Legal & General looks to invest in companies focused on promoting health aging
Legal & General has been selected by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to deploy £6 million of grant funding to early stage companies that are “making a difference” in the healthy aging market, and is calling on early stage, high growth innovators to apply for a share of funding to develop ideas that help people enjoy healthier and more active lives in old age.
The company will invest and deploy the grant money in up to six dynamic health-tech businesses that have a proactive, predictive and preventative advantage; helping reduce cost and occurrence of ill-health, linked to the aging process. Legal & General will top up the grant funding with at least £6 million of its own capital, with the potential for further investment when the businesses continue to perform. The retirement division’s ambition is to commit £24 million over the five-year period.
“The partnership we are forging with UKRI is a fantastic public and private sector collaboration to support dynamic businesses in a market with lots of potential. We are seeing abundant opportunities emerge in ‘age-tech’ as businesses rise to the challenge of helping people live longer, happier and healthier lives – a mission we fully support. We look forward to putting the grant funding, alongside our own capital, to work to enhance our society and create meaningful solutions for an aging demographic.” – Chris Knight, CEO, Legal & General Retail Retirement.
“Given our track-record and deep understanding of longevity, we are delighted that UKRI chose to partner with us to accelerate innovation in the health and age-tech market. We believe the challenge of an ageing population requires long-term solutions that harness technology to help people live healthier, more independent lives. This is an exciting opportunity for businesses to access the funding they need to scale and bring their ideas to life. We hope that with our investment and expertise, we will be able to drive forward a positive change in what is an exciting and growing market.” – Jess McCreadie, Investment Director, Legal & General Retail Retirement.
