Ahmed Al-Balshy

Co-founder of Caret, a medical tech company improving healthcare access in underserved regions through AI-driven diagnostics

Dr. Ahmed Al-Balshy is the co-founder and CTO of Caret, an Egyptian startup revolutionizing healthcare delivery in low-resource settings. Born in 1985 in Cairo, Al-Balshy's early exposure to overcrowded hospitals inspired his career in medical technology. After earning a PhD in biomedical engineering from Cambridge University, he returned to Egypt in 2012 to address systemic healthcare challenges.

Caret's flagship product, the DiagNet system, uses AI to analyze medical imaging and lab results with 98% accuracy, comparable to top-tier hospitals. The portable device costs 1/10th of traditional diagnostic tools and operates offline, making it ideal for rural clinics and disaster zones. By 2023, Caret had deployed 5,000 units across 22 countries, conducting over 1.2 million diagnostic tests annually.

Al-Balshy's breakthrough came in 2018 with the development of the MobiClinic app, which connects patients in remote areas with specialist doctors via encrypted video consultations. The system uses predictive algorithms to match patients with appropriate specialists, reducing misdiagnosis rates by 40%. In partnership with WHO, Caret has trained over 10,000 healthcare workers in 14 African and Middle Eastern countries.

His most recent innovation, the HealthNet platform, aggregates anonymous patient data to predict disease outbreaks 3 weeks before traditional methods. During the 2022 Sudan cholera outbreak, this system allowed preemptive deployment of medical supplies, saving an estimated 800 lives. Al-Balshy's work has been recognized by MIT's Technology Review as one of the 'Top 35 Innovators Under 35' in 2020.