The infirmities of old age don’t just affect the elderly. They have a wider impact on family and friends, especially those who end up with the responsibility of caring for them. In a country like America, where the social safety net is thin, this kind of grueling and unpaid labor has an outsized impact on social mobility. Improving longevity could have benefits for everyone.
Billionaire philanthropist Melinda French Gates agrees (https://longevity.technology/news/longevity-is-pivotal-to-accelerating-social-progress/). Among her many projects is Pivotal Ventures, which was founded in 2015 with the broad aim of improving the condition of women, specifically “their power and influence in the United States”. As the bulk of unpaid caring responsibilities fall to women, the idea is that one way to grant them more freedom is to ensure that everyone can live longer and be healthier without needing to rely on care.
In 2019, Pivotal committed $1 billion to its projects, and longevity research and development forms a significant part of its portfolio. That led to a partnership with Techstars, an investor dedicated to supporting startups through its accelerator program. The care economy is worth around $648 billion. That’s a significant opportunity for profit as well as a way to make people’s lives better.
Most people would prefer to be able to stay in their own homes for as long as possible, but the structure of the American healthcare and care systems doesn’t really allow for that, especially if you’re reliant on Medicare. For the 70% of people who will need extra care in their old age, their options are limited.
Longevity investments from Pivotal and Techstars are wide ranging. There’s the FinTech company looking to provide financial security that can last well into your old age, no matter how long you live, the cancer researchers offering the most advanced risk assessments, complete with a personal cancer prevention plan, and one startup based in New York that’s tackling memory loss with innovative light therapy. That’s not including the companies that Pivotal supports on its own, including women’s healthcare providers.
Investing in longevity provides a valuable opportunity to grow your portfolio, but it’s also a tool for social change. By finding new ways to prevent, manage and even cure a wide range of age-related conditions, we can provide people with increased independence and financial security in old age, meaning less reliance on unpaid care work.
