Techstars and Permanente Medicine Mid-Atlantic States Announce 2026 Healthcare Accelerator Cohort

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 18, 2026 – Techstars and the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group (“Permanente Medicine Mid-Atlantic States”) today announced the nine startups selected for the 2026 Techstars Healthcare Accelerator powered by Permanente Medicine Mid-Atlantic States. 

The cohort includes companies developing new approaches to prostate cancer diagnosis, cognitive decline, prenatal testing, chronic gastrointestinal disease, behavioral health, wound care, hearing care, and medical imaging - including quantum-enhanced AI for low-dose CT. 

The three-month program began September 14 and culminates with Demo Day in Washington, D.C., on December 9. Over the course of the program, founders will work with Techstars’ global network of investors, mentors, and entrepreneurs alongside physicians and healthcare leaders from the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, an organization of approximately 1,800 physicians across more than 60 medical specialties serving Kaiser Permanente members throughout Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. 

By combining Techstars’ global accelerator platform with Permanente Medicine’s integrated, value-based care model, the program brings founders into direct contact with the clinical, operational, and human realities of healthcare while their solutions are still being developed. The accelerator reflects Permanente Medicine Mid-Atlantic States’ broader approach to innovation: engage early, bring the realities of care delivery into the development process, and help shape emerging solutions before they become tomorrow’s standard of care. 

“Healthcare startups can spend years building solutions before they have meaningful exposure to the people who will ultimately use, implement, and experience them,” said Keith Camhi, Managing Director of the Techstars Healthcare Accelerator powered by Permanente Medicine Mid-Atlantic States. “This program shortens that distance, bringing founders into conversation with physicians, operators, and decision-makers while there is still time to learn, adapt, and build something better.” 

More than 1,200 startups from around the world applied to this year’s program. The nine companies were selected through a screening process combining Techstars’s investment perspective and more than 100 Permanente physicians and experts reviewing their clinical potential.

“Many of the most promising innovations in healthcare never achieve lasting clinical value because they were designed around the technology rather than the realities of delivering care,” said Ameya Kulkarni, MD, FSCAI, Executive Medical Director of the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group. “Our physicians spend their days inside those realities, delivering high-quality, compassionate, affordable care to patients and communities across the region. What they can offer a founder is the difference between a solution that performs in a study and one that creates meaningful impact in clinical practice.” 

Consistent with its mission to deliver high-quality, compassionate, affordable care, Permanente Medicine Mid-Atlantic States has focused the accelerator on six areas of opportunity: administration of care, reducing friction across healthcare delivery, strengthening trust in clinical care, women’s health, care at home, and chronic care and aging. 

“The gap between a promising innovation and meaningful impact is rarely the technology itself,” said Jessica Locke, Chief Administrative and Innovation Officer of the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group. “The challenge is understanding how a solution fits into real clinical workflows, creates value, and generates the evidence needed for adoption. This program gives founders the opportunity to answer those questions early—and gives our physicians and healthcare leaders a direct role in shaping solutions that could influence how care is delivered in the future.” 

2026 Cohort

• Arcus Dental is developing an at-home digital dental imaging platform designed to expand access to preventive dental care while keeping patients connected to their dentists.
• Brainbox enables extremely early detection of cognitive decline using only language as input, so people can act early to slow or prevent dementia.
• DICEtech is developing an MRI-based virtual biopsy that removes invasive biopsy from the prostate cancer diagnostic pathway.
• Edulis Therapeutics is a Carnegie Mellon spinout building a sustained drug-delivery platform for chronic gastrointestinal diseases.
• One Small Step is an AI-enabled marketplace that gives people with addiction and serious mental illness on-demand access to certified peer support.
• Otos Health is a physician-directed hearing and cognitive health platform for same-day assessment, action, and longitudinal monitoring in any clinic setting.
• Rosalind Dx is developing an accessible prenatal test to detect chromosomal abnormalities in every pregnancy.
• SilkMed develops sprayable silk-based biomaterials for more effective treatment of complex burn and wound-care injuries.
• SQK develops QMEDIC, a physics-guided AI solution for low-dose CT reconstruction that improves image quality while preserving clinically important details.

Through the partnership, founders will have an opportunity to test their solutions against the realities of coordinated, longitudinal care while accessing Techstars’ company-building, fundraising, and global network support.

At Demo Day on December 9, the companies will present their work to investors, healthcare leaders, and the broader innovation community.

About Techstars

Techstars is a global startup accelerator and early-stage investor that has supported ambitious founders since 2006. Its accelerator programs provide $220,000 in investment, three months of hands-on mentorship, and ongoing access to a worldwide network of investors, operators, corporate partners, and alumni. 

Techstars’ portfolio includes 29 unicorns, with companies collectively raising $55 billion and representing $340 billion in combined market capitalization. In 2026, Techstars was ranked No. 1 on TIME and Statista’s list of America’s Best Incubators & Accelerators.  

For more information, visit techstars.com

About the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group

The Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group is one of the largest multispecialty medical groups in the Mid-Atlantic region and serves Kaiser Permanente members throughout Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Its approximately 1,800 physicians practice across over 65 medical specialties within an integrated healthcare delivery system centered on coordinated, evidence-based, value-driven care.

For more information, visit permanente.org.