounds, cumulative funding, grants, prizes and regulatory filings retain separate labels. Dealroom estimates cover 40 companies. Thin lines span the lowest company estimate to the highest. Pale ranges show individual company estimates and link to their profiles. Bold ranges and diamonds mark the median bounds. SEC Amount Sold describes the amount sold in an offering. Announcements and filings may cover the same financing. Cumulative totals follow the source publication. Median bounds are the medians of company lower and upper estimates. All values are USD. Consumer, learning & people has one observation. Accessed 18 Sep 2026; valuation reference dates are unspecified. E9 Technologies analysis. Primary references and source publications: page 23. 20
21. RESEARCH NOTES | HISTORICAL ANALYSIS Coverage, classification and interpretation HISTORICAL COHORTS 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 191 191 200 201 201 Roster sources Offering classification 984 company-year records: the 2022 event-day archive, the official 2023-2024 year filters and the published 2025-2026 announcements. Each annual recovered roster is the sector-chart denominator. 983 records across six domains receive one primary category based on the customer deliverable. Each domain-year is the denominator. Ortex (2026) is excluded from offering charts. Ambiguous cases retain alternative categories in the companion data; gray segments mark unresolved offerings. Historical timing and pivots Reading the comparison Archived 2022 descriptions and available profiles support the comparison. Current profiles serve as proxies where dated evidence is unavailable. Dated sources and documented pivots take precedence. FLUIX in 2023 remains unresolved between equipment and software. Annual selections have different company mixes. Shares reflect applicant supply, organizer selection and source coverage. Offering categories describe the supplied product or service; pricing and revenue mechanics require separate evidence. Pivot cases illustrate business changes found through targeted review. Sources: official rosters and company descriptions. Source directory: page 23. 21
22. RESEARCH NOTES | FINANCING Financing comparison: periods, coverage and sources Company observations Dates and currencies The comparison uses the largest eligible single round or offering for each company within 1 Jan 2024 - 18 Sep 2026. Forty-two of 201 cohort companies have usable records. Rounds use announcement or funding-report dates. SEC offerings use the first sale date and the latest collected Amount Sold. Month-only or year-only dates qualify when fully inside the period. Cumulative totals, grants, prizes, targets and commitments are excluded. Missing records remain unobserved. The earlier company profiles use all collected history. USD conversion uses ECB rates from 17 Sep 2026. Source amounts and qualifiers remain visible. Four additional sources refine dates for Cautio, Apate, Kilo and Ridelink. Concentration and sensitivity External market benchmarks Each company contributes one observation. This avoids adding an announcement to a filing for the same financing. Amount shares refer to the sum of these company maxima. The 2025 benchmarks use the providers' own global sector categories. Fintech, robotics, education and cybersecurity represent segments within the report domains. Climate spans several domains. The workbook also shows top-20 membership, removal of the largest company, and a period beginning in 2025. Domain observations range from 3 to 12 companies. Crunchbase: seed through growth. Sightline: venture and growth, cutoff 11 Dec 2025. HolonIQ: education VC. Growth rates follow each source; sector amounts overlap. Full selection ledger, date refinements, market sources and sensitivity calculations are in the Excel workbook. 22
23. REFERENCE Sources and selected record notes TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Flox Intelligence OFFICIAL COHORT SOURCES 2022: archived event directory 2023: official company directory 2024: official company directory The February 2026 seed figure follows the company announcement of USD 4M. A same-day press report gives USD 3M. The May 2026 investment award carries an operating-location condition. 2025: selection announcement 2026: selection announcement Selection FX: ECB reference rates Excel workbook: all 201 companies Company descriptions, financing records, valuations and original source links. LINKS WITHIN THE REPORT Company names, financing figures, valuation ranges and business-change examples link to their original sources. Classification and calculations: E9 Technologies. Research date: 18 September 2026 Sources checked on 18 September 2026. Analysis and compilation: E9 Technologies. 23