AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) has launched its AgeTech Investor Network, which aims to help start-ups get off the ground in the AgeTech market – which targets the aging population.
AARP’s AgeTech Investor Network is a collaboration with AgeTech Capital that extends AARP’s mission to support and elevate AgeTech startups by expanding investment opportunities. Highlighted at the upcoming CES 2025, AgeTech was born out of the fact that most technology products were aimed at young adults. But as boomers and others age, the need to engage with tech products across the spectrum of demographics makes more marketing sense and is also urgent.
“The goal is to help these great startups scale their products and services, and in turn, help create social impact that will help millions of people across this country who need access to these new services,” said Andy Miller, senior vice president of innovation and product development at AARP Innovation Labs said in an interview with GamesBeat. “In this new collaboration, we started to focus on investors. So we have more than 95 venture capitalists who have joined the collaboration.”
I saw the need for this technology myself when I was trying to find tech products to help me care for my aging mother. In that case, I was the sole caregiver – as many families are today – and still needed to be there for the other family as well. However, I discovered that my mother wasn’t into modern technology—she couldn’t figure out how to use an iPhone—and many products just didn’t meet her needs.
There are many things that technology still cannot do. My mother died of dementia in 2024, but I still see a wider need. In the past decade, I’ve seen and written about a lot of startups doing this. But it still feels like an underserved market to me.
Many technologies aimed at seniors use the television or telephone as a communication tool. Things like telehealth can work with these tools, but setting up services in a nursing home is often a challenge. Some assisted living facilities do a better job of this, but that’s not always the case. Some technologies always focus on caregivers, who are often “sandwiched” between elderly parents and their children in terms of caring responsibilities.
AgeTech Investor Network
AARP’s new network and its team of industry experts and innovators are committed to driving change in the AgeTech sector by connecting pioneering startups with visionary investors who want to support and shape the growing AgeTech space, Miller said.
For investors, AgeTech Investor Network members get exclusive access to a curated selection of high-potential AgeTech startups, comprehensive due diligence support, a vibrant community of like-minded investors, and opportunities to make a meaningful impact.
And when it comes to entrepreneurs, startups gain access to an extensive network of investors, mentoring opportunities and valuable resources to grow their businesses through seed funding opportunities and support.
Andy Miller, senior vice president of innovation and product development, said in an interview that AARP began working with startups seven years ago. About five years ago, she started investing in these startups after they went through her program, which is a customized accelerator. About three years ago, in 2021, she launched the AgeTech Collaborative.
Miller noticed that Series A investors were writing bigger checks. While many startups can raise $2 million or $3 million, they are often not ready for $10 or $12 million, and economic conditions are not great for this kind of fundraising. But startups need some seed round expansion from smaller funds, Miller said.
“Over the last few years we are starting to see this change. And we’re seeing some new funds now able to raise money and we’ve looked at how we can help startups at that tweener stage,” he said. “And the AgeTech concept is really starting to take hold in terms of its economic impact. People in their 50s spend money and use technology. He’s in the spotlight.”
The purpose of AARP’s AgeTech Collaborative is to improve the lives of people as they age. This initiative brings together a unique ecosystem of leading startups, visionary investors, enlightened enterprises and creative testbeds – all working to bring disruptive AgeTech innovations to market.
“It has now become the largest ecosystem in the world for AgeTech-oriented companies at nearly 600 companies,” Miller said. “It includes some of the largest organizations, like the Fortune 10, all the way to assisted living facilities. And it has about 200 startups that have joined the collaboration and gone through our program.”
AARP has invested in about 57% of them over the past 3.5 years, over 100 investments now.
foundation of AARP
AARP is the largest non-profit, non-partisan advocacy association in the US advocating for people over 50 in the US, AARP has over 38 million members in the US.
AARP sees AgeTech as anything to help people age well, and the company recognizes the huge need for people to use technology to care. Their mission is to empower people to choose how they live as they age by finding innovations, technology and product solutions and services that help us all age well based on our own preferences.
AARP’s AgeTech Collaborative began in 2021 and is now the largest AgeTech ecosystem in the world, reaching 600 companies including some of the largest companies worldwide and more than 90 venture capitalists. AARP also has a huge presence at CES each year for its AgeTech solutions and collaborations.
