Why The Longevity Tech Sector Is In Rude Health

Growing old gracefully is a growth industry. Worth around USD 21.1bn in 2024, the global longevity tech market is expected to reach USD 63bn by 2035, at a CAGR of 10.37%.

Longevity has become a significant investment magnet within healthtech thanks to the convergence of a few key factors. First, there’s the pressing matter of an inexorably aging global population, with the UN predicting that there will be more than 2.1 billion people aged 60 years and over by 2050. This will equate to more than a quarter of the world’s population, double the number we had in 2024.

It's a seismic demographic development placing unprecedented pressures on hospitals, clinics and care facilities around the world. This is incentivising businesses and healthcare systems to develop medical solutions which allow healthspans to keep up with ever-increasing lifespans by delaying and alleviating age-related conditions like metabolic syndrome and frailty.

Growth in this subsector is also being driven by the rapid pace of technological advancement within healthtech. AI is radically optimising how clinicians and researchers go about their work, whether in terms of drug discovery or developing anti-senescence (ie, anti-aging) therapies. Meanwhile, the ready availability to consumers of state-of-the-art wearables, body scans, and testing which allows for the proactive tracking of biomarkers is making personalised medicine an increasingly hot topic. This trend has been accelerated by the increasing popularity of health influencers who are helping normalise the preemptive self-monitoring of health metrics. 

Perhaps the standout example here is Bryan Johnson, the tech entrepreneur turned longevity guru who bills himself as “the world’s most measured human”, and whose closely-chronicled adventures in health optimisation have earnt him a cult social media following. Another notable figure who has helped popularise longevity research is the author and podcaster Dr Peter Attia. Alongside tech entrepreneur and investor John Hering, he has recently launched Biograph, a high-end clinic which provides in-depth physicals, including whole-body MRI scans, CT angiography and genetic testing for those willing to pay the high annual membership fees.

The fact that big-name investors like Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel have also been pouring capital into longevity research has drawn more attention to this burgeoning space. VCs are increasingly eyeing opportunities here, with last year seeing a 220% year-on-year increase in global investment in longevity tech businesses. Let’s take a look at some of the startups which have been receiving investor attention. 

While the US is currently where the majority of longevity-focused startups is based, other nations are rapidly planting their flags in this space. Last month, for example, we saw Indian startup Biopeak raise USD 3.5m in seed funding for its AI-based health assessment services. 

Similar to Peter Attia’s Biograph startup, Biopeak allows clients to monitor the minutiae of their bodily processes. On top of MRI and CT scans, the protocol involves mapping the microbiome, assessing hormone levels and tracking oxidative stress. The data is analysed by AI which pinpoints early signs of disease and indicates where improvements can be made.

The company intends to use the VC cash to expand its network of clinics and improve its AI platform which, in the words of the CEO, can help “understand the human body in unprecedented ways.”

Headquartered in Ireland, Juvenescence is one of the most prominent of the new wave of longevity-focused drug discovery firms, closing a reported USD 76m Series B1 round in May. Its research focuses on a range of diseases and disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, heart failure and muscle wasting, with the stated aim of “extending healthy lifespan through innovative medicines”.

It’s notable that one of the investors is UAE-based healthtech M42, which is partnering with Juvenescence to set up a drug development base in Abu Dhabi. M42’s experience in genomic and bioanalysis will, together with the cash infusion, accelerate the progress of Juvenescence’s AI-based clinical trials.

NewLimit is another biotech startup on investors’ radars, and its prominence is unsurprising given that its co-founder is Brian Armstrong, the CEO of leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. The California-based company is focused on extending healthspan through cell genomic technology – specifically, the reprogramming of the molecules known as the epigenome, whose function is disrupted by aging. 

By altering the action of the epigenome, NewLimit aims to revert cells back to younger states and tackle conditions from fibrosis to liver damage. While the company is “a few years away” from human trials, it’s currently testing its drugs using AI models to simulate bodily processes – work that will be further fuelled by the USD 130m Series B round it closed in May.

California is also home to Junevity, another startup focused on “resetting” cells to allow for longer, healthier lives. Junevity is a spin out from the University of California, San Francisco, where researchers created a therapeutic discovery platform which draws on large-scale human data and AI technology to identify genes which regulate cell damage. 

The company aims to draw on this data to develop ways to repair such damage and alleviate age-related conditions including osteoarthritis, type 2 diabetes and sarcopenia. In February, the startup raised USD 10m in seed funding to advance its work, which has already seen favourable results such as improved insulin sensitivity and significant fat loss in test subjects. 

Here at Hampleton Partners, we’ll continue to keep a close eye on trends impacting investment and M&A within healthtech. If you’re a founder or senior decision maker interested in talking about the current market opportunities for your business, get in touch with Hampleton MD Tom Schmähling, whose focus is on healthcare and healthtech transactions. 

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