Last year, turn.io, OpenAI, the Johnson & Johnson Foundation, and the Mulago Foundation announced the Chat for Health & AI Accelerator. A global program supporting healthtech startups using AI to expand healthcare access for underserved communities.
On January 27, 2026, the accelerator culminated in a global Demo Day, where selected startups presented how their products evolved after four months of focused technical support, mentorship, and real-world deployment.
Here are the startups that made it and how the accelerator helped them get there.
What is the Chat for Health & AI Accelerator?
The Chat for Health & AI Accelerator is a four-month, non-dilutive program designed to help healthcare organisations responsibly build and scale AI-powered, conversational health solutions, particularly in low-resource settings.
At a glance:
- Led by: turn.io
- Supported by: OpenAI, Johnson & Johnson Foundation and Mulago Foundation
- Cohort size: 10 startups and nonprofits
- Duration: ~4 months (culminating in Demo Day on Jan 27, 2026)
How startups were selected
Among 400+ global applicants, selected ones had:
- Existing traction in underserved communities
- Clear healthcare impact
- Responsible and practical use of AI
- Potential to scale through accessible channels like WhatsApp
What participants received
They received $320,000+ in combined resources, including:
- OpenAI API credits and technical support
- Full access to turn.io’s conversational infrastructure (WhatsApp messaging, AI-enabled inbox, no-code chatbot journeys, and voice capabilities)
- Hands-on mentorship across AI deployment, global health, product, impact measurement, and scale
- Support to move from pilots to deployable, real-world solutions
- Exposure to funders and ecosystem partners during Demo Day
Rather than focusing on experimentation alone, the accelerator emphasised implementation, governance, and scale readiness, helping teams embed AI into frontline healthcare delivery.
10 healthtech startups in the Chat for Health & AI Accelerator 2025
AI Diagnostics
Founders: Braden van Breda, Johan Coetzee, and Mark van Breda
Year: 2015 | Location: South Africa
AI Diagnostics provides a portable, AI-powered digital stethoscope for rapid tuberculosis (TB) screening. By analysing lung sounds, the tool identifies patterns linked to pulmonary TB with 90% sensitivity, outperforming traditional symptom-based screening. Designed for low-resource settings, the tool is affordable, easy to use, and functions offline.
Cliniva
Founders: Yulia Sidorova
Year: 2025 | Location: Kenya
Cliniva provides a “WhatsApp Prevention Assistant” designed for low-income women. Their model combines physical clinics with telemedicine and an AI-driven WhatsApp assistant to offer personalized care, from chronic disease management and gynecology to wellness and pregnancy support.
Cuéntame
Founders: Regina Athié and Fernando Chávez
Year: 2019 | Location: Mexico
Cuéntame is a data-driven mental health platform helping organisations reduce burnout and turnover. It offers employees with online therapy, wellness resources, and personalised support through an AI assistant.
The platform helps companies identify mental health risks, measure ROI, and promote a healthy workplace culture. It is specifically designed to reach both office-based and operational “deskless” workers who often lack access to digital health tools.
doctHERs
Founders: Dr. Asher Hasan, Dr. Sabeen Fatima Haque
Year: 2015 | Location: Pakistan
doctHERs is a digital healthcare platform that connects underserved communities with female doctors through a hybrid telemedicine model. Their mission is twofold: providing accessible, high-quality care to marginalized patients while reintegrating excluded female medical professionals into the workforce.
hearX Foundation NPC
Founders: Professor De Wet Swanepoel
Year: 2015 | Location: South Africa
This non-profit entity utilises digital technology to provide hearing health coaching and screenings. They focus on early detection, screening children and adults for hearing loss at the grassroots level. Their “digital hearing coach” supports patients in low-resource communities who would otherwise lack access to audiology services.
Helium Health
Founders: Goke Olubusi, Dimeji Sofowora
Year: 2016 | Location: Nigeria
Helium Health provides AI-powered clinical decision support and Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems. Their goal is to streamline clinical workflows for frontline providers across African healthcare systems. Beyond technology, they offer financial solutions like HeliumCredit to provide clinics with much-needed capital.
MDaaS Global
Founders: Oluwasoga Oni
Year: 2016 | Location: Nigeria
MDaaS (Medical Devices as a Service) operates a network of tech-enabled diagnostic clinics. Their model focuses on providing high-quality, affordable medical testing, such as imaging and pathology, supported by their proprietary technology platform, BeaconOS, which streamlines clinic operations.
OneDay Health
Founders: Dr. Nicolas Laing, Pranav Sridhar, and Emmanuel Ochola
Year: 2017 | Location: Uganda
OneDay Health launches sustainable, tech-enabled primary health centers in remote “healthcare black holes” across sub-Saharan Africa. For a low startup cost, they establish clinics that provide high-quality, comprehensive care to underserved communities.
By equipping nurses with diagnostics and protocols, it delivers fast, affordable care for conditions like malaria and maternal health issues, significantly reducing travel time and medical costs for thousands of patients.
Peek Vision
Founders: Andrew Bastawrous
Year: 2013 | Location: United Kingdom
Peek Vision creates smartphone-based tools and data intelligence to address the global vision loss crisis. Their software empowers non-specialist health workers to perform vision screenings in communities and schools, effectively connecting patients to care.
The platform provides end-to-end patient tracking and actionable insights, helping governments and NGOs build more efficient and scalable eye health systems.
Wysa
Founders: Jo Aggarwal
Year: 2015 | Location: India
Wysa is a clinically validated, AI-powered mental health platform providing immediate, anonymous support. It uses evidence-based techniques like CBT and DBT to help users manage stress, anxiety, and sleep.
Designed to integrate with health systems and employers, Wysa overcomes stigma by offering 24/7 self-help tools, bridging the gap between sessions, and simplifying referrals to professional care.
Wrapping up
The Chat for Health & AI Accelerator Demo Day showcased what happens when AI is built for access.
Across the cohort, startups demonstrated clearer deployment pathways, stronger data and governance frameworks, and deeper integration into frontline healthcare workflows.
They leveraged conversational AI through familiar channels like WhatsApp to support screening, triage, follow-ups, and continuity of care.
Together, these 10 organisations show that AI’s most powerful healthcare applications may not sit in high-resource hospitals, but in community clinics, primary care centres, and patients’ phones.
When paired with the right infrastructure, mentorship, and accountability, AI can help close the global healthcare gap.
