Acclinate

# High-Level Overview

Acclinate is a digital health equity company that combines artificial intelligence with community engagement to increase diverse representation in clinical trials.[1][3] The company helps pharmaceutical companies and healthcare organizations reach and engage communities of color—populations historically underrepresented in medical research—through its dual-platform approach: the NOWINCLUDED community platform and the e-DICT technology platform.[2][4]

The core problem Acclinate solves is systemic: clinical trials have long excluded or marginalized Black Americans and other communities of color, resulting in medical research that doesn't reflect the populations it aims to serve.[1] This creates a vicious cycle where treatments may not work equally well for everyone. Acclinate's solution flips the traditional recruitment model—rather than treating clinical trial participation as a transactional exchange, the company builds trust-based relationships with communities, educates them about health issues, and then connects them to relevant research opportunities.[6] The company has demonstrated strong growth momentum, earning a spot on the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies in 2025.[2]

# Origin Story

Acclinate was founded by Del Smith (Co-Founder and CEO) and Tiffany Whitlow (Co-Founder and Chief Development Officer), who recognized that the life sciences community needed a fundamentally different approach to clinical trial diversity.[2][7] The company emerged from a recognition that traditional recruitment firms simply "find bodies for trials," whereas Acclinate's mission is to build affective trust and lasting relationships with hard-to-reach communities of color.[6]

Early traction came through strategic partnerships and institutional support. By the end of 2022, Acclinate had partnered with Trialbee, a clinical trial management platform, to combine Acclinate's trust framework with Trialbee's operational capabilities.[7] The company also became a resident company at Johnson & Johnson Innovation's JLABS @ Washington, DC, which provided mentorship, infrastructure, and access to the investor community—a pivotal moment that positioned Acclinate closer to decision-making in the clinical trial ecosystem.[7] This support network, combined with customer belief in the product, has fueled the company's growth trajectory.[2]

# Core Differentiators

• AI-powered participation prediction with bias mitigation: Acclinate's proprietary participation probability index (patent-pending) ingests social determinants of health data combined with engagement metrics to identify prospective trial participants.[1] Critically, the company worked with Google to actively avoid replicating bias in its AI models—a deliberate design choice that sets it apart from generic recruitment tools.[1]

• Community-first technology architecture: Rather than replacing human relationships with algorithms, Acclinate's technology *relies on* human engagement.[1] The NOWINCLUDED platform serves as a trusted digital space where communities of color access culturally relevant health information and research opportunities—building genuine community rather than extracting data.[3]

• Dual-solution framework: The integration of e-DICT (the tech platform) and NOWINCLUDED (the community platform) creates a unified approach that delivers actionable insights while building trust simultaneously.[4] This contrasts with purely transactional recruitment models.

• Google Cloud infrastructure at scale: Acclinate leverages Vertex AI, AutoML, BigQuery, and Cloud Functions to handle large datasets and run predictive analytics cost-effectively.[1][5] The company received $100K in non-dilutive funding plus Google Cloud credits, enabling rapid scaling without diluting equity.[1]

# Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Acclinate sits at the intersection of three powerful trends: health equity, AI for social good, and community-centered technology design. The timing is critical—regulatory bodies and pharmaceutical companies are increasingly recognizing that clinical trial diversity isn't optional; it's essential for drug efficacy and safety across populations.[7] The FDA and industry stakeholders have begun prioritizing inclusive research, creating tailwinds for companies that can solve this problem at scale.

The company also represents a broader shift in how AI is being deployed in healthcare: moving away from black-box algorithms toward human-centered AI that augments rather than replaces community expertise.[1] This philosophy—that technology should serve communities rather than extract from them—is gaining traction in health tech and social impact sectors.

Acclinate's influence extends beyond its direct customers. By demonstrating that community-powered engagement can reshape clinical research outcomes, the company is influencing how the entire life sciences ecosystem thinks about diversity and representation.[2] Its partnerships with major players like Google and Johnson & Johnson signal that health equity is becoming a strategic priority, not a compliance checkbox.

# Quick Take & Future Outlook

Acclinate is positioned at a rare inflection point: a massive, underserved market (clinical trial diversity) combined with proven product-market fit (Inc. 5000 recognition, growing customer base) and institutional backing (Google, J&J). The company's challenge ahead is scaling without losing the trust-based community relationships that are its core differentiator.

The future likely involves geographic and therapeutic expansion—moving beyond early partnerships to become the standard platform for inclusive clinical trial recruitment across the industry. As regulatory pressure for diversity intensifies and AI governance becomes more stringent, companies like Acclinate that have built bias mitigation into their DNA from the start will have a structural advantage.

The deeper story: Acclinate is proving that technology companies can be profitable *and* mission-driven, that AI can be a tool for equity rather than inequality, and that communities of color aren't problems to be solved but partners to be trusted. That's a narrative the broader tech ecosystem is increasingly ready to embrace.