CareQuest Demo Day Convenes Innovators Committed to Making Health Care More Effective, Accessible, and Connected

News

August 12, 2026

This year’s Demo Day celebrated 5 years of impact with CareQuest Innovation Partners, our largest-ever SMILE Health cohort, exciting ACCELERATE projects, and expert-led panel discussions on the industry’s hottest topics.

Industry partners, investors, and startup companies packed the room to hear from innovators challenging the status quo, bringing change to areas of oral health and health care that will fundamentally change our system for the better. Across all of the solutions, three themes emerged:

Two men in blue suits present on a stage, standing behind a wooden MATTER podium with a large screen behind them.

Making care more effective: Helping providers and care teams make better decisions, act earlier, and deliver higher quality treatment options. Companies like Drul, Hibiscus Health, Inoculus Ventures, and Rheyo shared how they can improve early diagnosis of caries, gum disease, and cardiometabolic diseases, and improve at home and in office treatment.

Making care more accessible: Meeting people where they are and ensuring everyone has access to the care they need, including IDD patients, parents, and children. Firstgrin, Empallo, Unique Minds, and Virtual Dental Care shared how oral health can be brought into medical workflows, and how digital health and targeted outreach can expand how and where care is delivered.

Woman presenting at a MATTER podium with microphone, gesturing with her left hand as a slide with data appears to the right; CareQuest branding in the background.

Three panelists seated in yellow chairs on a stage with CareQuest logos behind them; the center woman speaks into a handheld microphone while a man to her left holds another mic and a man to her right listens.

Making care more connected: Helping the many parts of the care journey work better together for all. Overjet, TechNovaTime, Toothlens, Intelibly, and Bitewing discussed how their solutions help patients find provider and coverage options, how to deliver actionable information to providers, and how technology and AI can support a better patient experience.

For first time ever Demo Day included project updates from ACCELERATE projects, including Firstgrin, Overjet, and Virtual Dental Care. Read more about Firstgrin’s ACCELERATE success.

Leaders from PDS Health, Henry Schein, Overjet, HTD Health, 7Wire Ventures, UI Health Mile Square Health Center, Kno2, and Capitol Dental Care joined panels spanning all three themes, including scalable medical-dental integration, interoperability, and key areas of market investment momentum.

Industry Leaders and Startups Celebrate Growth, New Opportunities

Here’s what some of the innovators in our ecosystem had to say.

Audience in a conference room raising red circular signs while a panel speaks at the front with multiple screens displaying slides.

“Watching the evolution of SMILE Health over the last five years has been amazing. I was there at the beginning, and to look at the growth of the community today, it’s very impressive.”

– Lee Shapiro, Managing Partner, 7Wire Ventures

“As someone who didn't come from the dental space, SMILE Health was incredible. I have gained so much knowledge, and made valuable connections that could literally transform how our company operates over the next one to two years. There is no way that we could have done that without the CareQuest team and their support.”

– Elad Ziklik, Co-Founder and CEO, Unique Minds

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Diverse conference audience seated in rows, listening attentively with lanyards and smiles.

“We're excited to work with CareQuest Innovation Partners through ACCELERATE because it lets us launch OASIS — the Oregon AI Scoring Initiative for Smiles — deploying a peer-reviewed, AI-derived oral health score in a DSO that serves adults on Medicaid, helping providers and patients better understand their oral health and empowering patients to become proactive, engaged participants in their oral healthcare.”

– Dr. Natalia Chalmers, Chief Dental Officer and Head of Clinical Innovation at Overjet

“This whole experience has been amazing from start to finish. The pitch prep from the CareQuest team was great, I made valuable connections at Demo Day, and there were a lot of relevant learnings.”

– Claire Beskin, CEO and Founder, Empallo

Female presenter on a stage with a MATTER podium, speaking, against a CareQuest Innovation Partners backdrop.

Apply to ACCELERATE, Stay Tuned on SMILE Health 2027

Want to be part of our ecosystem? We’re accepting applications for ACCELERATE year-round. Learn more and apply. Stay connected with us for information on SMILE Health 2027.