Age tech is exploding. The 鈥榤odern grandma鈥� market wants more than health aids.
| Bloomington, Ind.
For many older people, the feeling of being recognized or 鈥渟een鈥� can seem like a luxury reserved for the young, especially when it comes to technology products, which are almost always designed and marketed for adults younger than 60 years old.听听
But that鈥檚 changing. Older consumers are drawing attention as a distinct and fast-growing tech target market. Despite persistent stereotypes about being tech-averse, they regularly engage, stream, and shop online, often using multiple devices.
, a 79-year-old Bloomington, Indiana, artist, uses her iPhone and iPad daily to engage on multiple social media platforms, shop, and stream music through her headphones while she paints.
Why We Wrote This
The number of baby boomers hitting age 65 peaks this year, creating an exploding market for 鈥渁ge tech鈥� innovation that serves their digital needs.
鈥淚 often make little videos 鈥� they call them reels 鈥� for Instagram around my studio, looking at paintings and talking about them,鈥� says Ms. Cole, a former longtime city councilor here. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say I鈥檓 really good with tech, but I can figure a lot of things out.鈥�
Older tech users like Ms. Cole, living, working, and playing longer than previous generations, have unique consumer needs and the means to acquire new apps and devices to make their lives more fun and fulfilling.听听
The market for 鈥渁ge tech,鈥� or gerontechnology 鈥� digital products and platforms that aim to meet the specific needs of older people 鈥� has exploded in recent years, with many companies in the space focused on health- and care-related devices. Now, recognizing the spending power of users like Ms. Cole, investors are increasingly backing startups with household gadgets and lifestyle items geared toward social connection, gaming, fitness, education, relationship-building, and home-sharing.
The shifting internet user base
鈥淒emographic changes are among the most significant changes to technology, because they represent changes to the internet user base,鈥� says founder-turned-investor Monique Woodard. Her venture capital firm, Cake Ventures, funds startups that leverage demographic shifts, including the rapid growth of the older population.
There are about 62 million people ages 65 or older in the United States 鈥� close to 20% of the population. It is the听听group and accounted for 22% of spending in 2022, up from 15% in 2010, according to the U.S. Labor Department鈥檚 蝉耻谤惫别测.听 by people older than 50 is expected to grow to $623 billion per year by 2050, according to recent by AARP.
Another recent reveals a new reality about older people and tech: Americans over 50 own smartphones at roughly the rate consumers ages 18 to 49 do. Even among those ages 70-plus, 61% say they 鈥渉ave the digital skills necessary to fully take advantage of being online.鈥� is also widespread among older adults; most play logic, puzzle, or card games on their smartphones, but more are purchasing gaming consoles in recent years.
Older people are generally more skeptical of artificial intelligence and more concerned about data privacy, and they might need higher contrast or larger text on websites, but many regularly download and use digital apps and platforms much as younger generations do.
Debunking ageist stereotypes.
The age 65-plus population skews female, and many in this demographic are fitness-conscious, tech-savvy women who enjoy traveling and spending time with friends and loved ones. As their numbers swell, they鈥檙e bringing to life a new vision of old age, garnering such online descriptors as 鈥渕odern grandma鈥� and 鈥済lam-ma.鈥�
Investors are taking notice, says Ms. Woodard, whose relatively early interest in age tech began in 2016: 鈥淚鈥檝e seen it completely change and evolve over the last several years. Now, there are a number of individual investors, as well as firms, who are very interested in the aging space. They think of this as a good strategy, and downstream capital is more available.鈥�
Similarly, Mary Furlong, a longevity economy expert working at the intersection of aging, health, and technology, saw age tech's potential as far back as 1996, when she founded the nonprofit .
鈥淭he longevity market today is where the internet was 30 years ago,鈥� she says. 鈥淢any companies didn鈥檛 have an internet strategy 30 years ago because they were just learning how the digital world was going to change business and change culture.鈥�
Although age tech companies have awoken to the opportunities within the demographic changes, they have not yet established best practices for involving older adults in product design. As a result, most older gamers 鈥渇eel like an afterthought to the gaming industry,鈥� AARP researchers wrote.听
Company founders, like Eben Pingree of Boston-based Kinsome, an AI-powered app that facilitates engagement between grandparents and grandchildren, find it difficult to connect at scale for product research with older adults who live independently. Early on, Kinsome relied mainly on input from residents of living facilities for older people. Now, it gets feedback from beta users in the company's听target market.听听
鈥淧art of the problem is that there isn鈥檛 enough segmenting of those groups and talking about them more specifically,鈥� Mr. Pingree says.
Reaching this fragmented market is often a challenge of whether to aim directly at older consumers, their adult children, or organizations and governments, says Ms. Furlong. At the same time, companies relying on ageist cliches and stereotypes in their ads experience听. Ms. Furlong advises her clients to develop strong business-to-business strategies in which nonprofits, governments, and other businesses help get products into consumer hands.
Gerontologist and marketer Amy LaGrant believes 鈥渢he experienced consumer,鈥� a term she coined for the multigenerational, multifaceted user group, deserves sophisticated, tailored messaging.
鈥淚鈥檓 not necessarily saying that young people are dumb, but I am saying that experience and wisdom come with age,鈥� she recently told an audience at an Aging 2.0 startup pitch competition in Nashville. 鈥淭hese are people who ran the world before they became a 鈥榮enior.鈥欌�澨� 听
Many experienced entrepreneurs, surprised by the dearth of tech useful to their aging parents, have found themselves involved in age tech. Their products are making it easier for older people to tell their life stories, stay connected socially, monitor and manage health, continue learning, and live more independently.
Ms. Furlong, a well-known figure in the age tech space, is optimistic that changing attitudes and perceptions of aging will ultimately improve the quality and diversity of digital solutions coming onto the market for older users. 鈥淲hat I find the most exciting,鈥� Ms. Furlong says, 鈥渋s the orchestra of talent developing the next set of solutions. I鈥檝e never seen as many smart people coming into this space.鈥�
This article was written with the support of a journalism fellowship from the Gerontological Society of America, the Journalists Network on Generations, and The Commonwealth Fund.听听