AARP priorities for AgeTech solutions include:
- Smart home technology (77% of people want to age in their own home and don’t want to go into assisted living, Miller said). These smart homes need a lot of sensors, such as detecting if someone has fallen into the house or is wandering off the property. This can also be targeted for assisted living in the smart home.
- Mobility + staying active. The provision of exoskeletons that give people more power to move has made progress in recent years, but the technology is still commonplace.
- Brain health. The main fear that people have as they age is not that they will lose their car keys and independence. With such a prevalence of dementia, the fear now is that they will lose their minds, Miller said.
- Social engagement + fun. Social isolation is a leading cause of loneliness among aging people, and there are ways to address it with technology, such as using “music as medicine,” Miller said. Virtual reality travel and other applications show promise in this area, he said.
Numbers around an aging population
Miller said 12,000 people in the United States turn 65 every day, and people age 50+ contribute $8.3 trillion to the U.S. economic impact.
“When you live in India and China, Japan, the numbers are even more staggering. And when you think about the caregiving part, there just aren’t enough of us to care for people who are getting older,” Miller said. “So technology is something we want to help fill that void. The AgeTech Investor Network will give angel investors access to a very unique deal flow channel.”
People age 50 and older in the U.S. will spend $77 billion on technology in 2022—a number expected to grow to about $120 billion in 2030, according to AARP.
By 2030, the first millennials will turn 50, increasing the 50+ contribution to $12 trillion of economic impact in the US (that would be the 3rd largest GDP in the world) and $35 trillion globally. By 2050, the 50+ contribution is projected to have a global economic impact of nearly $100 trillion.
“That’s why so many organizations have joined us to collaborate,” Miller said. “If companies are no longer selling to the 50+ population, they have to because that’s where the money is gone. A big myth is that old people don’t use technology. The single largest cohort in terms of consumer spending on technology is people aged 50 to 60, making them the largest group of early technology adopters.”
How the program works
One of the valuable things this network will create is a curated channel of business flow.
“The interesting thing about the pipeline is that if you want to work with AARP as a startup, you have to go to one of our events and get on stage. You don’t have to win, but you have to make it this far. And then we can choose the ones we want to invite into our accelerator program,” Miller said.
The accelerator program lasts for eight weeks, and that’s when AARP decides whether or not to invest.
“We spend more time with a startup than any investor would probably ever spend before making a decision,” Miller said. “By the time you do, you might get to the point where we’d put you in front of an angel. We can never fully de-risk any investment, but investors can get a really good sense of how highly curated these companies are when they see them.”
In some cases, startups will have pilot programs and commercial transactions that AARP helps facilitate.
“We’re building a two-sided marketplace and now we’re actively involved in the angel community,” Miller said.
An example of a partnership
Trust & Will is the leading online estate planning company in the US. Its goal is to ensure that every American leaves a lasting legacy. The firm removes the painful process of going through probate court by focusing on digital estate planning that is comprehensive but does not require a lawyer.
Trust & Will has been involved with AARP through a partnership with the AgeTech Collaborative. In 2021, Trust & Will joined forces with AARP’s AgeTech Collaborative network to help innovate the 50+ community and collaborate with startups, investors and industry leaders.
As an exclusive partner of AARP, Trust & Will offers AARP members a 20% discount on estate planning services, making it easy for them to create wills and trusts. AARP also has a strategic investment in Trust & Will.
AgeTech startups supported by AARP include VoiceIt, Lance, Kinoo, Joylux, Springrose, 1 True Health, 6Degrees, Dentity, DeepLook Medica, De Oro Devices, Abby by Gogotech, Addition, Advosense, Chas, Elektra Health, Ageless Innovation, Echas, Effectivte , Gameboard, Givers, GoodTrust, Grapefruit Health and SingFit.
At CES, AARP will have about 13,000 square feet of exhibit space in Venice as part of the digital health, smart home and lifestyle technology areas. AARP will feature 30 companies at the booth, covering a variety of categories. AARP hosts AgeTech Summit with CTA, featuring Maria Shriver as speaker. And on Jan. 10, AARP will have a live cash prize event at the Entrepreneur Expo.
