What You Should Know:

你应该知道的：

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CareQuest Innovation Partners,

CareQuest创新伙伴，

a company dedicated to improving overall health through oral health, in partnership with

一家致力于通过口腔健康改善整体健康的公司，与...合作

MATTER

物质

, a premier healthcare incubator and innovation hub announced the eight emerging startups selected for the fourth annual SMILE Health program. This marks the largest cohort to date, reflecting a growing urgency to support innovation in oral health, particularly given recent concerns around fluoride policies and persistent underfunding in the sector..

，一家领先的医疗保健孵化器和创新中心宣布了入选第四届年度SMILE健康计划的八家新兴初创公司。这是迄今为止规模最大的一批，反映出支持口腔健康创新的紧迫性日益增加，特别是鉴于最近围绕氟化物政策的担忧以及该领域持续的资金不足。

– Selected from an impressive pool of applicants spanning 15 countries and 42 U.S. states, these startups align with SMILE Health’s core focus areas: advancing accessible, equitable, and integrated health; engaging people in their oral health; and connecting chronic care with oral health. The 2025 cohort includes Feno, Firstgrin, KiDDY CAPS, Social Cascade, Times Health, Toothapps, Willo, and Xploro..

——从覆盖15个国家和美国42个州的众多申请者中精心挑选而出，这些初创公司与SMILE Health的核心关注领域高度契合：推动便捷、公平和综合的健康服务；让人们积极参与口腔健康管理；并将慢性病护理与口腔健康相连接。2025届团队包括Feno、Firstgrin、KiDDY CAPS、Social Cascade、Times Health、Toothapps、Willo和Xploro。

Addressing Critical Gaps in Oral Health Care

解决口腔保健中的关键差距

The urgency of preventive oral health care has never been higher, especially for children and low-income families, with fluoride bans across multiple states raising concerns for providers and experts. This year’s cohort strongly reflects this need, with many companies concentrating on pediatric oral health care innovation and access..

预防性口腔保健的紧迫性从未如此之高，尤其是对于儿童和低收入家庭而言，多个州实施的氟化物禁令引发了供应商和专家的担忧。今年的群体充分反映了这一需求，许多公司专注于儿童口腔保健创新和获取渠道。

Despite venture capital funding for oral health reaching over $400 million in 2024, it still represents a small fraction of overall healthcare investment. This underfunding is particularly concerning given that oral diseases affect 3.5 billion people globally each year, and annual dental care spending is projected to exceed $430 billion by 2030.

尽管2024年口腔健康领域的风险资本融资超过了4亿美元，但这仍占整体医疗投资的一小部分。考虑到口腔疾病每年影响全球35亿人，而且到2030年牙科护理支出预计会超过4300亿美元，这种资金不足的情况尤其令人担忧。

The SMILE Health program aims to bridge this gap by connecting innovative startups with a growing network of partners and investors, accelerating solutions that enhance access, equity, and medical-dental integration, while reducing the societal and economic burdens of poor oral health..

SMILE健康计划旨在通过将创新的初创企业与不断增长的合作伙伴和投资者网络联系起来，弥补这一差距，加速提升医疗获取、公平性和医牙整合的解决方案，同时减轻口腔健康不良带来的社会和经济负担。

“With federal policies for oral health care under threat, there’s an urgent need to support innovation that expands access and equity,” said Katie D’Amico, vice president of growth and innovation at CareQuest Innovation Partners. “Backing startups at the forefront of this work is one of the most effective ways to ensure communities get the care they need”..

“随着联邦口腔健康政策受到威胁，迫切需要支持扩大获取渠道和公平性的创新举措，”CareQuest Innovation Partners增长与创新副总裁凯蒂·达米科表示。“支持站在这一领域前沿的初创企业，是确保社区获得所需护理的最有效方法之一。”

Accelerator Program

加速器计划

The selected startups will participate in a four-month, semi-virtual accelerator program designed to validate their solutions. During this period, they will be matched with mission-aligned industry partners from a growing list that includes Apple Tree Dental, Cigna Healthcare, Colgate–Palmolive Company, Delta Dental of Massachusetts, Delta Dental of Washington, Dental Network of America, Glidewell, Heartland Dental, Henry Schein, PDS Health, and Sun Life Dental (including DentaQuest).

入选的初创企业将参与一个为期四个月的半虚拟加速器项目，该项目旨在验证其解决方案的有效性。在此期间，它们将与来自不断增长名单中的使命一致的行业合作伙伴进行匹配，这些合作伙伴包括苹果树牙科、信诺医疗、高露洁-棕榄公司、马萨诸塞州德尔塔牙科、华盛顿州德尔塔牙科、美国牙科网络、Glidewell、Heartland Dental、Henry Schein、PDS Health以及Sun Life Dental（含DentaQuest）。

Investor partners like 7wire Ventures, Aphelion Capital, Dental Innovation Alliance, Gilde Healthcare Partners, Revere Partners, Seae Ventures, SpringRock Ventures, and Waterline Ventures are also involved..

