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The longevity economy is booming: Every year, people over the age of 50 generate $8.3 trillion in economic activity, and that number is expected to more than triple by the year 2050. And the opportunity for innovators and entrepreneurs is enormous: By 2050, the number of adults in the U.S. who are 65 or older will double. Now more than ever, novel solutions are needed to help aging adults live healthier, happier lives.  

As part of its mission to advocate for older adults, the AgeTech Collaborative™ features an accelerator for early- and growth-stage startups that seek to provide technologically innovative goods and services focused on the 50-plus. 

The journey to participating in the accelerator begins with a pitch competition, sponsored several times a year by the Collaborative, sometimes in partnership with other organizations in the longevity community. The Collaborative then invites those startups showing the most promise to enter the accelerator, which helps them find their footing in the AgeTech space. 

During the formalized, 8-week accelerator program — which is held virtually — hand-selected portfolio managers from AARP’s Innovation Labs offer startups mentorship and guidance through whatever challenges they happen to be facing, along with access to AARP’s vast library of research and connections across the industry — all with the goal of helping the companies understand and communicate with their target audience within the 50-plus segment. 

The formal process sets the team up to offer a hallmark of the accelerator: its commitment to being highly personalized to every startup, according to the startup’s needs. AARP Innovation Labs’ Amy Shroads, who has worked as a portfolio manager with the accelerator, describes working with one company whose goal was to get a compelling pilot deck ready for presentation by the end of the accelerator. But once she began working with the startup, as Shroads puts it, “We all realized, ‘Oh, you’re much earlier on in the process than we all realized. Before we can begin working on refining a pitch deck, we first need to learn what kind of pilot is right for you at this stage — because there’s a lot to learn.” The accelerator is not a one-size-fits-all approach. 

The accelerator is also very hands-on — but again, according to a startup’s needs and availability. Shroads emphasizes that the accelerator understands the demands on a team’s time:  

“We’re super sensitive to how much work goes into just waking up every day and trying to see your startup vision come to fruition. So we try to keep the startup’s time commitment to a minimum and give them tons of support so they can get the most out of the program. We’ve gotten feedback like, ‘What makes the accelerator so great is that it felt like supplemental employees for eight weeks.’” That said, founders and startups are expected to stay engaged and on point: “When it comes to interviews with experts in their field and other meetings, we expect them to be on the calls and often lead those conversations. And we’ll do 30- to 45-minute check-ins every week, to make sure we haven’t gone off track from our engagement goals, or to finesse or pivot those, or even just to ask, ‘What are we going to do this upcoming week?’” 

Startups may have already raised some funding, but just where to spend — and where to save — that money is a perennial decision facing startup founders. This is where the accelerator really shines. “Startups might make some assumptions about the market in order to conserve their cash,” Shroads says. “We’re fortunate that AARP has these resources and the budget to offer these resources to startups in the AgeTech space. So we can step in and say, ‘Let’s not assume anything. Let’s take your thesis, whatever it is, and test it. Let’s get some consumer feedback surveys going. Let’s validate it or prove it wrong.’”  

Shroads notes that because of AARP’s nonprofit status, the accelerator follows a specific protocol for selecting which startups they invite to participate, including a policy review to ensure each startup aligns with AARP’s mission. But within that structure, there is flexibility. A startup’s product or service might also appeal to younger consumers, but the accelerator can still help the company understand how best to reach those who are 50-plus. 

Bottom line: Why would a startup want to participate in the accelerator? Shroads offers a succinct answer: “Our hands on approach, the resources we have access to, and our drive to be helpful in the best ways possible to every unique startup — we are definitely not one-size-fits-all mentoring.” 

If it sounds like the AgeTech Collaborative™ accelerator would be a good fit for your startup, you can find out more here. 

#CollaborativeEngagement

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