Partnering with startups using AI to improve healthcare
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology have the potential to advance every facet of the healthcare industry. From helping doctors detect diseases earlier to accelerating medical research, startups are already using AI to solve pressing health and wellbeing challenges. We need to work together to innovate safely and realize long-term health technology potential. To help founders build responsibly and improve health outcomes for billions of people around the world, we’re introducing the Google for Startups Growth Academy: AI for Health program for companies based in Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
This hybrid program is the first of a series of Google for Startups Growth Academies hyper-focused on making it easy and scalable for startups to innovate and solve societal challenges with AI. Similar to Growth Academy: Cybersecurity, selected seed to Series A startups will participate in a series of tailored workshops over the course of three months and partner closely with Google and industry experts to grow their companies, share best practices, and drive the responsible development of AI solutions in the health and wellbeing industry. After the program completes, startups will still have access to long-term Google mentorship and support as part of the Google for Startups alumni network. Founders can learn more and apply before July 10.
Growth Academy: AI for Health and Med-PaLM 2 are just the latest in Google’s ongoing commitment to researching artificial intelligence for healthcare and to drive efficacy, equity, helpfulness and safety. For more than 10 years, Google for Startups has partnered with founders using tech to solve societal challenges, and it is vital we continue collaborating to activate the benefits of human-centered AI in healthcare and medicine.
Meet some Google for Startups alumni using AI to build towards a future where everyone, everywhere is living a healthier life:
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Temie Giwa Tubosun, Founder & CEO of LifeBank
Lagos, Nigeria
Nigerian native Temie Giwa-Tubosun was horrified to learn that tens of thousands of people in developing countries die waiting for blood, not because of supply, but because of inefficient transportation systems. So she harnessed the power of blockchain and artificial intelligence to create Lifebank, an app and motorcycle network that connects blood banks to hospitals in urgent need of blood. LifeBank now leverages AI technology to provide value in multiple segments (production, marketplace and distribution) of the healthcare supply chain such as blood, oxygen and medical supplies. LifeBank has saved 20,000 lives since its inception in 2016. “Without a technology like Google Maps API, we’d be in the dark," said Temie.
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Manuel Marina Breysse, Jose María Lillo Castellano and Iñigo Juantegui, Cofounders of Idoven
Madrid, Spain
By embedding AI algorithms directly into a daily clinical workflow, “cardiology-as-a-service” startup Idoven identifies 86 cardiac patterns, which make up 90% of the most common cardiac problems. “Willem, our AI platform for electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis, is continuously being trained by cardiologists and engineers. Today our AI has learned from the heartbeats of over 366,700 patients to reach cardiologist-level accuracy. It supports physicians in diagnosing more efficiently, reducing by more than 20x the time previously spent by doctors doing the analysis manually,” said Manuel. Since Idoven first launched at Google for Startup Campus Madrid in 2020, Idoven's artificial intelligence has evolved from a desktop machine learning software to a cloud-based intelligence using DNN models with more than 300 million nodes towards their goal of being the most accurate AI software for ECG analysis available. This open platform is currently integrated with market leaders, third-party hardware, software, electronic medical record systems and pharma companies’ digital solutions. Idoven has raised more than $24 million in funding, including Horizon 2020 and EIC Accelerator from European Innovation Council; supported by leading VC firms and Business Angels such as Insight Partners; Northzone; Accel; Wayra, EIT Health; and Iker Casillas. The healthtech startup is attracting global talent and becoming the European leader in AI for ECG signal analysis and cardiology.
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Dr Sarah Bechstein, Founder of FORMEL Skin
Berlin, Germany
One of WIRED’s 2022 Hottest 100 Startups, FORMEL Skin uses AI to simplify the entire patient journey and treatment experience. The digital platform provides a more efficient framework, with faster access to care and better outcomes in treating skin conditions including acne, rosacea, and melasma, using a three-pronged approach: digital consultations via the app, in-house doctors who provide personalized care, and individualized treatment plans with their own line of medicated products. “Meeting all of these smart, like-minded people with whom I could share our vulnerabilities helped me during my daily business at FORMEL Skin, and also in my personal growth,” said Dr Bechstein. “After the Growth Academy program, we were able to refine our absolute north star.”
