Every year, TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield pitch contest draws thousands of applicants. We whittle those applications down to the top 200 contenders, and of them, the top 20 compete on the big stage to become the winner, taking home the Startup Battlefield Cup and a cash prize of $100,000. But the remaining 180 startups all blew us away as well in their respective categories and compete in their own pitch competition.
Here is the full list of the health and wellness Startup Battlefield 200 selectees, along with a note on why they landed in the competition.
Akara
What it does: Uses AI sensors and autonomous UV disinfection robots to prepare operating rooms for surgery faster.
Why it’s noteworthy: Doing more surgeries in a day not only helps patients but also makes more money for the hospitals.
Arm Bionics
What it does: This Armenian startup develops 3D-printed prosthetic arms.
Why it’s noteworthy: The bionic arm is relatively affordable, making it highly accessible within its region.
ArtSkin
What it does: Develops electronic artificial skin with sensors to restore the sense of touch for people with prosthetic limbs.
Join the Disrupt 2026 Waitlist
Add yourself to the Disrupt 2026 waitlist to be first in line when Early Bird tickets drop. Past Disrupts have brought Google Cloud, Netflix, Microsoft, Box, Phia, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, and Vinod Khosla to the stages — part of 250+ industry leaders driving 200+ sessions built to fuel your growth and sharpen your edge. Plus, meet the hundreds of startups innovating across every sector.
Join the Disrupt 2026 Waitlist
Add yourself to the Disrupt 2026 waitlist to be first in line when Early Bird tickets drop. Past Disrupts have brought Google Cloud, Netflix, Microsoft, Box, Phia, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, and Vinod Khosla to the stages — part of 250+ industry leaders driving 200+ sessions built to fuel your growth and sharpen your edge. Plus, meet the hundreds of startups innovating across every sector.
Why it’s noteworthy: The technology is noninvasive and can be integrated with existing prosthetics.
AWEAR
What it does: Ear-worn EEG device monitors and provides feedback on chronic stress.
Why it’s noteworthy: Just like a Fitbit tracks steps, this wearable helps people take charge by measuring brain activity to guide them in reducing stress levels.
Axoft
What it does: Developing a tiny brain implant that communicates with the nervous system to treat severe neurological conditions.
Why it’s noteworthy: The soft material helps the technology safely connect to the nervous system for many years to treat serious diseases.
Care Hero
What it does: Facilitates a tech-empowered caregiver network for the elderly and disabled.
Why it’s noteworthy: Addressees the shortage of caregivers by using technology to maximize how many patients a caregiver treats.
Che Innovations Uganda
What it does: This Ugandan startup develops medical devices, including NeoNest, an affordable transport warmer for preterm babies.
Why it’s noteworthy: Because rural areas of Africa don’t have access to transport incubators.
ELLUSTRÖS
What it does: Provides technology that uses AI and image analysis to adjust posture on seats for ergonomic fit.
Why it’s noteworthy: It eliminates the need to manually adjust chair settings, reduces injures, and enhances productivity.
Endless Health
What it does: Provides at-home health assessments to predict heart health and metabolic disease.
Why it’s noteworthy: Potential for early disease detection without going to the doctor.
Eos.ai
What it does: Cleaning, compressing, and harmonizing of fragmented data stored in electronic medical records.
Why it’s noteworthy: Standardizing medical data can help improve AI model performance.
Food for Health
What it does: Offers personalized food and grocery shopping guide.
Why it’s noteworthy: The startup’s app helps consumers choose foods that support their specific health needs with scientific certainty.
GLITCHERS Lab
What it does: Uses video games to collect brain data for health research, especially for Alzheimer’s.
Why it’s noteworthy: Gamifying cognitive testing to create a large dataset.
Innov8 AI
What it does: Uses AI to analyze social media and flag disruptive key narratives.
Why it’s noteworthy: The tool helps companies quickly notice unfavorable sentiment and reputation risks about their brand.
Lexi AI
What it does: Provides a multilingual, AI-powered medical interpretation.
Why it’s noteworthy: Fast and cost-efficient medical translations can save lives.
MariTest
What it does: Developing a bloodless, rapid diagnostic tool for the early detection and treatment of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa.
Why it’s noteworthy: Its bloodless technology removes the reliance on medical technicians, accelerating diagnosis in rural areas.
