Next Age Research
Investment Thesis
Next Age is the first acceleration program in Europe specifically dedicated to the Silver Economy — the market of products and services for aging and older populations. Launched in April 2022 on the initiative of CDP Venture Capital Sgr (Italy's National Innovation Fund) together with AC75 Startup Accelerator Spa, the program is run in partnership with international venture capital firm SOSV and its Orbit Startups platform. Next Age's thesis is that longevity is a large, underfunded, and fast-growing market: global spending on the elderly is projected to grow sharply across China, India, and other regions in the coming decade, and very few dedicated investment vehicles exist to serve it. The program backs pre-seed and seed-stage startups building innovative solutions for older adults, with a strong scientific and corporate-partner network (geriatric research institutes, a university, and consumer/financial corporates) supporting diligence and go-to-market.
Sector Focus
Candidate startups are organized around six thematic pillars Next Age uses to scope the Silver Economy: Finance (investment management, re-skilling, asset management for seniors), Health & Wellness (nutraceuticals, wearables, healthcare, mental wellness, sports), Leisure (entertainment, social, travel, tourism for seniors), Aging in Place (home care, remote assistance, proptech, mobility, smart home), Aging at Work (talent retention, re-skilling, workplace well-being for older employees), and Aging-Friendly City (accessible mobility, inclusive urban design, assistive robotics/drones). In practice the accelerated portfolio skews heavily toward digital health, AI-enabled diagnostics/monitoring, and rehabilitation technology.
Stage Focus & Structure
Next Age runs three-year program cycles with an annual 4-month acceleration cohort of 8-10 selected startups. The investment structure is staged: (1) a first investment of €120,000 as a convertible security (SAFE-like instrument) to every participant, plus up to €64,000 in accelerator services; (2) a second investment of up to €350,000 per startup from Next Age to the best-performing companies, plus €150,000 from SOSV (as a convertible, split roughly €110K cash / €40K program fee, admitting the startup into SOSV's remote Orbit Startups program); and (3) a third-stage investment of up to €1.5M per startup from CDP Venture Capital for the most promising graduates. Startups must accept both the Next Age and SOSV investment terms to be admitted to the program.
Check Size
Effective range across the full staged structure: roughly €120,000 (initial convertible) up to €1.5M (CDP Venture Capital follow-on for top performers), with an intermediate ~€150K-500K step at Demo Day for the strongest startups in each batch.
Lead Tendency
Next Age is the lead/anchor investor for every company entering its cohort via the initial convertible instrument, with staged follow-on participation alongside SOSV and CDP Venture Capital.
Recent Activity
Next Age has run annual batches since 2022 (Batch 2022, Batch 2023, Batch 2024), each culminating in a Demo Day. Amplifon, the global hearing-care retail leader, joined as a corporate partner in July 2023. The most recent public Demo Day covered by press was in September 2024 (third cohort). The program's application/timeline cadence (call opening January, call closing February, selection March, kickoff/acceleration April-July, Demo Day July) suggests an active annual selection cycle continuing into 2025 and beyond, though a fully up-to-date list of a 2025 cohort was not found on the public site at time of research.
Portfolio Highlights
Across its published batches (2022-2024), Next Age has backed over 20 startups spanning digital health, rehabilitation tech, and elder-focused legal/financial services, including: Bepi (smart pill dispenser), Remo (post-stroke rehab wearable), Hippocraticum AI (AI medical assistant), Innereo (AI emotion-responsive music), LizardMed (AI postural health scale), Rimborsiamo (legal-tech for seniors), Weaving (remote physical therapy platform), Parrots (US; AI monitoring for neurological disorders), Point Pressure (Spain; wearable physical-therapy device), MindAhead (Germany; cognitive-impairment detection), SPARKD (Singapore; cognitive-motor training), and Bended (VR rehabilitation for neurodegenerative disease). The portfolio is geographically concentrated in Italy with selective international startups from the US, Spain, Germany, and Singapore.
Team
- Floriano Bonfigli — Next Age Acceleration Program Advisor/Coordinator. 10+ years of startup experience as founder, mentor, trainer, and consultant; has overseen Next Age's growth from launch to over €4.7M invested.
- Matteo Bina Sforza Fogliani — General Manager, AC75 Startup Accelerator Spa; senior investment executive with an impact/ESG venture capital background.
- Mario Pesaresi — President, AC75 Startup Accelerator Spa.
Decision Process
Program-based selection by the AC75/Next Age team in partnership with SOSV (which co-leads the acceleration curriculum) and with input from scientific partners (Università Politecnica delle Marche, IRCCS INRCA geriatric research institute, UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing) and corporate partners (Intesa Sanpaolo, Amplifon). CDP Venture Capital is the anchor institutional sponsor behind the program.
Founder Preferences
Next Age looks for pre-seed/seed startups (Italian or international) building products explicitly targeting the Silver Economy across health, finance, leisure, aging-in-place, aging-at-work, or age-friendly city use cases. Teams do not need to be pre-incorporated in Italy but must incorporate as an Italian legal entity within 45 days of signing if selected, and at least two founders must be present in Ancona for the first and last month of the 4-month program (English is the working language).
Geographic Focus
Headquartered in Ancona, Italy (Marche region). Applications are open globally, but selected international startups must establish an Italian legal entity and commit to on-site time in Ancona; the realized portfolio is majority-Italian with international startups from the US, Spain, Germany, and Singapore.