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Billow at TechCrunch Disrupt: Why This Moment Matters to Us

Billow Team••5 min read
Billow at TechCrunch Disrupt: Why This Moment Matters to Us

This is our first blog post, and it feels right that it’s about this moment.

Billow was selected as a TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield 200, and while that headline is exciting, the real significance runs deeper for us. Disrupt isn’t just a conference; it’s a forcing function. A place where you’re asked, very plainly: what have you actually built, who is it for, and why does it matter right now?

For us, that question lands squarely in the world of biotech finance.

Thanks to the TechCrunch Disrupt team for selecting us out of 1000s of applicants and be part of this year’s Startup Battlefield! 💚

How Billow Started (and Why It Exists)

Billow didn’t start as an “AI startup.” It started with a frustration we kept hearing from 100s of biotech CFOs and finance leaders.

It can cost more than $2B to bring a drug to market, yet the assumptions behind those decisions are often stale and maintained manually. Every quarter, every board cycle, every fundraise, the same core models - rNPVs, DCFs, scenarios, sensitivities - have to be rebuilt, refreshed, and re-explained.

The logic lives in Excel. But the work around it is painfully manual. Assumptions change. Data updates. Context gets lost. Analysts spend their time reworking slides instead of thinking.

Meanwhile, generic AI tools sit outside the workflow. They’re impressive, but they don’t respect how finance actually operates: versioned workbooks, auditability, structure, and review.

So we asked a simple question:

What if AI worked inside Excel, the way biotech finance teams already do?

That question became Billow.

What We’re Building

Billow is a biotech finance copilot that lives directly in Excel.

It helps teams:

  • Update valuation outputs when assumptions change
  • Run base / downside / upside scenarios without breaking models
  • Generate board-ready analysis without rebuilding from scratch
  • Keep financial logic transparent, reviewable, and defensible
  • Stress test their financial models and do comps (M&A) analysis

    • We’re not trying to replace Excel. We’re trying to remove the busywork that surrounds it, so finance teams can spend more time on judgment, not mechanics.

    Why TechCrunch Disrupt Matters to Us

    Being part of TechCrunch Disrupt isn’t about logos or stage time (though they were exciting too!).

    TechCrunch Disrupt forces clarity. We have to explain Billow simply, without jargon, and see if the idea holds up on its own. If it doesn’t, that’s useful. If it does, that’s signal.

    For Billow, it’s our chance to:

  • Pressure-test our narrative with people who don’t know biotech
  • Meet operators and investors who value workflow-level products
  • Share what we’re learning from CFOs and finance leaders in the field

    • Most importantly, it’s a checkpoint. A moment to pause and say: yes, this problem is real, and yes, the solution is resonating.

    What Comes Next

    We’re still early.

    We’re working closely with biotech finance teams, running pilots, refining workflows, and learning where Billow creates the most leverage. Every conversation sharpens the product. Every model we touch teaches us something new.

    TechCrunch Disrupt is one milestone, not the destination, but it’s an encouraging one.

    If you’re a biotech CFO, VP Finance, or operator who lives in Excel and feels like financial modeling has become heavier instead of smarter, we’d love to talk.

    This is just the beginning.

    —

    The Billow Team