The Longevity Opportunity in the U.S. is Comparable to Emerging BRIC Markets

Lafayette, California (PRWEB) February 13, 2012
In 2011 the first of the baby boomer generation began turning 65 years old. Near daily stories in the media are generated about the issues, needs, impact, influence and sheer size of the eldest of our population. The growing discourse includes changes to retirement trends, the fact that the 55+ age group is the fastest-growing segment of entrepreneurs, the call to advertisers that they can no longer afford to ignore this audience, and announcements of new outlets catering to these demographics. From aging-in-place technologies to social and mobile media, to the spending power of grandparents, the overall wealth of opportunities in meeting the needs of this mature market is the purpose of the ninth annual What’s Next Boomer Business Summit, being held March 28 in Washington, D.C. There the country’s leading analysts, top researchers and executive strategists will gather to introduce new research, products and services, and to present the definitive ways to reach and successfully sell to baby boomers and senior consumers. It is the event to meet the entrepreneurs and brand teams pursuing the baby boomer customer, and learn the marketing strategies that work to reach them.
It opens with a keynote delivered by veteran political strategist Donna Brazile, on ‘Designing a Personalized Business Model for the New Economy’. Jody Holtzman, SVP of Thought Leadership Group at AARP will define and examine the entrepreneurial and market opportunities related to the new Longevity Economy. His keynote will unearth current economic activity related to the demographic phenomenon of people living longer, richer lives and will address areas where the needs and wants of Americans 45 and older are not being met. Also, he will present a new framework for approaching both the societal needs and economic opportunities related to a changing and vital population.
The event tracks will explore trends in the following areas, with agenda highlights:

•     Innovation and frugality
•     Baby boomers have the money and desire to bond with their grandchildren, but given today’s investment climate, will there be money in the future for them to inherit? Moderator Lori Bitter, President, Crew Media, will get Jodi Olshevski, Assistant VP, The Hartford, Robert Stephen, VP, My Home & Family Portfolio, IVS-Portfolio Management, AARP, and Sandy Timmermann, Assistant Vice President, MetLife and Director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute to tell what are the changes and choices in work, retirement, and for money protection that older adults can make to thrive in the age of lowered expectations.
•     It is the mature consumer segment that is currently generating the most interest and excitement–grandparents. The grandparent economy is large (40 million), growing and lucrative. Grandparents are spending money on necessities, learning and luxury for their grandchildren. They are investing in tuition, tutoring, and technology. Missy Sullivan, Senior Editor of the Wall Street Journal’s Smart Money, and Robert Stephen, VP, My Home & Family Portfolio, IVS-Portfolio Management, AARP, identify the business ecosystem of brands baby boomers are embracing with this new role.
•     Baby boomer women are the chief purchasing officers, chief caregiving officers, and chief healthcare officers for their families. They often influence purchase decisions in travel and investment for themselves and extended families. Myrna Blyth, Editor in Chief of ThirdAge.com shares insights from her inspiring panel of women in new media and business.
•     Integrated media and marketing, social, mobile, gaming
•     Moderated by Deborah Jacobs of Forbes, the ‘Tech Trends’ session will answer what mature consumers want most from their smart phones, tablets, and the Internet itself. Laurie Orlov, Founder, Aging in Place Technology Watch, and Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, will present the latest data to answer this, and discuss how that information can drive investment and strategies of companies small and large.
•     ‘Boomer Trends in E-tailing, Retailing and Mobile Commerce’ session delves into dramatic changes in consumer buying behavior in an online and mobile world. It is forcing retailers to think, staff and partner in new ways. Moderated by Gail Kirby, PhD, Marketing, Santa Clara University, she will have Jeff Hasen, CMO, Hipcricket and Candace Corlett, President, WSL Strategic Retail navigate the multiple-channel world of today.
•     Attendees will discover the latest trends in how companies are using media to drive leads, with industry leaders that include AARP’s Director of Social Communications & Strategy, Tammy Gordon.
•     Beth Carpenter, Digital Distribution, AARP brings with her one of the many bright minds from Google for the in-demand session ‘Using Google, Facebook and Twitter to Build Your Business’ that will aid businesses by showing them how to leverage Google’s many free products to maximize web traffic, conduct search engine optimization, and use tools such as Ad Words, Twitter, and Facebook to connect and engage potential customers.
•     The new service economy of housing, caregiving, mobility and healthcare
•     The prospect of a stalled homebuilding industry creating a surge in age-in-place remodeling is explored by Steve French, Managing Director, Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), and Gail Gibson Hunt, President & CEO, National Alliance for Caregiving. They explain why wireless home health technology will blossom in the face of health reform, and debate if the growing number of caregivers (and their policy influence) will get the attention of Congress.
•     The ‘Health Services 3.0’ panel will consider the businesses that are meeting baby boomers on their technology platform of choice when it comes to managing their health. Examining the burgeoning mHealth realm, this panel will include Jeff Shoemate, Vice President of Innovation & Business Development, United Healthcare-Medicare & Retirement, Ilya Oshman, SVP, FP&A, Weight Watchers and Charlotte Yeh, Chief Medical Officer, AARP.
•     Entrepreneurship and encore careers
•     With increased longevity, and a need and desire to work, boomers are exploring encore careers in record numbers. Mary Furlong, President & CEO, Mary Furlong & Associates, and Gene Zanlo, CEO, MBO Partners, will explore the fields with the greatest growth and case studies of those who are reimagining life anew.

