2024 AgeTech Market Map
If you’d like to submit a company for review for the next version click here.
To view the State of AgeTech webinar from June 25, click here.
Welcome to the 7th edition of the AgeTech Market Map!
If you’ve been here before and already know what AgeTech is and why it’s important, feel free to skip ahead.
What Is AgeTech?
AgeTech is technology that’s designed to tackle the challenges of aging, while including older adults (and other relevant stakeholders) in the design process. According to experts, the AgeTech market could reach $2 trillion.
The Case for AgeTech in 2024
Our world is going through an unprecedented demographic shift. Never in human history have we had so many people reach old age. Today, there are ~1 billion people over the age of 60 living on this planet, many of them are healthy and active and have discretionary income. The population over the age of 60 is growing faster than any other age group, by 2050, 20% of the world’s population (~2 billion people) will be over the age of 60.
In 2024, people who can expect to live an 80, 90 or even 100 years, can also expect to have more healthy and active years after leaving the labour market – this creates new opportunities for entrepreneurs, to create offerings that will enable generations of older adults to live their best life past retirement age. This massive increase in life expectancy also creates a new set of challenges on the micro and macro level.
For example, it might increase the gap between life expectancy and health expectancy, and also – the gap between life expectancy and wealth expectancy.
Unprecedented Demographic Shift
The increase in life expectancy is accompanied by a steady decline in birth rates, which means that in some countries, people over the age of 65 are expected to outnumber children under the age of 18 in a few years.
These numbers create a growing care gap. Many countries are experiencing a shortage of paid caregivers, and many families feel the “caregiver burden”. In the past, when birth rates were high and life expectancy was low, older adults had many children and grandchildren who could care for them. These days, it is much more common for family caregiver to be caring for more than one older relative at the same time.
Aging In Place
Most older adults prefer to age in place – which means they want to live in their home of choice for the rest of their lives. Aging in place is defined as “the ability to live in one’s own home and community safely, independently, and comfortably, regardless of age, income, or ability level”. This can become increasingly challenging the older people get, and especially if paid or family support is scarce. Technology can help overcome these challenges, and supplement human caregiving.
The Longevity Economy
The AARP defines the term ‘Longevity Economy’, as the sum of all economic activity serving the needs of older adults.
Older adults hold significant economic power. A major portion of the global GDP can be attributed to 50+ year old people. Their contribution is expected to reach $65 trillion by 2030 – that’s 36% of global GDP.
When it comes to tech spending, By 2030, Americans over 50 are expected to spend over $200B annually on tech products.
Elderly Adopters
A common misconception is, that older adults don’t use technology. In reality, older adults have been adopting technology at increasingly growing rates in recent years. Pew Research Center as well as the AARP have been tracking the stats on tech usage among older adults in the U.S., and their data is conclusive.
Older adults are adopting technology more than ever before. Internet, smartphones, tablet, wearables, and even smart TVs and speakers, are being used by an increasingly growing number of older adults.
The AgeTech Revolution Is Underway
More and more startups, as well as big tech companies, are building tech for older adults. These technology solutions are designed with older adults not only in mind, but also in practice. This doesn’t mean big buttons and loud audio; it means putting older adults (and other stakeholders) at the center of the design process, and aiming to meet their needs and aspirations.
Stakeholders in Aging Are Stakeholders in AgeTech
While many older adults purchase tech products or services for themselves, some rely on family members or trusted professional advisors to help with purchasing decisions, as well as set-up and technical support.
Businesses providing care for the elderly, are important stakeholders as well. Therefore B2B offerings like resident engagement software, also fall under the AgeTech umbrella.
Stakeholders in AgeTech are not just older adults, but their entire care circle. This includes family members, governments, healthcare and other service providers, who purchase tech-enabled products and services that benefit the aging population.
AgeTech Market Map Inclusion Criteria
This is the 7th edition of the annual AgeTech Market Map. Almost 300 companies made the cut. The KPIs that were used to screen companies were:
- Scalable tech startup: Unlimited expansion potential.
- Focus on the challenges of aging: Develops technology to serve older adults, family caregivers, or elder care organizations.
- Funding or Product: Must have raised VC funding or have a commercially available product (that users have to pay for)
To submit your company for review, please use this link.
The Challenges of Aging
Another common misconception is that AgeTech is just assistive technology or digital health, and while there is some overlap, there’s a lot of white space in between. This white space is occupied by tech that’s designed to help older adults achieve non health-related goals in later life – such as financial wellness or lifelong learning.
Several organizations have mapped different challenges the aging population is facing. In 2019, the The National Science and Technology Council in the US government published a report which detailed the six functional capabilities in which technology could have a positive impact on the lives of older adults. Those six were then broken down to 2-3 sub-functionalities each.