Meo Health
What it does: A tech-enabled recovery program for people suffering from long Covid.
Why it’s noteworthy: The company’s drug-free approach has been clinically proven to improve patients’ symptoms.
Monere
What it does: An AI-powered platform that uses a smartphone camera to analyze a user’s eyelid to monitor and reduce the risk of anemia and iron deficiency.
Why it’s noteworthy: The company’s noninvasive test claims to easily and quickly catch anemia.
Near Wave
What it does: This startup’s noninvasive, handheld device claims to be able to measure oxygen saturation and hemoglobin concentrations.
Why it’s noteworthy: This is a less painful and faster way to collect some of the vital biomarkers.
Neural Drive
What it does: Developing a noninvasive brain-computer interface that allows paralyzed patients to instantly communicate essential and custom messages via a “blink-to-speak” function.
Why it’s noteworthy: Unlike invasive devices, it can restore communication for paralyzed patients quickly and cost-effectively.
NUSEUM
What it does: A B2B precision nutrition AI platform that converts an individual’s complex health data into evidence-based food, grocery, and recipe recommendations.
Why it’s noteworthy: The company’s recommendations can help food delivery, e-commerce, diagnostic, health, and insurance sector clients offer better food choices to ultimate customers.
Ovulio Corp.
What it does: Saliva-based hormone monitor for helping manage fertility, menopause, and medical conditions like PCOS.
Why it’s noteworthy: Unlike alternatives, the noninvasive device is reusable.
Pharos
What it does: Automates the extraction of patient safety data from medical records for reporting to regulatory agencies.
Why it’s noteworthy: By using AI, Pharos helps free up clinical staff time while simultaneously preventing patient deaths and harm.
PillarBiome
What it does: Uses AI to deliver personalized, science-backed health recommendations by analyzing your gut microbiome data.
Why it’s noteworthy: The microbiome is full of rich data that could provide insights into personalized dietary recommendations for better health.
RADiCAIT
What it does: This Oxford spinout uses AI to transform routine CT scans into PET-like scans, bypassing the need for scarce, costly PET imaging.
Why it’s noteworthy: Obtaining PET-level insights from a regular CT scan is much faster and cheaper.
Serene Sleep
What it does: A simple, minimally invasive procedure to permanently stop snoring and treat sleep apnea.
Why it’s noteworthy: Tackles the widespread problem of snoring and sleep apnea, a condition that could otherwise require the use of bulky devices like CPAP masks.
Some Other Place
What it does: This startup, which recently rebranded as Hug, connects users with trained, empathetic human listeners for real-time peer support.
Why it’s noteworthy: People often feel better after they share worries and emotional burdens without judgment.
SpotitEarly
What it does: An at-home cancer breath test that uses AI technology and trained dogs to sniff out multiple early-stage cancers from compounds in a patient’s breath sample.
Why it’s noteworthy: Based on studies showing that dogs can use their strong sense of smell to detect cancer, this startup is creating a novel method to integrate that unique ability into an early-detection diagnostic.
Sybil Health
What it does: Offers science-backed, holistic therapies, alongside lifestyle adjustments, to help women manage hormonal changes during menopause.
Why it’s noteworthy: Consults women how to control menopausal symptoms with hormones or through complementary alternative and naturopathic therapies.
Vital Audio
What it does: Uses bioacoustics technology to capture vital signs like heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory metrics from short voice samples.
Why it’s noteworthy: Enables health systems to monitor thousands of patients, especially ones in remote regions.
VIZQ Technologies
What it does: Uses AI- and VR-powered technology to make speech and language therapy for children more accessible.
Why it’s noteworthy: Helps bridge the gap created by the shortage of speech therapists.
Vocadian
What it does: Uses voice AI to diagnose fatigue in the frontline workforce.
Why it’s noteworthy: The company’s technology could increase productivity and help prevent accidents.
Yuzi Care
What it does: Matches families with birth and postpartum doulas and care providers.
Why it’s noteworthy: Part of a wave of digital maternal health and postpartum startups.
Zemi Labs
What it does: Develops “smart clothing” for athletes that can capture and analyze heart, muscle, skin, and movements of athletes.
Why it’s noteworthy: Unlike wearable devices, Zemi’s clothing captures a broad range of biosignals, which could ultimately help performance.