Often cited as worth the cost of registration alone, the ‘Lunch with the Experts’ is every attendee’s chance for exclusive access to the best analysts, authors, bloggers, and boomer market experts at this summit. The list of table hosts is available at http://boomersummit.com/lunch.html.
The complete list of speakers is available at http://www.boomersummit.com/speakers.html.
“The boomer, senior and caregiver markets are large and growing. The changing economy has created a shift in spending that is becoming the new normal. This conference brings together the most innovative companies and top thought leaders in marketing, innovation and distribution,” Mary Furlong, What’s Next conference producer shared. “These markets are growing as rapidly as the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China. Join us in March to discover the important segments in the longevity economy.”
A press conference will take place on March 29 at 11:00 a.m. at the National Press Club. Speakers and sponsors will be making their new research product and service announcements.
Sponsors of What’s Next Boomer Business Summit are, at the platinum level: AARP, UnitedHealthcare and Crew Media; at the gold level: Microsoft, Linkage, Silverado Senior Living, MBO Partners, RLTV and Caring.com; at the silver level: General Mills, Google, GreatCall, Facetime Strategy, The Hartford, SilverRide, GrandCare Systems, Innovate LTC, Independa Inc., Starkey; at the bronze level: ABHOW, Hipcricket, Posit Science, MetLife Mature Market Institute, VibrantNation; refreshment break sponsor is Moving Mavens and Moving Solutions.
Registration, agenda and additional event details available at http://www.boomersummit.com. Registration costs are $275 at early bird rate (extended to February 21), $350 at the advance rate (February 22 to March 26) and $450 on March 27 and onsite.
What’s Next Boomer Business Summit
The ninth Annual What’s Next Boomer Business Summit is produced by Mary Furlong & Associates. What’s Next Boomer Business Summit is affiliated with the American Society on Aging (ASA) Aging in America Conference being held on March 28 to April 1, 2012 in Washington, D.C. Registration and program information is available at http://www.boomersummit.com. Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/pages/2012-Whats-Next-Boomer-Business-Summit. Twitter username is WhatsNextBoomer, and hashtag is #boomersummit. It is produced by Mary Furlong & Associates.
Mary Furlong & Associates
Founded in 2003, Mary Furlong & Associates (MFA) works with companies seeking to capitalize on new business and investment opportunities in the Baby Boomer market. MFA provides business development, financing strategy and integrated marketing solutions to entrepreneurs, corporations and non-profit organizations serving the 50+ market. Mary Furlong, Ed.D., the firm’s founder and CEO, has guided the offline and online 40+ market strategies of leading corporations and non-profit organizations for more than 20 years. In 2011, Furlong was honored as one of the top 100 Women of Influence by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Furlong is Dean’s Executive Professor of Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, and previously founded SeniorNet and ThirdAge Media. Her latest book, Turning Silver into Gold: How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace (FT Press), was published in 2007. More information available at http://www.maryfurlong.com.

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Venture Capital Investment in Europe Fell 14% in 2011

