The CancerX Accelerator is an annual program designed to accelerate innovation in cancer care. It brings together healthcare leaders, investors, industry partners, and high-potential startups to advance digital health solutions that address critical challenges in oncology care delivery and patient experience. Through collaboration with private- and public-sector stakeholders, the program helps participating companies validate their solutions, strengthen product-market fit, and scale their impact across the cancer care ecosystem.
2027 Accelerator Themes
The themes for the 2027 CancerX Accelerator were developed in collaboration with patients, providers, payers, funders, and industry leaders. The program is seeking founders developing solutions that expand access to cancer treatments and research, enable high-quality remote cancer care, and improve healthcare operations and infrastructure. Across all themes, reducing financial toxicity and expanding access to cancer screening remain foundational priorities.
• Increasing Access to Clinical Trials & Research: Solutions that improve the end-to-end clinical research process by supporting research sites, increasing provider engagement, streamlining operations, and enabling more inclusive and equitable patient enrollment.
• Increasing Access to Quality Cancer Care, Everywhere: Innovative care delivery models that improve patient outcomes by expanding access to essential information, education, precision diagnostics, and monitoring tools regardless of a patient's location, with particular emphasis on addressing infrastructure gaps in rural communities.
• Increasing Access to Smarter Care Operations: Solutions that reduce administrative and operational complexity across cancer care. This includes smarter operational systems, data infrastructure, and decision-support tools that reduce provider burden and enable care teams to focus more effectively on patients.
Program Benefits
• Champion Connections: Participating startups are matched with leading healthcare organizations, industry partners, and investors to pursue solution validation, refine product-market fit, and explore opportunities for funding and scale.
• Exclusive Mentor Network: Participants gain access to an engaged network of experts in digital health, oncology, healthcare delivery, and entrepreneurship who provide guidance, strategic support, and industry insight.
• Targeted Programming: The accelerator offers a customized curriculum aligned with each startup's strategic objectives, combining virtual and in-person programming with opportunities to learn from and connect with public- and private-sector stakeholders.
Eligibility Criteria
• Product Stage: Applicants must have a validated product or solution that is ready to scale.
• Market Validation: Startups must have at least one launched or completed proof of concept or pilot in the market.
• Thematic Alignment: The applicant's digital solution must directly address at least one of the 2027 Accelerator themes.
• Team Commitment: Companies must designate a liaison to engage with the CancerX selection team and participate in required virtual and in-person programming.
Application and Selection Process
• Application Deadline: Applications close on October 1, 2026.
• Selection Timeline: Applicants selected to advance will be notified by mid-October 2026 and invited to complete a supplemental application. Pitch Days are expected to take place at the end of October 2026. All applicants will be notified of their final status by January 2027.
• Evaluation Criteria: Applications are evaluated based on alignment with CancerX themes, product-market fit, founding team expertise, and potential for meaningful impact. Additional considerations include innovation, scalability, and growth potential. Final acceptance requires strong interest from at least two CancerX program champions.
Program Details
• Duration: The 2027 CancerX Accelerator will run from February through June 2027.
• Format: The program is a hands-on accelerator experience combining virtual and in-person events, mentorship, strategic programming, and industry engagement.
• Travel Commitment: Participants should expect to attend approximately three in-person events. The first on-site event is scheduled to be hosted by Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, in March 2027.
The CancerX Accelerator supports the broader mission of improving cancer outcomes by accelerating the adoption and scale of innovative digital health solutions. By connecting startups with healthcare leaders, investors, mentors, and industry partners, the program aims to help address critical gaps in oncology care and deliver measurable benefits for patients, providers, and communities.