We round up the most compelling new Age Tech startups featured at this year's major technology conference.
Over 80% of adults over 50 own some kind of technology that enables aging at home, and most say they’re highly likely to buy more AgeTech in the future. AgeTech refers to technology that supports healthy and independent aging and care partnership. In a new report, AARP and the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) project that AgeTech will become a $120 billion market by 2030. So much for the stereotype that older folks don’t use new technology.
Tech innovators have defined six domains of aging where AgeTech plays a role.
- Financial fortitude: affordable technology that helps with budgeting, cost-effective care, and income-earning opportunities.
- Cognitive resilience: learning platforms and AI-driven mental wellness tools to aid in cognitive health and early detection of cognitive decline.
- Social connection: online communities and smart devices that reduce isolation.
- Holistic health: home-based diagnostic tools like glucose monitors and wearable health monitoring devices.
- Safety and security: smart home tech and biometric security to support aging in place.
- Convenience: voice or touch-activated systems that offer accessible control of home environments.
Each year, AARP hosts an AgeTech Collaborative event at CES, the major technology conference produced by CTA. One of the attractions of the Collaborative is the Startup Showcase, which this year featured about 25 new AgeTech companies attempting to innovate within these domains of aging.
Here are some of the most exciting health-related ideas to come out of the 2025 Showcase. It remains to be seen whether all these companies ultimately spread their wings and soar, but they’ve gotten off the ground with some promising ideas about the future of aging.
Wesper: Snoring can worsen with age, and with it a slate of health problems including an increased risk of stroke and heart attack. The startup Wesper promises “comfortable, non-invasive at-home sleep testing” with accurate results in an easy-to-read visual format. With two half-moon-shaped sleep patches and a pulse oximeter, Wesper offers not just sleep tracking, but also clinical information about heart rate, body position, respiratory effort, and airflow. Their offer is to bring the sleep lab to your own bedroom, and they advertise that their results correlate 95% to those you’d get in a sleep lab. They’re FDA-cleared and promote their product to both individuals and physicians looking to provide tailored care. Wesper comes packaged as a Sleep Wellness Program for a $75/month subscription fee.
Tuned: Hearing loss is frustrating by itself and has also been linked to a higher likelihood of both falls and dementia. Traditional hearing aids are expensive and can be hard to use–so it's about time that the next generation of hearing aid technology takes center stage. Enter Tuned, and AI-powered self-fitting hearing aid platform that announces they’re “redefining hearing care, making it accessible and affordable for everyone.” Their FDA-approved app walks users through a hearing evaluation and tunes their hearing aids to their comfort, a process that might otherwise need to happen in a doctor’s office. Prices weren’t available on their website at the time of publication.
XanderGlasses: Here’s another innovation addressing the needs of people with hearing loss. Ever wish that daily in-person conversations came with closed captions? The day has finally arrived. XanderGlasses project captions that look like text messages onto the “screen” of the glasses, so that users can read and understand conversations, even in a loud restaurant or other noisy place. The company has worked for several years developing the technology with the Veterans Administration and is now fulfilling orders on their waiting list at the VA. Check their website for updates on when the general public may be able to order closed-captioning glasses.
Cephable: Click on a link by smiling? Answer the phone by nodding your head? Cephable AI gives users those options and more. They market their technology to businesses looking to help their employees be more efficient, and also to older adults who need accessible options for navigating online environments. Cephable says that while most AI startups focus on output, they’re paying attention to human input to improve the experience of interacting with the tech you already use. Their platform also allows users to attach larger buttons and ergonomic controls to computers and phones in order to facilitate easier use for people with joint stiffness or other mobility issues that make it difficult to use traditional computer or phone controls.
Other startups featured at the showcase included Tembo Health, an on-call dementia care support group, and Perry, a digital wellness platform that aims to close the perimenopause support gap. In an encouraging trend, many of these new tech platforms emphasize better access to reliable, personalized health information at home.
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