TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield pitch contest attracts thousands of applicants each year. These entries will be narrowed down to the top 200, and the top 20 will compete on the big stage to win the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000 in prize money. However, the remaining 180 startups all surprised us in their respective categories and are competing in their own pitch competitions.
Below is the complete list of Biotech and Pharmaceutical Startup Battlefield 200 selectors and notes on why they entered the competition.
CasNx
What: CasNx has invented a new type of antiviral treatment for organs from organ donors.
Why it’s worth watching: The startup has invented a gene-editing CRISPR kit that removes viruses and installs “universal donor” markers while preserving organs outside the body.
Chipilone
What it is: Chipiron is building a lightweight, inexpensive, open whole-body MRI machine that aims to make MRI cancer diagnosis more widely available.
Why it’s worth noting: Medical MRI machines are built using superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). SQUIDs are highly sensitive magnetometers that can measure very weak magnetic fields and are often used in array antennas.
Exactix
What: Exactics is building a platform to create rapid diagnostic tests.
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Why it’s worth watching: Exactics is making its consumer diagnostic kits more widely available, starting with at-home screening for Lyme disease, and has kits for other diseases on its roadmap.
Lumos Strategy OÜ
What it is: Lumos has developed a consumer high-frequency electromagnetic device named Avara that targets red blood cells.
Why it’s worth watching: Avara is designed to provide gentle, non-contact “guided therapy” to improve sleep, relaxation, and exercise recovery.
miracles
What it is: Miraqules has developed powdered nanotechnology that mimics blood clotting proteins.
Why it’s worth watching: This technology instantly clots blood and is a unique and potentially life-saving alternative to traditional wound treatment, especially when treating patients at the scene of injury.
nephrogen
What: Nephrogen develops gene therapy solutions for kidney disease.
Why it’s worth watching: Nephrogen is solving one of the most difficult problems with gene-editing drugs. The technology uses AI to precisely target gene editing to the exact cells in the kidney that are causing the disease.
praxis pro
What it is: PraxisPro is an AI-powered training system for sales and marketing roles in the life sciences industry.
Why it’s worth watching: The system offers compliance-approved content with simulations and real-time analysis to help life sciences company representatives better prepare.
Leme D
What: Reme-D develops reliable and affordable diagnostic tests specifically targeting underserved communities.
Why it’s worth watching: Reme-D has developed a rapid diagnostic test that is not only particularly affordable, but also stable in hot and humid climates.
Surgicure Technologies
What: Surgicure has developed a patented solution that secures endotracheal tubes (ET) more securely and securely.
Why it’s important: This device makes ET tubes (flexible tubes inserted through the mouth or nose during surgeries and other treatments) safer and more comfortable for patients.
