Out of 400 international applications, six African organisations are among the ten selected worldwide to take part in Turn.io’s 2025 Chat for Health & AI Accelerator.
Digital health innovation across Africa is advancing, with artificial intelligence (AI) and mobile technologies driving scalable solutions to long-standing public health challenges. In September 2025, Turn.io announced the selection of ten organisations globally for its Chat for Health & AI Accelerator. Among these, six outstanding African organisations made the cut, showcasing the continent’s growing leadership in leveraging AI and conversational platforms like WhatsApp to improve health outcomes. This report briefly discusses these six African organisations, their areas of focus, and the potential impact of their work in transforming healthcare across the continent.
About the Accelerator
· Organized by Turn.io, a social impact technology company.
· Supported by: Johnson & Johnson Foundation, Mulago Foundation, and OpenAI
· Duration: 24 weeks (September 2025 – January 2026).
· Aim: To equip health organizations with the tools, mentorship, and technical support required to scale AI-powered conversational services.
· Support provided: Participants receive over $500,000 in value across Turn.io’s conversational technology, development support, and expert mentorship and guidance, delivered in partnership with IDinsight, culminating in a working AI-enabled solution by the end of the programme.
· Selection Criteria: Scalability and sustainability, technical readiness to implement AI-enabled chat services, market access and stakeholder relationships, clear impact potential, and organisational capacity – with a preference for teams positioned to reach hundreds of thousands of users within 12 months.
African Organisations Selected
1. AI Diagnostics (South Africa)
AI Diagnostics creates AI-powered solution in healthcare, such as a digital stethoscope for frontline TB and respiratory screening. It will collaborate with StopTB and nurse-led clinics, to pilot a WhatsApp integration for patient onboarding, education, and treatment adherence support through the Accelerator(1,2).
2. hearX Foundation (South Africa)
hearX Foundation is a Non-Governmental Organisation that focuses on hearing health. This Organisation organises programmes to support the adoption and sustained use of hearing aids in low-resource settings to advance accessible hearing care. Through the accelerator, hearX aims to expand its WhatsApp-based AI chatbot that uses voice-note guidance and large language model (LLM) responses to support individuals using hearing aids in low-resource communities. This innovation directly addresses barriers to hearing healthcare access across the continent(1,3).
3. Cliniva (Kenya)
Cliniva, a nurse-led health-tech start-up in Kenya, through its hybrid care model focused on prevention and retention, has served more than 54,000 patients with majority being women. In the Accelerator, it will build on its WhatsApp prevention assistant, designed to support low-income women with personalised tips and reminders tailored to their health history, behaviour, and preferences, helping them make better-informed choices about their wellbeing. Its inclusion in the accelerator will help strengthen gender-focused health interventions in East Africa(1,4).
4. Helium Health (Nigeria)
Helium Health is one of Africa’s leading health technology companies, its solutions serve more than 500 health facilities, 10,000 health workers, and 1 million patients, and the company has facilitated over $11 million in health financing loans to providers. Helium Health will integrate Turn.io tools into its electronic health records (EHR) system, HeliumOS and patient engagement app, HeliumDoc. The focus is on enhancing appointment management and follow-up care, which remain weak links in many African health systems(1,5).
5. MDaaS Global (Nigeria)
MDaaS Global is a health-tech startup that connects low-income Nigerians to quality and affordable healthcare through its network of 23 diagnostic centers. 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. The initiative highlights the potential of AI-powered chatbots to bridge healthcare gaps in Nigeria and beyond (1,6).
6. OneDay Health (Uganda)
OneDay Health is a non-profit Organisation that delivers affordable primary care in remote communities, through a network of nurse-led clinics. In the Accelerator, it will design a WhatsApp-based LLM tool that empowers nurses to carry out diagnostics, triage, and treatment adherence support in underserved areas. This approach equips frontline health workers with digital tools that improve decision-making and expand access to quality healthcare(1,7).
Significance for Africa
The representation of six African organisations in a global pool of ten underscores the continent’s emerging role as a hub for digital health innovation. Their participation in the accelerator offers several key benefits:
- Scaling Local Solutions: Each organisation addresses context-specific challenges, from TB care in South Africa to women’s health in Kenya.
- AI for Equity: By leveraging widely accessible platforms like WhatsApp, these innovators ensure inclusivity for low-income and rural populations.
- Capacity Building: The accelerator provides funding, mentorship, and technical expertise that will enhance sustainability and scalability.
- Health Systems Strengthening: From EHR integration to frontline diagnostics, these initiatives contribute to closing systemic healthcare gaps.
The selection of AI Diagnostics, hearX Foundation, Cliniva, Helium Health, MDaaS Global, and OneDay Health reflects Africa’s growing capacity to lead in AI-driven health solutions. As they embark on the Turn.io 2025 Chat for Health & AI Accelerator journey, their collective impact is set to make healthcare easier to reach, improve the way patients are cared for, and show the world what Africa can achieve with digital health innovation
References
1. Turn.io. Turn.io announces cohort for the 2025 Chat for Health & AI Accelerator [Internet]. 2025. Available from: https://www.turn.io/news/turn-io-announces-cohort-for-the-2025-chat-for-health-ai-accelerator?
2. AI Diagnostics. AI-Powered TB Screening. 2025; Available from: https://www.aidiagnostics.health/
3. hearX Foundation. About Us [Internet]. 2025. Available from: https://www.hearxfoundation.org/
4. Cliniva. Africa’s Next Generation of Healthcare Built for Women, by Women. [Internet]. 2025. Available from: https://mycliniva.com/
5. Helium Health. THE #1 HEALTHTECH PROVIDER IN AFRICA [Internet]. 2025. Available from: https://heliumhealth.com/
6. mdaasglobal. Building Healthcare for Africa’s Next Billion [Internet]. 2025. Available from: https://www.mdaas.io/
7. ONEDAY. 100 million people don’t have access to quality healthcare. We’re here to change that. [Internet]. 2025. Available from: https://onedayhealth.org/home
