#Top3 - AfterBattle: Digital Support After Cancer
Cancer survivors often face new and difficult challenges after their treatment – physically, emotionally, and socially. This is precisely where the health tech start-up AfterBattle from Bochum comes in. The interdisciplinary founding team, led by genomics specialist and cancer survivor Afagh Hassani, aims to provide holistic support to those affected on their path back to everyday life and to foster long-term resilience through an innovative life coaching app. Their concept is rooted in a combination of medical expertise, personal experience, and a strong desire to make a lasting impact on digital cancer follow-up care. For this solution, AfterBattle was awarded third place at the WORLDFACTORY Demo Day 2025 as part of IDEA.2025. In this interview, Afagh shares her thoughts on her start-up, the Demo Day, and the city of Bochum as a location for founders. The following interview was translated into English by WORLDFACTORY.
Please describe your founding idea and introduce yourselves as a start-up team.
We are AfterBattle and we have the vision to help cancer survivors and their loved ones get their lives back on track and move on even stronger than before. Behind AfterBattle is me, Afagh Hassani. As a founder with a background in oncology, epigenetics, and health coaching, I bring both professional expertise and personal experience to the project. Together with my dedicated team, which consists of app developer Farhad Nozari and nutritionist Arian Ghorbanian, I am working to improve people's lives after cancer.
After cancer treatment, many patients face new challenges. These include physical problems such as side effects of the therapy (e.g. hair loss, skin changes and weight problems) as well as psychological stress such as fear of a relapse, panic attacks, and the feeling of being left alone. At the same time, there is often little guidance on how to deal with the long-term effects of treatment or how to rebuild a normal life. AfterBattle is a life coaching app developed specifically for these patients. It combines personalized health plans, mental support, mindfulness exercises, and approaches from epigenetics to help people who have been through cancer to thrive in their new life.
In February, you already gave us an insight into your start-up as part of our start-up interviews. What specific developments have taken place at AfterBattle since then?
We started developing the app and setting up our infrastructure. Now it was time to press the start button and put the idea into practice. We experimented with different AI models, designed an AI assistant and are now implementing the microservices for our software.
How did you experience IDEA.2025 and our WORLDFACTORY Demo Day 2025?
IDEA.2025 was an incredibly wonderful and inspiring day for us. It was the first time we were able to present AfterBattle live in front of an audience - and it just felt right. The atmosphere was very open and supportive, you could really feel how many people are eager to make a difference with their ideas. The direct feedback after the pitch was particularly motivating and confirmed that we are on the right track.
Why did you choose to launch your start-up in the Ruhr region? In your view, what advantages does the Ruhr area – and Bochum in particular – offer to founders, and what do you think is still missing?
Bochum was the first city I lived in after moving to Germany – it’s where I studied and had my first experiences in this new country, with all its ups and downs. It’s also where I was diagnosed with cancer – and where I recovered. Bochum has become a part of me, and I truly feel at home here. That’s why it was clear to me: if AfterBattle was going to start anywhere, it had to be here.
Was there ever an alternative to founding a company? Could you also have seen yourself in research?
Yes, definitely. Research was and is an important part for us - many of us come from a scientific background and love discovering new things. But at the same time, we didn't just want to see our findings in scientific papers, we also wanted to make a direct difference to people's lives. Founding a start-up gives us the opportunity to be closer to the users - to understand their reality, feel their challenges and respond quickly to their needs. For us, research and founding a company are not mutually exclusive - on the contrary, we want to combine the two.
Many of us have grown up with smartphones and apps. How do you ensure that “non-digital natives” (e.g. older cancer survivors) can also use your app intuitively?
We don't just focus on traditional mobile apps. In 2025, an app on a smartphone is a classic. Our goal is a personal AI medical advisor that can be used at home, at work, or on a smartphone so that anyone can talk to it and get the information they need.
Will you also provide support options for relatives or caregivers who accompany those affected?
Yes, definitely! We know from our own experience that relatives are often completely overwhelmed - they want to help but don't know how. That’s why we’ve also planned from the very beginning to offer tools and content specifically for caregivers. We want them to learn how to be there for others without losing themselves in the process. They also need space to deal with their fears and stresses - and that's exactly what we create in AfterBattle.
What is your biggest wish for the future of AfterBattle - both from a business and a personal perspective?
We don't just want to support cancer survivors, we want to be a friendly medical expert for people who need us every day. We want to give them the opportunity to open up about issues that they can't simply discuss physically or emotionally. We want to do business internationally. We all struggle with the same health issues, regardless of our ethnicity. Therefore, globalization is our ultimate goal.