Brent Hoberman: ‘This is the moment of longevity’

Founders Forum president says a combination of proven science, access to data and advances in AI means now is the right time to invest in longevity.

In just a few weeks, the inaugural Founders Longevity Forum will take place at London Tech Week, bringing together the investment and longevity communities in an event designed to ‘supercharge’ innovation in the field.

There is still time to register your interest in what promises to be a groundbreaking event in the longevity calendar. In addition to keynotes, talks and debates from leading longevity thought leaders, attendees will hear pitches from some of the sector’s most fascinating startups while checking out the latest offerings from exhibitors in the Longevity Village.

Longevity.Technology: When an organization like Founders Forum Group starts getting involved in longevity, you know the field is moving in the right direction. Since hosting its first event in London in 2005, Entrepreneurial Power has gone on to host more than 40 forums in more than 20 cities around the world. But what made Founders Forum decide the time was right for a series of longevity events? To find out, we caught up with its co-founder and executive chairman, Brent Hoberman.

Having backed a staggering nine seed-stage unicorns, Hoberman is clearly someone with his finger on the pulse of what’s hot when it comes to investing. In recent years, he has noticed that the word “longevity” has been mentioned with increasing frequency in investor circles around the world.

“We’ve been running events for top entrepreneurs for 19 years, and recently we’ve seen more and more interest in longevity,” says Hoberman, who says longevity’s combination of “science, capital and entrepreneurs” is exactly what the group is looking for.

“That’s what energizes us and also what energizes the community,” he adds. “But I also feel like there’s still a gap. There are many other great longevity events, but few are focused on that collision between capital and entrepreneurs and scientists. That’s why we wanted to organize an event that brings together the world’s best founders and longevity scientists with people with capital who are interested in investing in the space.”

The collision of AI and data

According to Hoberman, the longevity sector’s attractiveness to investors has been significantly enhanced by the growing evidence supporting the field, which is now much more robust than it was 10 years ago.

“The science is now at a point where it can be a lot more proven and there’s a lot less snake oil,” he says. “There’s also been this collision of being able to capture and analyze huge amounts of data using technologies like artificial intelligence, which means we can now understand more about longevity and solutions to improve it. That’s why I think this is the moment of longevity.”

Having run so many events over the years, Hoberman believes the Founders Forum can help provide a much-needed boost to the commercialization of longevity.

“Very often at our events, critical game-changing connections are made that either change the course of a company or accelerate its progress by many years,” he says. “So that’s what we really want — to accelerate the journey of longevity entrepreneurs who can attend this event and introduce them to capital, scientists and fellow entrepreneurs who can help them on their journey.”

Longevity Awaits “ChatGPT Moment”

Like many of us, Hoberman is excited about the prospect that future developments in longevity biotechnology hold for humanity, but his interest as an investor is in the more immediate opportunities in the field.

“We’re more at that intersection where technology meets longevity medicine today,” he says. “For example, one of the areas we are exploring in depth now is longevity clinics, which are initially aimed at the high end, but where we would also expect to see solutions that are applicable at much lower prices for many. more people.”

While longevity may be starting to catch investors’ attention, the sector still has a way to go before it reaches the dizzying heights of AI, for example, and Hoberman says the sector’s “ChatGPT moment” is yet to come.

“People like Bryan Johnson have put longevity on the consumer map — the populist version of longevity, if you will,” he says. “But now it’s about getting better clarity, better data, showing that there are solutions that really work. I think it’s also the custom aspect of longevity. This isn’t going to be a one-size-fits-all solution, so how can we lower the costs to make custom solutions work at scale?”

Data will generate personalized longevity

The personalization aspect of longevity presents some challenges, but Hoberman is encouraged by the work already underway in the sector to address the issue.

“We’re hoping to help pull together some of the threads on this,” he says. “Data platforms will be important – there are three or four we’ve looked at that bring all the data together, but it’s still early days.”

In “a year or two,” Hoberman hopes the work currently being done on data platforms will help make personalized longevity a reality.

“People need to have access to the data to see what’s working for them and what’s not and what sacrifices they should or shouldn’t make,” he says. “You want to be able to log in every day and really see the impact you’re having. For example, if intermittent fasting is meant to keep your telomeres longer, does it do that, and can we measure it more cost-effectively? I think it’s starting to happen.”

Watch this space: The Founders Forum doubles its longevity with this series of events, and, Hoberman promises, there’s more to come.