Frequently Asked Questions

CareQuest Innovation Partners is the for-profit subsidiary company of CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. A national nonprofit, CareQuest Institute for Oral Health is focused on creating a health care system that is designed for everyone – through its work in philanthropy, research, advocacy, and education, as well as leadership in dental benefits and innovation advancements.

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Applicants can range from research-based or pre-revenue concepts up to and including Series A funded startups. Startups must be able to demonstrate a validated hypothesis or proven concept which is in market or will enter market in 6-12 months.  

No. The program has cross-industry representation and previous experience in oral health is not required. You should have an oral health focus or a potential use case to advance integrated health. 

Applications are open April 1 – May 13, 2026. The cohort will be announced in mid-June. The SMILE Health accelerator will run from June 29– July 29. Startups selected for the program will also participate in person in Chicago, IL for Demo Day (July 28-29). 

Visit the SMILE Health page for the full program timeline.

Selected startups are expected to commit to roughly 4-5 hours/week for one month by participating in pitch rehearsals, networking preparation, and working sessions around investor/customer engagement. Startups are also expected to attend Demo Day on July 28-29 in Chicago, IL.

The program works best when the leadership team can fully engage in the program. We ask that at least one co-founder can dedicate the required time. 

All applications will be evaluated using the following criteria (non-exhaustive): 

• How much potential value does the solution offer to customers? 

• How validated and/or mature is the solution? 

• How capable is the team to develop/execute the solution? 

• How likely is the business model to generate positive returns within 9-12 months? 

• How large is the market opportunity for the solution? 

• How aligned is the solution to CareQuest’s mission and the focus area(s)? 

No, participating in SMILE may actually strengthen a future ACCELERATE application. The only limitation is that startups cannot participate in both programs at the same time. For example, if you participate in SMILE 2026, you would not be eligible to apply to ACCELERATE until SMILE concludes in July 2026. 

SMILE is designed to support earlier stage startups (typically pre-seed or seed) which are looking to refine their pitches and gain connections to potential customers or investors. 

ACCELERATE is designed for more established startups (typically seed or Series A+) with significant market traction which are looking to pilot and scale their solution. 

The full terms and conditions for SMILE Health are linked here.

• Applicants must have in-market, independently validated solutions (including FDA clearance/approval as relevant).

• Applicants can range from Seed to Series B+ startups typically with $5M+ in annual revenue and 10+ FTE. Startups must be in the US market with operational readiness to execute pilot at scale, with an industry partner committed to supporting it over a 6-12 month timeframe.

• Applicants must demonstrate sufficient financial runway (through revenue or investment) to support operations through the duration of the pilot. 

• Partners must be established, enterprise-scale organizations with regional or national reach (e.g., DSOs, payers, distributors, FQHC networks, health systems, etc.). They must have sufficient operational capacity, data and IT readiness, and committed executive sponsorship to conduct a pilot at scale.

• Partners should match CareQuest’s contribution to the pilot at least 1:1 through financial or in-kind resources.

• Partners must clearly define what is needed for continued scale after the pilot concludes. They should demonstrate commitment to improving access, equity, and integration of oral health, especially for underserved populations. 

• Projects must be an active, in-market deployment of your solution with an existing or potential customer. 

• Projects must define specific hypotheses, KPIs, and outcomes that can be measured using operational, clinical, or claims based data. There should be a clear project roadmap, including milestones and regularly reporting back to CareQuest and your partner. 

• The project must advance access, equity, or integration of oral and overall health.

• Funds should be applied to costs that directly support pilot delivery, such as cost of goods sold, product deployment or delivery costs, and implementation/onboarding of pilot users. Other modest, clearly justifiable costs may be supported if essential to launching or evaluating the pilot, including analytics/outcomes data collection or product feature development. 

• Fund levels typically correspond to projected scale, cost structure, and population reach of the pilot.  

No. The program has cross-industry representation and previous experience in oral health is not required. You should have an oral health focus or a potential use case to advance integrated health. 

Applications are accepted year-round. Pilots should run 6-12 months. 

SMILE is designed to support earlier stage startups (typically pre-seed or seed) which are looking to refine their pitches and gain connections to potential customers or investors. 

ACCELERATE is designed for more established startups (typically seed or Series A+) with significant market traction which are looking to pilot and scale their solution. 

• The application process typically takes 10-15 hours in total, which includes a written application, detailed project proposal (including proposed budget, KPIs, milestones, etc.), and conversations with your pilot partner to obtain their support. 
• Pilots typically last from 6 to 12 months in duration.  You should be prepared to launch the pilot within 2 months of applying. 

All applications will be evaluated using the following criteria (non-exhaustive): 

• How much impact potential does this project have in the next 1-3 years? 

• How meaningful are the industry partners’ contributions to the project, given the amount requested from CareQuest? 

• How likely is the work to continue after the project ends and drive increased impact? 

• How feasible is the project, the resources, and the timeframe described? 

• How aligned is the project to our mission to make oral health more accessible, equitable, and integrated? 

• How much does the project target or have the potential to reach an underserved population? 

• Will the project advance and validate the innovative solution, driving key proof points? 

The full terms and conditions for ACCELERATE are linked here.