When Seun Adetunji founded MedInclude, it was personal. As a teenager, she was the primary caregiver for her grandmother, who didn’t speak English. Adetunji would often find herself translating medical information for her grandmother, acting as the middle person between a frustrated patient and a doctor.

“I would be the middle person, so to speak, between my grandmother and her health-care provider,” said Adetunji. “There was a lot of frustration for all parties.”

Years later, Adetunji found herself working with cancer patients in oncology.

“I witnessed again that overwhelming sense of frustration that patients can feel when they’re receiving an avalanche of medical information,” she said. “They’re managing their health care and have to make decisions.”

Adetunji said it was clear that this communication gap could lead to worse outcomes, and she wanted to help patients understand what they were reading and receiving. These experiences planted the seed for MedInclude, a Kitchener-based startup that has grown into a platform designed to bridge communication gaps between health-care providers and patients.

MedInclude uses artificial intelligence (AI) to simplify complex medical jargon, turning medical instructions and information into plain language. For patients who don’t speak English as a first language, MedInclude offers up to 12 different languages, allowing them to access important medical information in their preferred language.

In a major milestone for the startup, MedInclude is embarking on a pre-commercialization project with Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, which is supported by the University of Waterloo and Velocity. The project began on Nov. 12 and is a three-month collaboration that will test MedInclude’s platform in a real-world hospital setting, starting with the hospital’s renal program.

“I’m very grateful to be at this point where we now have a pre-commercialization project with one of the biggest hospitals in our region. I think that’s a testament to the tenacity of the team at MedInclude,” said Adetunji. “This is a really special moment to be able to partner with Grand River Hospital and have them test our system. And on the other hand, it also signals more work to be done for us.”

Patients testing the platform will be able to access their information in simpler English, aimed at a grade five reading level, or in one of up to 12 languages. The goal is to ensure that patients, especially those who are non-native English speakers, can understand their medical needs and make informed decisions about their care.

“Just about every patient can benefit from having medical information shared in a simpler way,” said Adetunji. “Many people don’t have a firm grasp of medical terminology, and even more so for patients who don’t speak English as a first language, MedInclude offers a way for them to receive important information in a language they understand.”

Throughout the project, Adetunji and her team will gather feedback from health-care providers and patients to refine their platform further.

“I’m really looking forward to the feedback we’ll get from the health-care providers and patients, the data points and patient insights,” said Adetunji. “This is a big opportunity to prove that our platform can support hospital systems at scale.”

While the MedInclude team has been hard at work refining the platform, Adetunji is also quick to credit the community of support around them.

“It’s been amazing to see the willingness of others to teach, mentor and help us along the way,” she said. “The tech ecosystem in Waterloo Region has been incredibly supportive, from the team at Velocity and the University of Waterloo to mentorship through Communitech Fierce Founders and other networks, I couldn’t have asked for a better community to be a part of.”

Adetunji joins nine other founders in the latest cohort of Communitech Fierce Founders Intensive Track. Founders in the Intensive Track program are partnered with a lead growth coach and meet with them weekly to execute their personalized growth plans. Founders also take part in monthly group coaching sessions with fellow founders in the program, where they have the opportunity to connect with one another, build a community and feel supported. Founders participating in the program receive $50,000 in matching funds to help them execute their growth plans and grow their businesses. Communitech Fierce Founders is funded by the Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario, City of Kitchener, Google and the Province of Ontario.

MedInclude is also a member of Boundless, an accelerator that supports entrepreneurs out of Guelph, as well as the Black Entrepreneurship Alliance and Access to Success, an accelerator for accessibility-focused startups. For Adetunji, being surrounded by a rich network of fellow founders has been invaluable.

“This network is a wealth that will stay with me for the rest of my life,” she said. “If I were to start another business tomorrow, I can think of so many people I could reach out to for support or collaboration.”

Adetunji is confident that MedInclude is just getting started as it looks to change how health-care communication works, one patient at a time.

“We truly believe in the problem we’re solving, and we believe in the platform we’re building,” she said. “This is just the beginning.”