Aging typically brings with it changes to people’s bodies and their health that science and medicine work diligently to address. AARP Innovation Labs, the innovation arm of AARP and sponsor of the What’s Next Innovation Challenge, chose the startup winner of its competition to find the most innovative way to drive the adoption of hearing aids for those impaired over the age of 50.
The winner was Canada-based startup Singular Hearing Inc. with their “HeardThat” hearing assistive smartphone app that uses the power of machine learning to help people hear speech better in noisy social situations.
The finals were held virtually on June 25th at the 17th Annual What’s Next Longevity Venture Summit, but the competition began in February with acceptance of applications that was followed by finalist notifications on May 1st. Startup competitors were required to have less than $500K in annual revenue and no more than $5M raised in investor funding.
“Every dissonance of aging is a market opportunity,” said Mary Furlong, successful serial entrepreneur, author and producer of the What’s Next Longevity Summits. “Hearing loss impacts one in three Americans between ages 65-74. We are so pleased with the important work of our winner and our finalists in this competition.”
The judging panel comprised of longevity experts and investors in aging included Dave Blanchard of Hamilton CapTel, Jeannee Parker Martin of LeadingAge California and Abby Levy of Primetime Partners. The panel was moderated by David Lindeman, director of Health Care at the Center for Information Technology and Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS).
Over 70 speakers participated in the event with an agenda of thought leader panel discussions, analyst research presentations, best practice and investor case studies, the competition and networking. It was a great gathering of leading investors, startup ventures, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, authors, expert analysts and media. Those attending virtually may tap into the content from the Summit through August 31.
Read about the P&G Ventures Innovation Challenge