LONDON, Jan. 30, 2012  /PRNewswire/ – Venture capitalists put euro 4.4 billion into 1,012 deals for European companies in 2011, a 14% decline in investment and 19% decline in deal flow from 2010, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. This marks the lowest annual deal count for Europe since VentureSource began tracking the region in 2000.
The fourth quarter was the weakest of the year in terms of deal activity as 194 deals collected euro 1.1 billion, a 43% drop in deals and 38% decline in investment over the same period in 2010. Weakness in the fourth quarter is notable as it is traditionally one of the most active quarters for deals.
“Venture capitalists are having difficulty raising funds as the Euro crisis weighs on limited partners’ minds and fewer companies are finding exits. This has naturally led to a slowdown in investment. With less capital flowing into venture firms, there’s less to invest in start-ups,” said Anthony Sheldon, research manager, Dow Jones VentureSource. The median size of a European venture capital deal was euro 2 million in 2011, on par with 2010.
Exits Mirror Fourth-Quarter Drop in Investment
The fourth quarter’s weakness in investments mirrored the exit environment. The fourth quarter of 2011 was the year’s weakest for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and initial public offerings (IPOs) as 30 European venture-backed companies were acquired and two companies went public.
In all of 2011, 148 companies exited via an M&A, raising euro 7 billion, a 12% decline in deals and 7% increase in capital raised. Companies that got acquired, however, recorded the highest median raised on record. The median paid for an acquisition in 2011 was euro 5.1 million.
In all of 2011, 14 venture-backed companies went public, raising euro 695 million, a drop in IPOs but an increase in capital raised from 2010 when 18 IPOs raised euro 438 million.
As VCs Focus on Web, Consumer Services Investment Passes IT for First Time Since 2001
For the first time since 2001, the Web-heavy Consumer Services industry raised more capital than the Information Technology (IT) industry. Consumer Services companies raised euro 1.1 billion for 223 deals in 2011, a 63% increase in investment despite a 6% drop in deals from 2010. It was the industry’s strongest year for investment since 2001. IT companies raised $812 million for 270 deals in 2011, a 50% decline in investment and 25% decline in deals.
More than half of the capital collected by the Consumer Services industry went to the social media, entertainment and shopping companies in the Consumer Information Services sector. Those companies raised euro 691 million for 192 deals, a 79% increase in investment despite an 8% decline in deals.
Within the IT industry, Software remained the most popular investment area, driven by interest in business applications software and communications software. The Software sector raised euro 467 million through 194 deals in 2011, a 14% decline in investment and 13% decline in deal activity.
Medical Devices Offers Some Stability in Healthcare
As deal activity and investment fell in all areas of Healthcare, the Medical Devices sector offered moderate stability, seeing a drop of just 7% in both deal activity and investment. Medical Devices companies raised euro 323 million for 91 deals in 2011, a mild decline from the euro 348 million raised for 98 deals in 2010.
As usual, Biopharmaceuticals took the lion’s share of the industry’s investment as 121 deals raised euro 856 million, a 29% decline in deals and 20% decline in investment.
Uptick in Deals for Advertising, Data Companies
The Business Support Services sector, which includes companies developing technologies and services for data management, advertising and marketing, was the only sector to see an uptick in both deals and investment in 2011. The sector raised euro 479 million for 90 deals, a 62% increase in investment and 5% increase in deals.
The broader Business and Financial Services industry, which includes the Business Support Services sector as well as financial services and engineering companies, raised euro 614 million for 132 deals, a 15% increase in capital invested despite a 12% decline in investment.
Companies Focused on Renewables Capture Most Energy Investment
In 2011, 56 deals in the Energy & Utilities industry raised euro 253 million, a 26% decline in deals and 25% decline in investment. Renewable Energy companies accounted for most of the industry’s investment, raising euro 238 million for 49 deals.
Country Perspectives
Europe’s four major countries for venture investment – the U.K., France, Germany and Sweden – witnessed record-low deal activity in 2011.

• The U.K. remained the favorite destination for venture capital investment in Europe in 2011. Companies in the U.K. raised euro 1.2 billion for 274 deals, a 36% decline in investment and 17% decline in deals.
• France came in second place as companies raised euro 728 million for 217 deals, a 15% decline in investment and 18% decline in deals.
• Germany came in third as companies raised euro 475 million for 120 deals, a 23% decline in investment and 26% decline in deals.
• Sweden came in fourth as companies raised euro 299 million for 67 deals, a 7% increase in investment despite a 36% decline in deals.

For information on Dow Jones VentureSource’s research methodology, visit http://bit.ly/VSFAQs. For general information about Dow Jones VentureSource, visit http://www.dowjones.com/privatemarkets?from=pr-privatemarkets.
About Dow JonesDow Jones & Company is a global provider of news and business information and a developer of technology to deliver content to consumers and organizations across multiple platforms. Dow Jones produces newspapers, newswires, Web sites, apps, newsletters, magazines, proprietary databases, conferences, radio and video.  Its premier brands include The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, Factiva, Barron’s, MarketWatch, SmartMoney and All Things D. Its information services combine technology with news and data to support business decision making. The company pioneered the first successful paid online news site and its industry leading innovation enables it to serve customers wherever they may be, via the Web, mobile devices and tablets. The Dow Jones Local Media Group publishes community newspapers, Web sites and other products in six U.S. states. Dow Jones & Company (www.dowjones.com) is a News Corporation company (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV; http://www.newscorp.com/).
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U.S. Venture Investment Rose 10% in 2011, Despite Fourth Quarter Decline

