METAIAM Wins 2026 NYC Cross-Border US Startup Competition at NYU School of Law
AI security startup takes first place as Chinese and American founders and investors gather in New York.
By Kaya Jacobson · October 13, 2026 · 3 min read
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 10, 2026 – METAIAM, an AI security startup, won first place at the 2026 NYC Innovation Summit and Cross-Border US Startup Competition (NCUSC 2026), held at New York University School of Law. Orbitour AI placed second, and Thread Bioscience and medara shared third place.
Co-organized by the NYU Chinese Students and Scholars Association (NYU CSSA) and the Chinese Legal and Social Advancement Association (CLSA), the event brought together entrepreneurs, investors, and technology professionals from China and the United States for keynote speeches, a panel discussion, startup pitches, and an awards ceremony. Keynote speaker Andreas Deutschmann, Managing Partner at InFound Equity and former Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase, said he was impressed by the event’s scale and organization.
METAIAM is developing human-presence verification solutions to help financial institutions, data centers, and other organizations confirm that real people are involved in critical authorization processes. David Tang, Chief Commercial Officer of METAIAM, said AI can now impersonate human identities and bypass authorization procedures that traditionally require human verification, and that addressing this challenge is what his team aims to do. He added that growing attention to responsible AI and security helped the project’s success.
Orbitour AI pairs 3D spatial technology with AI to create digital venue presentations for event spaces. Zihao Zhang, Co-founder and CEO of Orbitour AI, said a strong pitch needs both a clear business rationale and real-world validation.
Thread Bioscience is building a point-of-care bacterial testing platform for urinary tract infections, and medara applies AI to breast cancer screening and risk assessment. Craig Serio, CEO of Thread Bioscience, welcomed the recognition given to biotechnology projects.
“We live in an era where the only constant is acceleration,” said keynote speaker David Kerachsky of the CES Speed Awards. Panelist Fannie Wang, Vice President of Investment at Uphouse Capital, said investors want genuine commitment and strategy rather than pitches that sound “overly perfect.”
Beyond the top three, four teams earned Excellence Awards and five more finalists were recognized as Outstanding Projects. Their work spanned AI, medical diagnostics, and drug discovery, highlighting the promise of moving research out of the lab and into the market. Panelist Chuck English, Principal at English Ventures, urged founders to act on their ideas, saying fear is often what keeps people from starting and that early failures can teach lessons that make a product better.
The competition gave Chinese and American founders, investors, and industry professionals a venue to share their varying and innovative perspectives and explore cross-border partnerships. As AI and other emerging technologies advance, turning new ideas into usable products remains a challenge that founders and investors continue to face head-on.
About NCUSC — The NYC Cross-Border US Startup Competition brings Chinese and American founders, investors, and technology professionals together in one room to pitch ideas, build connections, and turn research into real-world products.
About NYU CSSA — The New York University Chinese and Scholars Association (NYU CSSA) is a student organization that works with the student union and Chinese alumni associations along the East Coast