像7wire Ventures、Aphelion Capital、Dental Innovation Alliance、Gilde Healthcare Partners、Revere Partners、Seae Ventures、SpringRock Ventures和Waterline Ventures这样的投资伙伴也参与其中。

Each startup will receive a stipend, access to multidisciplinary healthcare experts, dedicated mentors, a curated curriculum, and key business insights. New this year, the cohort will also have access to CareQuest’s new Startup Data Hub, which offers self-service capabilities to help innovators validate and scale their solutions faster.

每家初创公司将获得津贴、多学科医疗专家的访问权限、专门的导师、精心设计的课程以及关键的商业洞察。今年新增的内容是，该团队还可以访问CareQuest的新 Startup Data Hub，这个平台提供自助服务功能，帮助创新者更快地验证和发展他们的解决方案。

Significantly, no equity is required from the startups to participate..

重要的是，初创公司参与无需提供股权。

The SMILE Health program culminates with “Reveal Day” at MATTER headquarters on October 7–8, 2025, and at the global HLTH conference on October 19–22, 2025. These events will feature curated, one-on-one conversations between cohort members and industry leaders. Following the accelerator, startups will retain access to resources from both MATTER and CareQuest Innovation Partners and can apply for CareQuest Innovation Partners’ ACCELERATE program for incremental funding to further partner collaborations on industry-advancing projects..

SMILE健康计划将于2025年10月7日至8日在MATTER总部举行的“揭晓日”以及2025年10月19日至22日的全球HLTH会议上达到高潮。这些活动将包括精心安排的、成员与行业领袖之间的一对一交流。在加速器项目结束后，初创企业将保留对MATTER和CareQuest创新合作伙伴资源的访问权限，并可申请CareQuest创新合作伙伴的ACCELERATE计划以获取额外资金，进一步推动在行业推进项目上的合作。

Introducing the 2025 SMILE Health Cohort:

介绍2025年SMILE健康队列：

Feno

苯氧基

(Culver City, California):

（加利福尼亚州卡尔弗城）：

A connected oral health platform combining smart brushing technology with personalized insights to help people understand, track, and improve their oral health.

一个连接的口腔健康平台，结合智能刷牙技术和个性化见解，帮助人们了解、跟踪和改善他们的口腔健康。

Firstgrin

第一次咧嘴笑

(New York, New York):

（纽约，纽约）：

Provides pediatric oral care kits and evidence-based education via a companion app for families, aiming to prevent oral disease from pregnancy through infancy and establish healthy hygiene habits.

为家庭提供儿科口腔护理套装，并通过配套应用程序提供基于证据的教育，旨在从怀孕到婴儿期预防口腔疾病，并建立健康的卫生习惯。

KiDDY CAPS

儿童帽

(Wilsdorf, Germany):

（威尔斯多夫，德国）：

Transforms pediatric dentistry by offering affordable, minimally invasive zirconia crowns for children, making high-quality caries treatment more accessible.

通过提供价格实惠、微创的儿童氧化锆牙冠，彻底改变了儿科牙科，使高质量的龋齿治疗更加普及。

Social Cascade

社交级联

(Raleigh, North Carolina):

（北卡罗来纳州，罗利）：

Enables providers to engage patients between office visits with timely, relevant information to promote equitable access through education and drive community health outcomes.

使提供者能够在患者两次就诊之间通过及时、相关的信息与患者互动，以促进通过教育实现公平获取，并推动社区健康成果。

Times Health

时代健康

(Knoxville, Tennessee):

（田纳西州诺克斯维尔）：

An AI-powered virtual health assistant providing 24/7 dental guidance, symptom support, and preventive care education for proactive oral health management.

一个由人工智能驱动的虚拟健康助手，提供24/7的牙齿指导、症状支持和预防护理教育，助力主动的口腔健康管理。

Toothapps

牙科应用

(Wayzata, Minnesota):

（威扎塔，明尼苏达州）：

Focuses on advancing health data access, interoperability, and real-time patient engagement across the medical and dental care continuum. Its Cair solution helps patients access, understand, and act on their complete health history.

专注于推进医疗和牙科护理连续体中的健康数据访问、互操作性和实时患者参与。其Cair解决方案帮助患者访问、理解并根据他们的完整健康历史采取行动。

Willo

薇洛

(New York, New York):

（纽约，纽约）：

Offers automatic toothbrushes designed for children and individuals who need extra support or a more effective, hassle-free way to maintain daily oral hygiene.

提供专为儿童和需要额外帮助或更有效、更便捷方式来保持日常口腔卫生的人士设计的自动牙刷。

Xploro

Xploro

(Cleveland, Ohio):

（俄亥俄州克利夫兰）：

A pediatric patient education platform using augmented reality, gamification, and interactive content to empower children as active participants in their health journey, reducing anxiety and improving outcomes.

一个利用增强现实、游戏化和互动内容的儿科患者教育平台，旨在让儿童成为健康管理的积极参与者，减轻焦虑并改善健康结果。