Overview of the AgeTech Industry: Insights from Max Zamkow of Third Act Ventures
December 5, 2024โข974 words
Max Zamkow, of Third Act Ventures was recently interviewed on the AgeTech podcast by Keren Etkin.
Third Act Ventures and Max Zamkow's Background
Max Zamkow is the founding partner of Third Act Ventures, an AgeTech-focused venture capital fund. His journey into AgeTech began with a personal experience:
"I had an experience like many entrepreneurs in the field where my grandmother just didn't, wasn't able to live by herself anymore. And she moved into a facility and unfortunately did not thrive. And that's when I jumped into gear, looked around for things that could help, was surprised that there was nothing. And that's what turned me on to this field."
Fund Performance and Strategy
Fund 1 closed at the end of 2022 with 37 investments
Fund 2 launched in 2023-2024, aiming for 40+ deals over 3 years
The focus remains on seed-stage AgeTech startups globally
Max's background includes software engineering and startup experience as a founder and CTO. He initially planned to work at Epic but pivoted to mobile technology upon graduation.
Current AgeTech Landscape
Major Industry Challenges
Healthcare staffing crisis
Alzheimer's and dementia care
Medicare Advantage and Medicaid opportunities
Aging-in-place technologies
Max notes: "The big things that are still major issues in the industry include staffing challenges becoming more pronounced, along with a renewed focus on Alzheimer's and dementia being pushed by not just U.S. governments but governments around the world."
Alzheimer's and Dementia Market
Contrary to common perception, the Alzheimer's and dementia market is substantial:
"At least here in the US, something close to one in four older adults will experience some sort of mild cognitive impairment if not more. It's actually a pretty big number of individuals that are or will be affected by it and if not directly, then even more indirectly."
Recent developments include:
Increased funding for Alzheimer's and dementia startups
CMS's new reimbursement model called Guide
AI advancements for early detection and treatment
Emerging Trends and Opportunities
AI Applications in Elder Care
AI is revolutionizing administrative tasks in senior care:
"The area that is red hot for AI in senior care is where AI is taking out or completing administrative tasks. Whether that's scheduling, whether it's filling out required forms, all sorts of things like that, credentialing, etc. Those are areas that are really able to reduce the amount of staff you need."
Staffing Crisis Solutions
Max describes the multifaceted approach to solving staffing issues:
"There are some interesting solutions out there now that are focusing on ways to better retain staff. I think those are really great. I think there are ones out there that are getting better at hiring and recruiting. That's also very valuable. And we're starting to see some that are trying to augment staff and use technology to more efficiently put staff where they need to be."
Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Opportunities
Despite challenges, opportunities exist:
"What it really means is that you have to be going after one of the major concerns for the payers. So if you are helping with member enrollment engagement, retention, huge. Even though the dollars are not flowing as freely to supplemental benefits, those will still be in high demand."
Supporting Younger Older Adults
Max highlights an interesting area of focus:
"There is a specific area that I have been really looking at that I think is quite interesting which is assisting the transition from your period of career to retirement. We've seen a number of universities start programs all focused on this so it's Stanford. There's a distinguished career Institute. I know Notre Dame has a similar program and I believe Harvard and Columbia and a number of others have now started their own versions of it."
He also emphasizes the need for solutions to help older adults supplement their retirement income:
"50% of Americans who retire do not have any retirement income. I know there are similar issues around the world and the fact is that younger older adults are still just as healthy as they were five ten years ago. They are still very much able to work and for better or for worse they need to in some degrees."
Future of AgeTech (15-year outlook)
Max envisions several key developments:
Extended working years: "It'll be more typical for people to keep working even at their primary career into their 70s potentially even 80s."
Advanced home monitoring: "We'll see more sort of different types of remote monitoring... Ways that some intelligent system can notice that alert the right people and the right people could be neighbours or friends or family who have to be healthcare and get people checked out."
Evolution of senior living: "Senior living itself will look a little bit differently. They'll 15 years I can only hope I don't think it's going to happen but I can only hope that at least they all have Wi-Fi and then they all have they're all filled with baby boomers who have very different demands on what they want and where they will live."
Innovative end-of-life options: "We're seeing a huge surge in people deciding to be composted or turned into diamonds I think that's a really interesting one much more interesting than being placed in an urn on a shelf which just seems strange and awkward honestly."
State of the AgeTech Industry
Max concludes by emphasizing the industry's early stage:
"I think we're still in the early days of age tech things are happening it's great but I use a baseball term or maybe an inning two for using a football term maybe we're in like 15 minutes into the first half things are getting going we're getting warmed up but there's still a lot more of the game left."