NEW YORK, Jan. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Venture capital investment slowed in the fourth quarter of 2011 as investors put $7.4 billion into 803 deals for U.S.-based venture companies, a decline in both capital invested and deal activity from the third quarter, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. The decline, which mirrors a fourth-quarter drop in exit activity, is notable because the final quarter of the year is traditionally one of the most active for financings and exits.
In all of 2011, investors put $32.6 billion into 3,209 venture deals, a 10% increase in capital raised and 6% increase in deals from 2010.
“The fourth quarter may have seen a temporary slowdown as venture capitalists reset their expectations for the exit market and entrepreneurs adjusted their companies’ valuations to suit the current climate,” said Jessica Canning, global research director for Dow Jones VentureSource. “Overall in 2011, venture investment continued its steady post-recession ascent with notable strength in enterprise solutions.”
The median amount invested in a financing round rose 16% to $5 million in 2011.
Healthcare and IT Investment Steady
In 2011, $8.4 billion was invested in 738 deals for Healthcare companies, a mild change from the previous year when the industry collected $8.3 billion for 747 deals. Biopharmaceuticals remained the industry’s most active investment area with 302 deals raising $3.9 billion, a 6% drop in deals and flat investment. Medical Devices was a close second with 290 deals raising $3.3 billion, a 3% decline in deal activity and 27% increase in investment.
The Medical IT sector, which has been benefiting from interest in electronic health records, Web and mobile applications, and information management solutions, saw a 26% increase in deal activity and 22% increase in capital raised as companies in the sector collected $633 million for 86 deals in 2011.
Companies in the Information Technology industry raised $7.9 billion for 1,004 deals in 2011, a slight uptick from 2010 when 967 deals raised $7.7 billion. The Software sector continued to be the most active investment area and was the only IT sector that saw an increase in both deals and capital raised as 743 deals raised $4.6 billion in 2011.
Venture capitalists’ interest in the hardware and chip sectors is steadily dwindling as much of the innovation in these areas is now done by corporations. Deals in the Electronics and Computer Hardware sector fell 13% to 110 and deals for Semiconductors fell 33% to 50. The Electronics and Computer Hardware sector and the Semiconductors sector raised $1.5 billion and $598 million in 2011 respectively.
VCs Put $5.2 Billion into Consumer Web Companies
Large later-stage rounds raised by well-known Web companies, including Twitter, Zynga and LivingSocial, pushed investment in the Consumer Information Services industry to $5.2 billion for 452 deals during 2011, a 23% increase in capital collected and 14% increase in deal activity from the previous year.
While 72% of the capital raised for the sector went to later-stage deals, there was still strong interest in seed- and first-rounds, which accounted for 57% of the sector’s deals.
“Venture capitalists still have a strong appetite for early-stage Web start-ups, but more mature companies may be swallowing some of the available cash,” said Zoran Basich, editor of Dow Jones VentureWire. “As companies delay the process of entering the public markets during a difficult time for IPOs, the additional venture funding they need is leaving investors with less capital for new investments.”
The median amount invested in a first round for a Web start-up shrank 33% to $2 million, while the median for a later-stage round ballooned 43% to $10 million.
Investment in Enterprise Start-Ups Rises
Driven by interest in data management, marketing and advertising companies, investment in the Business and Financial Services industry rose for the third consecutive year. In 2011, 546 deals for companies developing enterprise technologies or services raised $5.1 billion, a 9% increase in deals and 36% increase in capital collected from 2010.
Uptick in Energy Deals
The Energy and Utilities industry raised $2.9 billion for 134 deals, as investment was flat but deal activity rose 14%. As usual, Renewable Energy companies claimed most of the industry’s investment, as 110 deals raised $2.7 billion.
Early-Stage Deals Increase
Seed- and first-rounds accounted for 43% of deals and 18% of capital invested during 2011, an uptick in deal activity from the previous year when early-stage rounds claimed 39% of deals and 19% of capital raised. Second rounds dropped slightly from 21% of deal activity in 2010 to 20% in 2011, while the proportion of capital garnered by these deals rose from 18% in 2010 to 20% in 2011. Later-stage deals accounted for 35% of the year’s deals and 60% of total capital raised, a shift from the same period last year when they accounted for 38% of deals and 61% of capital raised.
For information on Dow Jones VentureSource’s research methodology, visit http://bit.ly/VSFAQs. For general information about Dow Jones VentureSource, visit http://www.dowjones.com/privatemarkets?from=pr-privatemarkets.
About Dow Jones
Dow Jones & Company is a global provider of news and business information and a developer of technology to deliver content to consumers and organizations across multiple platforms. Dow Jones produces newspapers, newswires, Web sites, apps, newsletters, magazines, proprietary databases, conferences, radio and video.  Its premier brands include The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, Factiva, Barron’s, MarketWatch, SmartMoney and All Things D. Its information services combine technology with news and data to support business decision making. The company pioneered the first successful paid online news site and its industry leading innovation enables it to serve customers wherever they may be, via the Web, mobile devices and tablets. The Dow Jones Local Media Group publishes community newspapers, Web sites and other products in six U.S. states. Dow Jones & Company (www.dowjones.com) is a News Corporation company (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV; http://www.newscorp.com/).

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