DALLAS, Aug. 19, 2026 — The American Heart Association, a relentless force changing the future of health for everyone everywhere, today announced the 2026 national cohort for its EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator, supported by the Wells Fargo Foundation and MATTER, a Chicago-based healthcare startup incubator and innovation hub. The program supports entrepreneurs and founder-led ventures developing solutions designed to improve health outcomes and address community needs.

Designed for founders navigating complex health care and community systems, the accelerator helps participants investigate how adoption decisions are made, test critical assumptions, identify barriers to implementation and clarify the evidence, relationships, workflows and commitments required for real-world adoption. Through structured fieldwork, mentorship, training and strategic business support, founders engage prospective partners and system stakeholders to refine, validate, narrow or redirect their adoption strategies.

"At the Wells Fargo Foundation, we believe some of the most impactful solutions emerge from people who understand community challenges firsthand. Through the EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator, we are helping entrepreneurs access the capital, mentorship and networks needed to turn innovative ideas into sustainable businesses that improve health outcomes and strengthen communities," said Kimelyn Harris, head of business growth philanthropy at the Wells Fargo Foundation.

This year’s cohort includes founders working across technology, education, prevention, maternal health, nutrition security, care coordination, chronic disease support and access to care. Their organizations reflect a range of approaches, including digital health tools, community-based services, culturally responsive education, precision health solutions and technology-enabled support for patients, families and care teams.

Innovators advancing health through technology and community insight

The Health Tech-Enabled Products and Services Track features early-stage and growth-stage companies developing technology-enabled products or services designed to improve health outcomes, strengthen care delivery and address community health challenges. The cohort reflects a range of approaches, including digital health, maternal and infant health, nutrition, chronic disease management, health care operations and consumer health technologies.

  • Benten Technologies, Inc. (SAFE4BOTH) - Manassas, VA. - SAFE4BOTH is a mobile health platform from Benten Technologies that connects mothers, infants, providers and community partners through unified data exchange and AI-enabled care coordination across the prenatal-to-postpartum journey, supporting early risk identification and remote monitoring for high-risk conditions including hypertension and preeclampsia. .
  • CardiacFITT - Dallas, TX - CardiacFITT is a digital health platform that combines community health workers with technology-enabled monitoring to deliver continuous post-discharge cardiovascular care in underserved communities. Since 2019, it has supported more than 3,500 individuals, delivered over 4,500 screenings and reduced hospital readmissions by 40% among participants.
  • CerTracker – Tulsa, OK -  CerTracker is a digital credential management platform that helps healthcare organizations and licensed professionals track, manage and share licenses and certifications. Its automated system reduces administrative burden, supports compliance and streamlines onboarding.
  • Cocina RX – Chicago, IL  - Cocina RX is a food-as-medicine platform bringing together medically tailored meals, nutrition care, personalized nutrition and clinical expertise.
  • Geneticure – Rochester, MN. - Geneticure is a Mayo Clinic–backed precision medicine company using a simple cheek swab and patented genetic algorithm to guide the selection of drug and device therapies for hypertension, reducing trial-and-error and supporting more precise, personalized treatment decisions.
  • Health in Her HUE – New York City, NY  Health in Her HUE connects women of color with culturally informed health care providers, health content and community support resources.
  • Healthy Hip Hop – San Francisco, CA - Healthy Hip Hop is an AI-powered children’s wellness platform using culturally relevant pop-culture content to promote physical health, mental well-being and literacy. The company is expanding into pediatric health care as a prescribable intervention designed to influence healthy behaviors.
  • HydroHUB Technologies, Inc. – West Palm Beach, Fl. - HydroHUB Technologies focuses on verified impact infrastructure for food and nutrition programs, including tools to document delivery and consumption outcomes.
  • Intersect Healthcare Systems – Gainesville, Fl. - Intersect Healthcare Systems is developing IntersectOnFHIR™, a FHIR-native precision-medicine platform for rural and safety-net health systems. Its hub-and-spoke model extends remote monitoring, telehealth and care coordination beyond academic medical centers to address infrastructure-driven access gaps in cardiovascular and chronic disease care.
  • Senior Shield Technologies – Atlanta, GA - Senior Shield Technologies is an award-winning medical device company whose incontinence monitoring system alerts caregivers in real time when a patient’s brief is soiled, enabling faster intervention that preserves dignity and reduces the risk of infections, pressure injuries and sepsis. The technology supports improved patient outcomes and caregiver efficiency.
  • STORC – Washington, D.C. - STORC is a patented maternal health technology platform connecting expectant mothers, families, health care professionals, EMS and hospitals through an integrated mobile app, vehicle-alert technology and real-time care-coordination dashboard. The platform improves communication, visibility and response during labor and maternal transport emergencies.
  • T1D1 (Type 1 Diabetes from Day 1) – Gaithersburg, MD - T1D1 is a nonprofit organization offering the first free, over-the-counter FDA-cleared insulin calculator app for people with Type 1 diabetes. Created by Drew Mendelow following his diagnosis at age 13, the app simplifies insulin-dose calculations, supports data tracking and sharing with health care teams, and is investigating integration into clinical workflows.
  • Ukali Health – Wheaton, Ill. - Ukali Health is developing an integrated health-data infrastructure to support earlier detection and monitoring of Alzheimer’s disease. The platform brings together clinical records, imaging, wearable data and caregiver information to create a more complete view of disease progression while advancing an institutional research pathway involving Morehouse School of Medicine and Emory University.

