Loading…
Celebrating the Winners of the 2026 Built-On Databricks Startup Challenge - Cloned
Andrew Ferguson, Joslyn O'Connell, Sully Clark
- Source
- Databricks
- Published
- Added to Yomu
Summary
The 2026 Built-On Databricks Startup Challenge recognized early-stage startups building B2B applications on the Databricks platform, with winners announced at the Data + AI Summit in San Francisco on June 16. VisionHeight won the grand prize for an agentic threat-intelligence platform that maps adversary infrastructure across the Internet while it is being built; Linkup placed second with a production-grade Web Search API delivering results in about two seconds, and Intelo placed third with an agentic workforce for retail merchandising and planning. Clarecast, Gemini Sports, and LakeFusion received honorable mentions for predictive intelligence, football squad planning, and an AI-native data foundation combining MDM, PIM, and LakeGraph. Judges assessed market potential, founding-team caliber, and innovative use of Databricks, while the startup-program offer provides qualifying startups up to $200,000 in credits across Databricks and Neon.
Context
The competition brought together early-stage startups building innovative B2B applications on the Databricks platform. Applicants were evaluated on market potential, founding team caliber, and innovative use of Databricks.
Approach / What changed
A judging panel selected three winners and three honorable mentions, whose finalists presented their solutions live at the 2026 Data + AI Summit. The announcement also describes a Databricks Startup Program offer providing qualifying startups with credits across Databricks and Neon.
Takeaways
- VisionHeight won the grand prize with an agentic threat-intelligence platform that maps adversary infrastructure across the Internet while it is being constructed.
- Linkup placed second with a production-grade Web Search API for AI applications, agents, chatbots, and data pipelines; its results are delivered in about two seconds.
- Intelo placed third with five AI Agent Teams covering merchant analytics, merchandise financial planning, assortment planning, in-season management, and pricing and promotion.