How do you know, as an entrepreneur, where to put your energy in? In our upcoming ebook Startup Odyssey for Entrepreneurs we devote an entire chapter to industry segments that are becoming “hot” right now and will be attractive to entrepreneurs in the medium- to long-term.
One such sector is longevity, which is also a personal interest of mine
According to some industry analysts,the longevity market is a $7.6 trillion opportunity calling for disruptive ideas and innovative solutions.
The key driving forces of the longevity sector on the demand side include:
Demographic changes – 60+ y.o. population will double in 30 years
·Age-related chronic diseases – prevalence and complexity of major killer diseases (such as cancer, diabetes and dementia) and
Unhealthy lifestyle (poor diet, lack of exercise, insufficient sleep and mental health issues) – 16.2 m (or 28% of all deaths) are attributable to bad lifestyle habits.
And yet at the same time the way we approach healthcare has fundamentally changed. Medicine is becoming more targeted and patient-specific, driving higher efficiency and reducing overall burden, while technology is helping to detect and diagnose diseases early, thus enabling a proactive (vs reactive) approach. We increasingly use AI in disease detection, diagnostics, drug discovery and development, as well as robotics for greater precision and pain reduction. Genomic medicine (gene therapy, gene editing and RNA therapy), stem-cell-based therapies and organ regeneration enable new approaches to treatment of diseases.
Meanwhile, there is no shortage of capital in the longevity industry. In addition to Big Pharma and Big tech (e.g., Google and Apple), top-tier venture capitalists (Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Accel Partners and Kleiner Perkins) are getting increasingly excited about the market potential of the longevity market.
In mid this year, Balaji Srinivasan, a serial entrepreneur and investor, boldly stated that the ultimate purpose of technology is to eliminate mortality and transcend our limits. Life extension is the most important thing we can invent.
Are you up to the challenge?