Industry: Longevity
Longevity startups
Longevity startups now raise from specialist funds, foundations and government programmes as well as biotech VCs. Our own longevity work includes a women's longevity brand's $6M pre-seed and a healthy-ageing product's financial model.
- Who raised in 2025–26, and the funds, foundations and grants behind them
- Decks and models built around trial dates, test rules and clinic economics
- Waveup prepares investor materials for longevity companies: $3B+ raised for 600+ startups since 2014
In short
What are longevity startups?
Longevity startups develop drugs aimed at the biology of ageing, tests that try to measure it, and preventive health clinics. They raise from specialist VCs, biotech funds, foundations and government programmes. Investment in longevity biotech reached $18.4B in 2025, by Longevity.Technology's count. Capital is concentrating in fewer, larger deals.
- Who it's for
- Longevity biotech, diagnostics and clinic founders, pre-seed to Series D+
- What we build
- Investor deck, financial model, valuation, investor list, data room
- Prices
- Deck from $6,000, model from $3,000. Flat fees
- Track record
- $3B+ raised for 600+ startups since 2014
Market data checked on 8 November 2026. Sources are under each section.
Are investors still funding longevity startups in 2026?
Yes, and money rose sharply in 2025, though in fewer and bigger rounds. Drug developers near human trials and clinics with returning members raise most easily.
The opportunity
Ageing science is entering human trials, and governments now pay for it directly.
- Partial epigenetic reprogramming entered a human trial in 2026
- A US health agency and a Saudi foundation fund ageing research
- Preventive scan clinics are expanding from Europe into the US
The problem
Big cheques go to a few companies. Longevity.Technology counted $18.4B of longevity biotech investment in 2025, increasingly in fewer, larger deals.
Market size
How big is the longevity industry, and what drives it?
Longevity.Technology puts the risk-adjusted peak sales of today's longevity drug pipeline at about $230B a year. Its top-down model forecasts a $617B yearly market by 2045. Four forces bring money in:
- Human trials: more than 1,000 longevity programmes are already being tested in people
- Public money: ARPA-H's PROSPR programme is investing up to $144M in ageing research
- Foundations: Hevolution, a non-profit based in Riyadh, has a yearly budget of up to $1B
- Prizes: XPRIZE Healthspan offers a $101M purse to teams testing therapies in older adults
Venture capital
How much venture capital goes into longevity startups?
Investment in longevity biotech jumped to $18.4B in 2025, by Longevity.Technology's count. By mid-September 2026 another $12.1B had come in, through fewer, larger deals.
Series C for body-scan clinic chain Neko Health in July 2026, to open its first US clinics
Series C for NewLimit in June 2026, led by Founders Fund, ahead of its first human trial
pre-money valuation of Retro Biosciences' May 2026 round, with its lead drug in a Phase 1 trial
Who invests in longevity startups?
Longevity specialist funds, a company builder, a rejuvenation investor, a foundation and a US government programme. One or two names per type; for more, see our list of life sciences VCs.
Investor database
Biotech investors in our database
The funds with the most biotech investments. Pick a stage, or open a fund for its cheque sizes.
Top 5 by biotech investments
Investments by industry
- Healthtech & Wellness47%
- Biotech26%
- Pharma20%
- Rounds
- SeedSeries ASeries BSeries C+
- Average cheque
- $100K–$500K$500K–$1M$1M–$3M$3M–$10M
- Based in
- Chicago, United States
- Invests in
- USA
502 investments in total, 23 tagged Biotech.Open the full fund profile
Investments by industry
- Healthtech & Wellness41%
- Biotech36%
- Pharma18%
- Rounds
- SeedSeries ASeries BSeries C+
- Average cheque
- $0–$100K$100K–$500K$500K–$1M$1M–$3M$3M–$10M
- Based in
- Boston, United States
- Invests in
- USA
141 investments in total, 22 tagged Biotech.Open the full fund profile
Investments by industry
- Healthtech & Wellness38%
- Biotech33%
- Pharma17%
- Rounds
- SeedSeries ASeries C+
- Average cheque
- $0–$100K$100K–$500K$500K–$1M$1M–$3M$3M–$10M
- Based in
- San Francisco, United States
- Invests in
- USA
196 investments in total, 20 tagged Biotech.Open the full fund profile
Investments by industry
- Healthtech & Wellness44%
- Biotech27%
- Pharma15%
- Rounds
- Series ASeries BSeries C+
- Average cheque
- Not listed
- Based in
- Boston, United States
439 investments in total, 18 tagged Biotech.Open the full fund profile
Investments by industry
- Healthtech & Wellness46%
- Biotech25%
- Pharma16%
- Rounds
- SeedSeries ASeries BSeries C+
- Average cheque
- Not listed
- Based in
- United States
- Invests in
- Israel, Europe, USA +1
231 investments in total, 17 tagged Biotech.Open the full fund profile
From our investor database.
What do investors test before they back a longevity startup?
Our Fundraising 2025 study asked 56 VCs why they pass. Revenue growth, unit economics, burn and missed milestones led the list, then defensibility and crowded categories. Longevity founders meet those tests in four places.
No label for ageing
No FDA or EMA category exists yet for drugs that target ageing itself. Longevity.Technology's market model assumes one only from around 2035.
What investors ask
- Which disease will your first trial target, and why that one?
What your deck shows
- A first indication with a known approval path
- How results there build the case for your platform
Years before human data
Life Biosciences raised $80M in April 2026 to finish its first human trial and fund work into the second half of 2027. Drug programmes need cash that reaches a readout.
What investors ask
- Does this round last until your first human data?
What your deck shows
- Cash runway set against each trial date
- Early signals, such as biomarkers, before the main endpoint
Clinics must keep members
Preventive clinics sell to people who pay out of pocket. Neko Health says about 75% of members book and prepay their next scan at their first visit.
What investors ask
- How many members come back, and what is each one worth over time?
What your deck shows
- Rebooking and churn by monthly cohort
- Revenue and margin per site after fit-out
Test rules keep shifting
A US court struck down the FDA's rule on lab-developed tests in March 2025. The FDA then restored its earlier rules.
What investors ask
- Which of your tests need FDA review, and what if the rules change again?
What your deck shows
- The regulatory status of each test you sell
- Lab partners and their certifications
How we help you raise
Flat fees agreed before we start. No success fee on advisory work.
The science, the first indication and the next result, told for non-scientists.
Trial budgets or clinic roll-outs, with cash needs month by month.
A range checked against recent longevity rounds and partner deals.
Longevity funds, foundations, biotech VCs and grant programmes for your stage.
Lab data, patents and trial files, ordered for a science review.
For a licensing deal, a sale or a buyer's questions.
Who we are
Waveup is a London-based fundraising and growth advisory, working in 60+ countries and 90+ industries. Since 2014 we have built the decks, models, CIMs and valuations behind $3B+ raised for 600+ startups. Biotech and pharma are the largest group among our 54+ deep-tech projects.
About usLongevity startups FAQ
How do longevity startups get funding?
Which longevity startups raised the most in 2025 and 2026?
How big is the longevity industry?
Can longevity startups get grants or prize money?
What do investors look for in a longevity startup?
How much does help with a longevity raise cost?
Raising for a longevity company?
Tell us whether you're building a drug, a test or a clinic, and how much you need. We'll tell you what investors will want to see first.
