It’s no secret: people are getting older. Between improved healthcare technology and the country’s largest generations hitting that certain age, governments and citizens alike seem unprepared for what will eventually be the largest demographic shift the US as ever seen. Fortunately, the entrepreneurial community is on it, innovating practical technology that can bridge the gap between the retirement they were promised and the reality of the world we live in today. And this new program could seriously help out.
Village Capital, in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente Community Health, has launched Health: US 2018, a unique venture program focused on supporting early-stage companies that are solving the critical challenges that older Americans face as they age. They hope to address the barriers that must be overcome to solve these problems, all while supporting the innovation of these new technologies. According to their website, they specifically hope to:
- Enable aging in place;
- Create workforce opportunities for an aging population and tap into the potential latency of seniors;
- Plan and communicate an individual’s last wishes;
- Decrease isolation and increase social engagement;
- Improve the social, emotional, and/or educational support for caregivers;
- Improve access to health services;
- Assist in managing the financials, such as paying bills and handling investments and social security, for the individual as they age and/or for the designated caregiver; or
- Find and organize affordable, quality support services, such as transportation, caregiving, cleaning, and meal preparation.
As with any program like this, Village Capital plans to heartily support all of the startups involved. Companies will be privileged to tailored engagements with potential strategic partners and investors, while leveraging the collective knowledge of the cohort’s participating entrepreneurs. Additionally, two peer-selected ventures will receive $75,000 USD in investment capital from VilCap Investments.
Support for companies solving this kind of issue are more than necessary. With the number of individuals over the age of 65 years projected to double and the number of individuals over the age of 80 years projected to triple between now and 2060, something needs to be done and done fast. Scalable, cost effective solutions are in high demand, and hopefully, these companies will be able to deliver.
If you think your company has what it takes to change the world for the aging population applications are open until December 13, 2017. Visit their website here to apply.