😮 Can Startups Help Us Be Immortal?
Billionaires are trying to find the code to cheat death. And startups might be the key. (Reading Time: 3 mins)
What's common between Jeff Bezos and Lord Voldemort?
They both want to be immortal.
But unlike Lord Voldemort, Bezos' immortality plan could benefit all of us.
Wondering how?
ReadOn!
The Blessing of Life
Since time immemorial, people have been working on increasing our lifespan and improving our health.
And we have been largely successful at this.Â
The average age has grown from 52.5 years in 1960 to 72 today.
But sadly, because of the fast-paced life, deaths among the young are on the rise again.
You need not worry though. The curious breed that we humans are, we won't rest till we solve death. Yes, literally hundreds of startups are trying to solve this problem.Â
Longevity Startups
You must have heard of Fintech, Insuretech and even Constructiontech startups.
But what are longevity startups?
Well, these are like healthtech startups focusing on increasing our lifespan, increasing the quality of life and maybe, just maybe, even reverse aging.
Woah, how are they trying to achieve this?
Well, lots of different startups are taking different ways to achieve this. So, let's take a look at some of the most interesting ones.
First up on the list: Altos Labs. It is Silicon Valley's latest bet on cheating death and living forever.Â
Funded by billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Yuri Milner, it is developing cell rejuvenation tech.Â
Huh?
Basically, it's developing a technique that can reverse the aging of your cells and make them younger and stronger, preventing them (and you) from dying easily.
Like most startups in this space, it wants to use this tech not simply to make you look younger but to treat killer diseases like cancer.
However, Altos Labs' tech has not yet shown any major breakthroughs, so this may turn out to be another pipe dream.
Another similar startup that has also garnered the attention of billionaire investors like Google's founders, Peter Thiel and Jeff Bezos (yes, again) is Unity Biotechnology.Â
What it plans to do is create medicines that can flush out the old and damaged cells in the body that cause old age.Â
Right now, it is creating medicine to treat degenerative eye diseases.Â
There are also startups, like KidneyCure that are working on regenerating damaged organs.
And several others are working to create groundbreaking treatments for degenerative diseases, cancer, diabetes and a host of other illnesses that are the main causes of untimely death.
But these groundbreaking treatments are still in very early development.Â
They could become a reality soon but until then, let's focus on startups that are using existing tech to increase our lifespans.
For instance, Gero AI has created an AI model to predict your biological age (different from your "actual age") and risks to your health.Â
This can help you make lifestyle changes, so you can live a longer, healthier life.
Another startup Bioniq has created a routine of personalised supplements designed to keep you healthier for longer.
In total, all of these startups have raised a whopping $40 billion in 2021 alone!.Â
And the market for such startups is set to grow to $600 billion by 2025, thanks to billionaires pouring in money into these startups.Â
Why you ask?Â
Probably because the only thing they have left to conquer is death.Â
Thanks to their efforts, we humans could become immortals or at least live much much longer.
Death could be just a thing of the past, discussed only in books and movies.
And even if our body does perish, startups could come up with a way to keep our consciousness alive in computers.
But, will this immortality or this new lease of life be affordable for all?
Or, will only the rich manage to live on forever?
What are your thoughts about longevity startups? Do you think Indian entrepreneurs should also enter this space?
Let us know your thoughts on Twitter.
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