I’ve just moved back to London after ten years in the US so this is perhaps a rather self-serving post (and one that also marks a shift to UK vs US spelling). I am excited to be back, not just for the obvious reasons (freezing sleet, warm beer, and erratic plumbing (obviously you should have separate hot and cold taps)) but because the UK seems to be having something of an ageing renaissance. Policy makers here seem to get it, most notably the government’s new Industrial Strategy (see below) which elevates healthy ageing to one of four national priorities, and has opened the funding spiggot. Similarly quite a number of local authorities, funders (including some of the most active impact investors) and corporates are talking about doing things in a joined-up way, at the level of the system. Here’s a selection of some of the groups – most of whom I’ve met with in the past few weeks – that are pushing the boundaries of ageing innovation in a good way:
- Allia. Based out of Cambridge they’re the UK lead of a European-funded ageing accelerator, Silver Economy Accelerating Strategies.
- Bethnal Green Ventures. Early stage accelerator focused on social good that has helped develop a number of ageing-focused startups including GoodGym, Konnektis and SeeWhatIMean.
- BigSocietyCapital. A £600m impact investment fund that connects social capital with non-profits and social enterprises. Funds numerous innovative ageing projects such as supporting the first social impact bonds in ageing (one focused on loneliness in Worcester and one on social prescribing in Newcastle) and the Care and Well-being Fund.
- Centre for Ageing Better: Funded by a £50m Lottery grant, established by Lord Filkin who wrote the well-respected (and robust) Ready for Ageing? report by the House of Lords, this group is helping change the perceptions of ageism, improve opportunities for later-life employment and improve age-friendly communities.
- Dementia Research Institute: A new £40m initiative into dementia research.
- Future Care Capital Fund: A charity that is funding new models of care.
- Industrial Strategy. Ageing is one of the four pillars of the UK government’s new industrial strategy, along with AI, mobility and clean growth. Last week the government announced £300m for ageing and £98m for a healthy ageing fund. In the ‘small world’ category, the interim director the healthy ageing fund is Eric Kihlstrom, the Aging2.0 London Ambassador, who will be developing a challenge model over the coming months to allocate the funding for the most impactful causes. More details soon – watch this space for updates…
- National Innovation Center on Ageing: Based out of Newcastle University, and headed by seasoned Unilever executive Mike Catt, this was funded by a £40m grant from central government and Newcastle University to gather in one national centre, “world-leading scientists to work together with industry, the NHS and the public to develop, test and bring to market products which promote healthy ageing”.
- Nominet Trust. A tech-focused fund to support social entrepreneurs and change.
- Northstar Ventures. A new, Newcastle based venture fund focused on ageing.
- Unlimited. A social investor providing funding, advice and support for social entrepreneurs, runs Transform Ageing in the South West of England.
- Voice. For my money, this is the winner of the best acronym in the ageing space – Valuing our Intellectual Capital and Experience – a 6000+ person ageing-focused ‘consumer panel’, which gives its members the chance to share their insights and experience about a range of topics, products and services, to do with ageing. It’s now looking to expand globally.
Happy to update this list if I’ve missed any – just shoot me a note at s [at] sdbj.net. I don’t intend to stay stuck in Brit-bubble, and will be digging into other European (Brexit notwithstanding) and global innovators and projects in future posts, and as always interested in who are doing the best at innovation globally. The focus will obviously need to be on results achieved, not just new organizations created and alluring mission statements on websites. For now, ensconced in West London, I see that the weather may be grey with a hint of damp, but the future for all of us ageing Brits seems to be getting brighter.
