AI Cancer Navigator Healz Helped Diagnose Rare Lymphoma — Then Landed a Doctor-Investor

When Atlanta psychiatrist Dr. Munjal Shroff's wife began suffering from unexplained rashes, fatigue, itching, and swollen lymph nodes in fall 2025, multiple physicians leaned toward an autoimmune diagnosis like lupus. Shroff turned to Healz AI, a healthcare-focused chatbot designed specifically for cancer patients, to help track the flood of tests, appointments, and information. Rather than jumping to a cancer conclusion, the app recommended seeking a specialist opinion at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston — a nudge that ultimately produced the correct diagnosis: rare T-cell lymphoma.

Healz was founded by Igor Demishev and Alex Plat, co-CEOs who were driven partly by personal experience — multiple members of Demishev's family have had cancer. The app, which launched in beta in 2025, is built not on a proprietary foundation model but on existing AI models layered with custom memory systems, structured workflows, and a 'root-cause mode' that forces the chatbot to ask up to 20 follow-up questions before offering any conclusions. One user has uploaded 1,500 medical documents to the platform. The founders say the tool is designed to help patients understand diagnoses, locate oncologists, interpret scans, and navigate treatment — explicitly as a supplement to, not a replacement for, physicians.

The startup recently secured backing from Alexey Dosovitskiy, co-founder of Recursive Superintelligence and a former Google researcher whose 2020 paper on computer vision was considered a landmark in the field. Recursive itself has raised over $650 million at a $4.65 billion valuation. Dosovitskiy said he invested because the underlying AI technology is now mature enough to be turned into products that directly improve and save lives.

The company's early traction is notable given its niche focus: 97% of its user base consists of cancer patients, with a handful of physicians using it as a clinical reference tool. Monthly recurring revenue doubled consecutively from June through August 2025, reaching $100,000 in annualized recurring revenue by early September. Month-to-month user retention stands at 70%, and most users engage with the platform daily or weekly — unusually strong engagement for a subscription health app.

Shroff himself became an investor after months of heavy use. He used Healz to evaluate chemotherapy options, and the app flagged a specific regimen that his wife's oncologist independently confirmed was the right choice. Shroff acknowledges the tool has occasionally been wrong on treatment specifics, underscoring that it works best alongside human doctors. Healz is planning additional fundraising in the coming months, with the founders targeting a broader rollout beyond its current early-stage user base.