Grey Matter: How age-tech startups are keeping India's elderly busy at home

Mumbai residents Olando 72 and Volzia Fernandes 69 joined Khyaal in 2022 after Olando chanced upon an advertisement put out by the app now Indiarsquos largest agetech platform catering to over five million senior citizens in the countryLocked indoors in the pandemic the apprsquos virtual community club presented the couple with something to look forward to especially as they recall ldquoTambola in the afternoonsrdquo They also joined hobbybased programmes like yoga classes crochet workshops a weekly interactive community cooking and storytelling session called Food Stories along with guidance sessions on booking cabs and preventing bank fraud each using the platform for approximately two hours a dayldquoEvery morning we log on to Khyaal to see what events are on for the dayrdquo says Volzia who has also used the app to shop for varicose veins stockings with a special prepaid Khyaal card given to members for safe online transactions In November 2025 the couple participated in 50Above50 a twoday senior talent hunt across 50 categories including singing dancing cooking and photography hosted by the platform at NESCO where they met other members of the ldquoKhyaal familyrdquo and made new friends ldquoI also got about 15 of my friends and neighbours to join themrdquo Olando who hopes to go on one of Khyaalrsquos seniorfocused tours tells usFor Hemanshu Jain founder and CEO of Khyaal prior experience with Diabeto a medical technology company centred on diabetes therapeutics revealed how much seniors struggled with devices a problem that intensified during the pandemic when those who were resistant to change had no option but to transition to paying bills and ordering daily essentials online ldquoThat was the time seniors needed the most amount of support and we thought that the best way to solve problems for the elderly is through tech and to solve it via the most powerful device they already have a smartphonerdquo Jain sharesHemanshu JainStarted in 2020 as a WhatsApp group in Mumbai to help isolated seniors Khyaal is one among several agetech companies in India today spanning healthcare emergency support financial care family caregiving remote management and social and community engagement offering services ranging from digital payments investments and insurance to everyday assistance with travel learning fitness and entertainmentldquoNow is the best time to build for age tech as a categoryrdquo insists Jain Seniors have time on their hands a matter intensified by the fact that younger generations are moving away for professional opportunities ldquoIf they have spent all their lives working professionally or building wealth this is their time to pursue passions to keep themselves physically and mentally active and find new purpose toordquo says JainPrashanth ReddyHe also points to developments occurring worldwide not only from the mobile perspective but also with companies building in the sensors space shifting from wearable gadgets to ambient invisible home infrastructure and working with assistive humanoids and robots all with tremendous potential for the eldercare industryMoreover ldquolongevity is now the new theme and therersquos an overlap between longevity and age techrdquo says Jain pointing to the larger cultural shift towards extending healthspan and merging biotechnology with lifestyle changesWith telecom companies penetrating smaller cities and digital adoption among seniors being much higher in India compared to other countries age tech in India has evolved more than it has in other countries says Jain The typical Khyaal user we learn is an urban woman in her mid60s ldquoThis stems from the fact that women outlive men because they are much more social Sixtyfive per cent of our members are women and they are active mdash both exprofessionals and homemakersrdquo says Jain They are also the ones he says who push their spouses to join the app ldquoMen hesitate I see this with my father he hesitates to come forward in a social setuprdquo shares the founderAnvayaa Kin Care is an eldercare platform that provides 360degree home healthcare emergency response and daily assistance services Users typically come as a pair mdash an elder between 65 and 80 including women living alone often widowed and their adult child who is in their late 30s or 40s settled in a metro or abroad ldquoBoth are users Both have needs You canrsquot serve one well without understanding the otherrdquo says Prashanth Reddy founder and MD of AnvayaaEarly challenges for the platform which turned 10 this year included building trust with families and technology adoption which led to a focus on intuitive wearables and a servicefirst model driven by onground care managers trained by geriatriciansBut the pandemic ldquonearly broke the modelrdquo ldquoWersquore a business built on physical presence Suddenly we couldnrsquot get inrdquo he recalls ldquoWe rebuilt everything in about six weeks teleconsultations remote monitoring medicines grocery vaccinations at the door virtual companionship calls Some of those features are now permanent I wouldnrsquot have built them that fast without that pressurerdquoHe also draws attention to the connection between the emergence of Indiarsquos agetech space with the acute pressure on its healthcare systems ldquoOur healthcare infrastructure was designed for acute illness not for what ageing actually looks likerdquo where a person doesnrsquot necessarily need a hospital but someone paying attention every dayThe purpose of agetech he insists is not to replace doctors but to ldquoreduce the number of times you need one urgentlyrdquo an objective it attempts to meet by leveraging AI IoT wearables and predictive care in order to monitor vitals track medical adherence and manage postoperative recovery The model he believes enables early detection of emergencies and reduces preventable hospital readmissions thereby alleviating pressure on the clinical infrastructureDementia supportA key area of focus for these startups has been building tech solutions specifically for dementia Anvayaarsquos dementia care app is such a tool designed to manage homebased care for patients Its features says Prashanth Reddy founder and MD of Anvayaa were built out of conversations with caregivers ldquoThe product couldnrsquot feel like a database for tracking someonersquos declinerdquoThus the daily routine structuring facet came from families describing how unpredictability caused the most distress for the patient while the caregiver mood tracking feature came from realising that the caregiver is also a patient in these situations mdash ldquothe most unacknowledged one in the roomrdquoA finding that drove the platformrsquos personalised approach was how deeply isolation affects health ldquoLoneliness drives health outcomes more than almost anything elserdquo observes Reddy ldquoMembers who feel socially connected deteriorate more slowly Their health markers are better Thatrsquos not a soft feelgood finding That is a clinical realityrdquoGrey tsunami incomingAgetech despite its attentive advancements is still wholly limited to Indiarsquos urban population Dr Aabha Chaudhary social gerontologist and founder and chairperson of Anugraha a national voluntary nonprofit focusing heavily on the rural elderly points out that the urban elderly is by and large educated and have their basic needs of shelter medical aid pensions and financial security metDr Aabha ChaudharyldquoOne of the main difficulties of this urban welltodo middleclass or uppermiddleclass generation is lonelinessrdquo she highlights which technology by connecting them with peer groups and providing access to basic preventive health care ie information regarding diet noncommunicable diseases mental and brain health can alleviateldquoBut technology is yet to reach the rural elderlyrdquo She also points to the ldquohuge gap of connectivity between these technological service providers and NGOs civil society organisations old age homes senior citizensrsquo and retired personsrsquo associations and institutions working for the elderlyrdquo In a typical senior citizensrsquo association there can be as many as 40005000 members she saysldquoIf we get to know about these innovations we can arrange for an interface with the elderly But these technological upgradation companies live in a separate universe They are not connected with the target group Their services are for a very exclusive group of people It doesnrsquot come to the people on the groundrdquoIndia is also looking at a demographic shift its elderly population is projected to grow significantly in the coming decades ldquoWe are not prepared for this grey tsunamirdquo says Dr Chaudhary who has worked in geriatric care for 25 yearsldquoThere are not enough systems of care in place There is no manpowerrdquo she says pointing to the need for a dedicated technologically savvy young generation trained as geriatric caregivers support providers and escorts ldquoThe need for dialogue with civil society is very importantrdquo she insists ldquoWe have extensive databases of senior citizens Our teams who have worked in geriatric care for so long need a technological interface they need applicationrdquo230 millionEstimated senior citizen population in India by 2036 National Commission on Population