The way we live our lives may never be the same again, no thanks to the coronavirus menace that we face today. Literally every aspect of our existence has been affected for better or worse. However, the sector we discuss in this article is the agetech industry. To begin with, agetech is basically technology that is designed and built around the needs of older people.

That notwithstanding, when we think about old people and the technologies designed for them, some of the first things that come to our minds are Zimmer frames, walking sticks and thick eyeglasses. But there is more to agetech than these. Given the heavy investment by inventors over the past couple decades, the world can now boast of a near inexhaustible list of valuable technological equipment which enjoyed massive usage especially by older people in the heat of the coronavirus scourge. But then, how are the players in the age technology industry faring in the wake of COVID-19 and how will they fare after now? Alon Braun, business architect and agetech expert has some serious contributions to this topic.

In his words "For now, agetech companies and businesses are currently very relevant especially with COVID-19 in the world. Here are some examples of companies which I recently seen emerging in the agetech scene, For instance, Famileo.com is startup which helps ealderly stay happier during this lock down as they allow family members send a sort of customized print newspapers made of photos, memories and activities of what's happening in the family to their elderly relatives. Another interesting one is Soundmind. It is a voice-activated instant videocalling device that is very easy to use. I believe agetech companies like these are interesting investment opportunities at the moment as the demand can  be high for these types of technologies"

(Alon Braun, agetech expert and CEO Riverbanks)

Mr Braun makes a whole lot of agreeable sense. Here's why. Many hospitals across the world quickly ran out of medical equipment needed to take care of older COVID-19 patients. It was such a huge disaster that some of the world's billionaires, organisations and even governments had to quickly respond through donations to meet the needs of victims in the hardest hit countries.

Obviously, the world would have had less deaths and overall lower levels of COVID-19 related health disasters if there had been enough efficient technology to cater to the needs of the most vulnerable COVID-19 patients: the elderly. This simply implies that the government of all nations as well as inventors and entrepreneurs in the agetech space must constantly plan ahead of regional or global emergencies like what we have so far experienced in 2020. As simple as this may seem, planning is by no means an easy task. As Alon Braun put it in his upcoming book, The Entrepreneur Journey: A Strategic Blueprint for Market Domination. "We have a cognitive limitation that makes planning a demanding task: a bottleneck in our ability to hold information in our working memory. That’s what makes it hard to compare multiple options and criteria, especially when it comes to trying to forecast the obstacles we might run up against in the future"

The Way Forward

 First of all, dealing with older people is a lot more complex than dealing with mid-age people. As anyone can guess, many aged people have at least one health problem or the other; hence they

need more solutions and care than the average aged individual. This goes without saying that there are unlimited opportunities to invent technologies that will support them. Put in another way, there are many very lucrative opportunities in the health technology niche which any savvy entrepreneurs can capitalize on right now that the industry is relatively young.

We may already have low vision aids like magnifiers which help them to read, motorized scooters to improve mobility, over-bed tables, adjustable beds and more. Yet there is room for more inventions, which, sadly, is more challenging than it is exciting.

To be clear on this, inventors certainly love new challenges but innovation is often expensive as they require funding which are sometimes difficult to come by. So, not only do these agetech entrepreneurs need support from government, organisations and well-meaning individuals, they must also figure out practical strategies for dealing with the bottlenecks in the agetech industry if they desire to shine brightly.

In a Nutshell

The bulk of what we learn from Alon Braun in this article has to do with strategy and awareness. The awareness discussed here is of various stages: awareness of the relevance of agetech in the efforts to protect and preserve humanity during this COVID-19 pandemic and even other health conditions; awareness of the unlimited opportunities in this industry which savvy entrepreneurs can leverage on; and the need for both adequate funding and effective strategy for age technology businesses looking to thrive now and beyond.

Looking at the big picture, the possibilities in agetech are just unlimited. Beyond physical equipment that can be seen and touched, there could be other creative solutions for the elderly. Think about an app that reminds grandma when to take her pills or a special hand gloves that help grandpa exert a stronger grip on his walking cane or shoes that have flatter soles with some "teeth" which helps older people maintain more balance when walking so as to prevent or minimize falls. The opportunities are many. So, you can start thinking of a helpful agetech solution today.