Emerging founders advancing health innovation

The Collegiate Track features founders connected to universities, research institutions and academic innovation ecosystems who are advancing solutions across a range of development stages. The cohort includes ventures pursuing breakthroughs in clinical technology, community health, artificial intelligence, nutrition, agriculture and health care operations.

  • ClinPrep Health – Redwood City, CA - University of North Texas Health Science Center; ClinPrep Health is a field-first service-accountability platform that helps organizations document, coordinate and validate care delivered to unhoused and complex-needs populations outside traditional clinical settings. By creating defensible evidence of completed services, the platform supports continuity, audit readiness, reimbursement and sustainable program funding.
  • CranioView – San Francisco, CA  - CranioView, Inc.; is developing a noninvasive, ultrasound-based solution to assess intracranial pressure in patients with traumatic brain injury, stroke and other neurologic emergencies. Designed for rapid deployment across acute-care settings, the technology aims to provide earlier clinical insight while reducing the risks associated with invasive monitoring, ICU utilization and costs.
  • Fetal Therapy Technologies – Baltimore - Johns Hopkins University; Fetal Therapy Technologies is a microsurgical-device company developing a radially expanding sheath for fetal and endovascular procedures. The device enters at a low profile and expands as needed to accommodate procedural instruments, an approach designed to reduce vascular trauma, minimize complications and improve procedural workflow.
  • GiSens Biotech – New York City  - Johns Hopkins University; GiSens Biotech develops clinical-grade biosensing technology for continuous monitoring of cardio-kidney-metabolic health. Initially focused on chronic kidney disease, its platform provides real-time biological data designed to support earlier intervention and better long-term outcomes, particularly in underserved communities.
  • HeartLens – Boston -  Harvard University; co-founded by Elizabeth Djajalie; an AI-powered nutrition platform that helps build heart-healthy habits through photo-based meal analysis.
  • Let’s Grow Akron – Akron, Ohio - community-based organization in Akron, Ohio; represented by India Nunn; focused on community agriculture and food security.
  • Lub Dub Lab – Cambridge, Mass. - Massachusetts Institute of Technology; founded by Yazhini Ravi, M.D.; developing a voice-based AI platform to support early heart disease insights.
  • OralSync – Washington, D.C. - founded by Christian Davis; a cloud-based dental clinic workflow system for patient records, charts, appointments, billing and clinic operations.
  • OVAI – Syosset, N.Y. - Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research / Northwell Health; led by Polona Safaric Tepes, Ph.D.; a non-invasive, on-skin platform enabling continuous hormone monitoring.

From lived experience to meaningful adoption

"Innovators closest to communities often have the most powerful solutions, but they face the steepest barriers to growth," said Marcella Roberts, Esq., a member of the American Heart Association volunteer board of directors. "The EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator helps close that gap by pairing funding with the insight, validation and narrative clarity founders need to move from promising concept to real-world impact."

Through the EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator, Through the accelerator, founders examine how decisions are made, where implementation barriers exist and what evidence organizations require before considering new solutions. These investigations generate practical insights that help founders refine, narrow or redirect their adoption strategies and identify credible next steps.

Why this matters

According to the American Heart Association, health outcomes are shaped by a range of social, economic and environmental factors in addition to clinical care. Addressing these challenges requires innovation, collaboration and leaders who understand community needs. The EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator reflects the Association’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurs developing solutions designed to improve health outcomes nationwide.

National Showcase Finale

The 2026 EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator National Showcase Finale will take place Oct. 22, 2026, at MATTER in Chicago, where founders will present their ventures before judges, industry leaders and community partners. In each track, one first-place finalist will receive a $100,000 grant, and one second-place finalist will receive a $50,000 grant to support continued advancement of their work. All other participants will receive a stipend in recognition of their participation in the accelerator and contributions throughout the program.

Learn more about the EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator and the 2026 cohort.

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About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. The organization has been a leading source of health information for more than one hundred years. Supported by more than 35 million volunteers globally, we fund groundbreaking research, advocate for the public’s health, and provide critical resources to save and improve lives affected by cardiovascular disease and stroke. By driving breakthroughs and implementing proven solutions in science, policy, and care, we work tirelessly to advance health and transform lives every day. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, X, or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1

For Media Inquiries: 214-706-1173

Brittnay Glover: Brittnay.Glover@heart.org

For Public Inquiries: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)

heart.org and stroke.org