Nine Korean startups vie for a spot in Disrupt 2027’s Startup Battlefield 200 competition

Detailed summary

The startups work across the deep tech sector, including healthcare, fintech, energy, semiconductors, and AI. All nine are looking to enter the US.

TechCrunch’s yearly Startup Battlefield 200 competition sees hundreds of companies from across the world trying every year to get a chance to pitch in front of VCs and the international tech community at the Disrupt conference.

This week, nine early-stage South Korean startups pitched at DETO 2026, a technology conference in Seoul, to earn a spot in next year’s Startup Battlefield 200.

The startups work across the deep tech sector, including healthcare, fintech, energy, semiconductors, and AI. All nine startups are looking to enter the U.S. market as part of the broader international expansion plans.

Voinosis, which develops AI to detect changes in brain health through voice analysis, won the competition. The other eight startups are listed below in alphabetical order.

Voinosis is developing an AI tool that analyzes speech patterns such as pitch, pauses, rhythm and response times to detect changes linked to brain health. Each voice check takes less than five minutes.

The company says its technology has been tested in Greek, Japanese and English, and its product doesn’t require separate training for each language. In a clinical study involving 146 participants, the startup claims its tech achieved 88% accuracy in screening for potential cognitive issues.

Voinosis targets hospitals, senior living facilities, insurers and individual consumers. It also plans to link voice checks with cognitive training, assessments, and treatment provided by healthcare professionals.

The startup was founded by Grace Shin, who spent more than 25 years as an otologic surgeon. The startup is currently raising a Series A round and has already secured a South Korean pharmaceutical company as a strategic investor.

Awesome Lab, based in Seoul, makes ThermoFlux, a heating system that uses water electrolysis and ionization to generate heat. The system can manage heat production for buildings, water supply, and industrial processes.

Opening of the article, excerpted from TechCrunch. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.