Innovating for the good life must be recognised as a huge entrepreneurial opportunity, yet it is overlooked. Too few entrepreneurs are focused on agetech. I want to change this by providing news and insights about agetech startups and agetech investing. All About Agetech is a forum for agetech founders, investors, organisations and policy-makers.
Insights on the growth market:
By 2030, according to the WHO, 1 in 6 people globally will be aged 60 years or over.
In many markets, seniors own a large part of the wealth and consumer spending. According to AARP, the 50-plus population already accounted for half of global consumer spending ($35 trillion) in 2020, and by 2050, this figure will reach nearly 60% ($96 trillion).
Elders are more digital than ever before. For a start, 75% of all people 65+ now use the internet in the U.S, according to the Pew Research Centre. On all counts, including smartphone and social media use, seniors have caught up in the last years.
Seniors are more active than ever before. Although many still do not engage in physical activity on a regular basis, even if the trend is upwards. Rankings by the United Health Foundation show a year-by-year increase; currently, about 29% of the population age 65+ meet federal physical activity guidelines.
Given this massive demographic shift and the opportunity it creates, there aren’t nearly enough founders focused on agetech.
According to data provider Tracxn, there are only 354 venture capital-funded companies in the U.S. in the agetech space. A contrast compared to the 44,783 fintech startups in the U.S.
Part of this problem is because many agetech startups are “undercover” or “partial,” and don’t fully identify themselves as an agetech startup. Also, the sector is a horizontal category that cuts across other verticals, such as fintech or healthtech.
Nonetheless, there is more that can be done, and shining light on agetech is exactly what this site intends to do.