By Sean Whitehead
Copyright iafrica
Turn.io has launched its 2025 Chat for Health & AI Accelerator, a 24-week programme helping health organisations scale conversational AI services for underserved communities.
Selected from more than 400 applicants, 10 organisations will receive over $500,000 in technology, mentorship, and support in partnership with IDinsight. Each will build a working AI-enabled solution by January 2026.
Use cases include patient onboarding, appointment management, telehealth triage, medication adherence, and behaviour-change support. All participants will develop WhatsApp-based AI services with multimodal capabilities such as voice, images, and text.
The programme runs in three phases—implementation, testing, and scaling—with Demo Day marking its close. Cohort members will also gain access to Turn.io’s Health Desk, chatbot builder, and AI voice tools, plus introductions to funders and partners for long-term growth.
Meet the 2025 cohort
AI Diagnostics, health tech startup, South Africa
AI Diagnostics develops AI-enabled diagnostic tools, such as a digital stethoscope for frontline TB and respiratory screening. Through the Accelerator, it will pilot a WhatsApp integration for patient onboarding, education, and treatment adherence support in partnership with StopTB and nurse-led clinics.
Cliniva, health tech startup, Kenya
Cliniva is a nurse-led hybrid healthcare model in Kenya, serving 54,000+ patients (80% women) with a focus on prevention and high patient retention. As part of the Accelerator, Cliniva will enhance its WhatsApp prevention assistant to help low-income African women make more informed health choices. It offers personalised tips, nudges, and prompts based on clinical history, behaviour, and preferences.
Cuéntame, health tech startup, Mexico
Cuéntame is a digital B2B mental health platform serving more than 150,000 employees across 40+ companies in Latin America, with a mission to demolish every barrier to mental health in Latin America through a personalised, data-driven, and clinically effective platform that provides ROI for organisations. During the Accelerator, Cuéntame will expand its WhatsApp-based onboarding, psychoeducational journeys, and ongoing engagement tools, using AI-powered personalisation to enhance employee mental health and workplace resilience.
doctHERs, social enterprise, Pakistan
doctHERs is revolutionising healthcare by reintegrating previously excluded female healthcare providers into an agile, gender-inclusive workforce and leveraging mobile health and telemedicine technologies to enhance healthcare access and outcomes, particularly for women and girls. Through the Accelerator, doctHERs plans to digitise its care model using Turn.io’s technology, scaling impact for providers while ensuring a coordinated care journey that makes healthcare more accessible, personal, and seamless for patients.
hearX Foundation, non-profit/NGO, South Africa
hearX Foundation advances accessible hearing care, with programmes supporting the adoption and sustained use of hearing aids in low-resource settings. During the Accelerator, it will scale a WhatsApp AI chatbot that provides personalised voice-note guidance and LLM-driven responses, strengthening hearing aid use and ongoing support.
Helium Health, health tech startup, Nigeria
Helium Health is the leading digital health company accelerating Africa’s transition to a technology- and data-driven healthcare sector. During the programme, Helium Health will integrate the Turn.io tool into its electronic health records platform, HeliumOS, and its patient engagement app, HeliumDoc, to strengthen appointment management and follow-up care.
MDaaS Global, health tech startup, Nigeria
MDaaS Global operates 23 diagnostic centres that connect low-income Nigerians to quality and affordable healthcare. Through the Accelerator, it will expand “Ask Beacon,” its AI-powered WhatsApp and web chatbot, to provide triage, medication support, and appointment management, reducing barriers to verified care facilities.
OneDay Health delivers affordable primary care through a network of nurse-led clinics serving remote communities. In the Accelerator, it will develop a WhatsApp-based LLM tool that guides nurses through flow-chart diagnostics while also supporting treatment adherence, triage, and clinical decision-making support.
Peek Vision, social enterprise, United Kingdom
Peek Vision develops software and data intelligence to help NGOs, governments, and hospitals optimise eye health services. During the Accelerator, Peek will integrate WhatsApp and AI chatbots to enhance its training, enabling users to effectively implement its software and scale up its training activities to meet growing demand.
Wysa, health tech start-up, US, UK and India
Wysa combines AI and human-in-the-loop for 24/7 wellbeing support on WhatsApp. As part of the Accelerator programme, Wysa will enhance its WhatsApp-based interventions, refine conversational flows, and securely integrate AI into high-trust health systems.
