Simple wins MedTech Breakthrough award for Best Virtual Coach (again!)
We did it — again!
Simple has been awarded Best Virtual Coach at the MedTech Breakthrough Awards for the second year running, chosen from over 60 nominations of global leaders in digital health. (Other category winners this year include Noom, Teladoc, Medtronic, and CVS Health, so we’re in great company!)
This award doesn’t just reflect our out-of-this-world tech.
It proves that a virtual coach really can support a real human with empathy, understanding, and insight that adapts in the moment, and is offered at the perfect time.
Can a virtual coach really feel human?
The challenge we set out to solve is simple but ambitious:
How do you give millions of people access to a coach that feels personal, available 24/7, and actually understands them?
Building healthier habits isn’t straightforward. It’s messy. Emotional. Sometimes consistent, sometimes not. And always happening in the middle of busy, complex lives.
But that’s exactly where Avo™ — our AI coach, designed by dietitians, doctors, and behavioural scientists to make improving your health feel less intimidating and lonely — excels.
Avo helps our users build strong habits in nutrition nutrition , movement, intermittent fasting intermittent fasting , mindset, and more, by offering coaching that’s wise, grounded, and compassionate … just like the best human coaches do.
- “Avo is like talking to a real person.”
- “Having Avo check in with me every day is awesome.”
- “Avo makes it feel like I have a vested partner in my weight loss journey.”
- “Coach Avo is fantastic – thoughtful, positive, and always supportive.”
- “Avo is firm but supportive – enough to keep me accountable, never demeaning.”
- “I’ve lost over 40 pounds and never felt better. Avo teaches me how to change my habits for the long term.”
- “My Coach Avo is right on top of anything I ask. It’s such a smart app and quick to answer any questions I may have.”
- “I LOVE love love my Coach AVO – the BEST FRIEND I GOT!!!!!”
These are all comments from our users — and there’s more of them coming in every day.
Because in 2026, Avo took another huge step forward.
Avo’s much chattier in 2026
In January 2025, Avo participated in 3 million dialogues and sent 19 million messages.
By January 2026, that had grown to:
- 4.98 million dialogues (+66% year over year)
- 23.1 million messages (+22% year over year)
And the momentum hasn’t slowed.
In 2026 so far, Avo has been responding to an average of 293,000 messages per day.
On the busiest recorded day, Avo handled 341,190 incoming messages.
That’s daily support at a scale no human coaching team could realistically match.
That’s really exciting.
Behind every message is a real person trying to improve their health. And the more conversations Avo can have, the more people we can help.
Avo’s 2026 coaching upgrades
This year’s updates deliver a seismic shift — not just in volume of conversations, but in how responsive and personal those conversations feel.
New: Real-time voice calls
Avo now supports both outgoing and incoming voice calls.
That means Avo not only responds when you reach out, but also proactively checks in with you. Imagine getting a call from Avo to deliver a gentle nudge or a reminder that you’re not alone. How good would that feel?
These calls bring digital coaching closer than ever to having a human coach in your pocket when you need them (a surprisingly common request from the clients of human coaches!).
New: Deeper daily check-ins
Check-ins now go beyond basic metrics like steps, meals, and weight. Avo looks at all your data, including:
- mood
- energy levels
- general well-being
- symptom patterns
- onboarding data
- past behaviour
- logs
- interaction history
That means that what Avo says today isn’t isolated, one-off, general advice. It’s complex, deeply useful, and shaped by a more complete picture of what you’ve experienced over time.
New: Feedback when it matters most
Whenever you log, Avo responds immediately with clear, supportive feedback on how your choices may influence progress, along with practical next steps, so this tailored guidance lands exactly when it’s most useful.
New: Choose your own Avo!
You can now choose the gender, age, ethnicity, and tone of voice of your Coach Avo!
This might sound small, but it makes a big difference. The coach-client connection is one of the biggest determinants to how much change you can create through coaching. Choosing a coach you relate to is a massive asset for successfully reaching your goals.
We’re not stopping!
Winning Best Virtual Coach for a second year is really special for us.
It means we’re succeeding in our efforts to shift digital health coaching away from generic, static advice toward continuous, personalized, adaptive support.
To everyone who uses Avo as their coach: THANK YOU.
We’ll keep building Avo to be even more helpful, intuitive, and supportive in the moments of your change journey that matter most!
Ready to achieve your goals with Avo? Take our quick quiz to get your personalized plan and start making progress today!