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Maria Smerechuk, Cofounder & COO of Mindly
Kyiv, Ukraine
Ukraine Support Fund recipient startup Mindly believes that AI is the only way we can make mental health therapy truly accessible to all. With the shortage of qualified therapists, and the relatively high expenses of therapy sessions, AI can help scale and support the work of therapists in many ways. Of the 15,000+ people using Mindly, nine in ten found their therapist the first time on our AI-powered platform.
“We are building out our AI features because Mindly is now in a position to help millions of people, create jobs, and have a real positive macro impact on the Ukrainian economy and the world as we know it,” said Maria. “Our goal for 2030 is to help make one billion lives healthy, happy and fulfilling through psychology.”
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Ravid Israel, Founder of Embie
Tel Aviv, Israel
“The use of AI in fertility care is rapidly growing—but 88% of our patients report to have never heard about it from their clinics,” said Ravid. “Embie uses AI to empower patients and their clinics with real-time monitoring and data-driven insights into every point of care during the fertility treatment journey to help them understand and personalize the process. One of our core values is using AI in an ethical and responsible way, especially given the sensitive nature of the data. We are so grateful to have Google for Startups support and their network of mentors. It has come at a critical time for Embie Clinic and AI, we're so excited to share the next stage in our growth soon!”
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Shardi Nahavandi, Cofounder and CEO of Tuune
London, United Kingdom
Half of all women taking contraceptives suffer side effects from birth control. London-based Tuune leverages AI and biological testing to match people with uteruses with the most suitable contraception option for their unique bodies and end the “one size fits all” mentality to birth control. The Tuune team worked closely with Google for Startups mentors to build their algorithm. “We received invaluable advice from the wider Google network on how we build our technology to scale and also leverage AI for women’s health—they literally gave us access to some of the world's most innovative thinkers,” said Shardi. “This significantly ramped up our tech and allowed us to exceed expectations.”
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Piotr Orzechowski, Founder of Infermedica
Wrocław, Poland
Infermedica uses AI to help doctors pre-diagnose, triage and direct their patients to appropriate medical services and make access to care achievable and affordable. The company has invested more than 84,000 physician hours into building one of the world's most advanced medical knowledge bases of diseases, symptoms and risk factors. Infermedica's platform has an industry-leading 95% engine-accuracy rate and is now being used in more than 35 countries, in 21 languages and has completed more than 13 million successful health checks to date. “Google for Startups connected us to amazing mentors and coaches, and we were able to meet amazing founders aspiring to change the world with their businesses,” said Piotr. “We’re investing heavily into our people and our products, rolling out new modules of our platform as well as expanding our underlying AI capabilities in terms of disease coverage and accuracy.”
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Ikechukwu Arthur Anoke and Daisy Isiaho, co-founders of Zuri Health
Nairobi, Kenya
Zuri Health is an AI-powered virtual hospital providing quality affordable and accessible healthcare services to patients across Sub-saharan Africa via mobile app, website, and SMS service. Through the app, patients can chat and consult with doctors, buy medication from a pharmacy, book labs and diagnostic tests and have a doctor visit them at home. With Google for Startups support, Zuri Health launched a new chatbot to connect patients to healthcare services in Kenya, where 97% of all internet users are using WhatsApp. “We understand that to democratize access to healthcare, various channels have to be created,” said Daisy.
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Alex Frenkel, CEO and Co-Founder of Kai.ai
Tel Aviv, Israel
“Kai will never replace a therapist, or any human role for support—and we don’t think it should. But we can use AI to ground us to our thoughts and to our feelings and better prepare us to have the most meaningful types of relationship with others.
We're most focused on AI application methods that are substantially helpful for our audience. It's one thing to add something to a tech stack, another to leverage it to create real, differentiated value for the people you serve. A huge thank you to the fantastic Google for Startups team leading the Growth Academy program — your guidance and support have made a remarkable impact on our progress and ability to help people.”
Learn more and apply for the program until July 10.
