The Long Life Venture Builder
The Long Life Venture Builder (LLVB) is a pioneering, three-month, equity-free programme led by LSE Generate and the LSE Global School of Sustainability, supporting early-stage founders with £3,000 in grant funding per team.
Delivered in collaboration with global university partners and the award-winning innovation agency WithCompany, the programme tackles systems-level challenges at the intersection of healthy ageing, the future of work, sustainability, and responsible technology.
Framed through the lens of sustainability, LLVB reimagines what it means to grow older well, helping people live better, not just longer.
Powered by Collaboration Across Continents
LLVB is a global, intergenerational collaboration uniting innovators, researchers, and changemakers across four continents to shape the future of longevity.
What Makes It Unique
Led by world-class experts:
LSE Generate, WithCompany, Ashoka Foundation, and Google Cloud bring deep expertise in entrepreneurship, systems innovation, and responsible tech.
Locally grounded, globally connected:
Regional partners in the UK, US, Iberia, India, Brazil, and Singapore explore local ageing and work-related challenges while contributing to a shared global ecosystem.
Intergenerational by design:
Diverse age groups collaborate to widen perspectives on longevity and wellbeing, including partnerships with LSE’s Ageing Research Group.
AI-powered insights:
Participants access leading tools and research such as Ashoka’s “New Longevity Brain”, mapping emerging solutions worldwide.
A global impact network:
Entrepreneurs, academics, industry partners, and investors come together to build a more inclusive, sustainable future for ageing.
Theme Focus: Longevity & the Future of Work
The central theme of this year’s Venture Builder is the Future of Work, and how longer lives are reshaping career paths, learning, purpose, and opportunity.
We are entering an era where life expectancy continues to rise, and by 2050 1 in 6 people globally will be over 65. This unprecedented longevity is transforming how we live, learn, and work across lifespans that now stretch to 80, 90, or even 100 years.
A Changing Demographic Reality
Longer lives bring both opportunity and complexity:
- Ageing populations & low natality rates → fewer young workers; greater pressure on labour markets
- Rising strain on pension and healthcare systems
- Linear life models no longer fit → Study → Work → Retire is replaced by multi-stage, non-linear lives
- Identity & wellbeing shifts → people need support to sustain purpose, health, and financial security across decades of work
How Longevity Is Reshaping Careers
With careers now spanning 50+ years, work must be redesigned to support:
- Multiple career chapters
- Lifelong learning and periodic re-skilling
- Flexible transitions: pivots, sabbaticals, phased retirement
- New retirement patterns blending work, purpose, and rest
Work is no longer a single chapter, but a multi-decade journey requiring resilience, agency, and continuous growth.
Where Innovation Is Needed Most
The longevity economy creates urgent needs, and major opportunities:
- Tools for long-term career planning
- Solutions for life transitions and re-skilling
- Systems supporting identity, purpose, and wellbeing in later life
- Innovations in age-tech, work-tech, care, health, and education
The global silver economy, projected at $15 trillion by 2030, underscores the scale of the opportunity.
About the programme
A three-month, equity-free venture builder supporting founders developing early-stage solutions for healthy ageing and the future of work. Includes workshops, coaching, and access to research and intergenerational networks.
We’re looking for founders with early traction who are ready to validate and refine their ideas into evidence-backed ventures.
To apply, you should be:
- A current student or alum from one of the participating universities
- Working on a venture or idea aligned with one or more programme themes: Healthy Ageing and the Future of Work
- Proficient in English
- Committed to full participation in the January–March 2026 programme (online + hybrid)
- Able to dedicate 10 hours per week to working on your idea
What Can Participants Expect
- £3000 grant per team
- Hands on support from Entrepreneurs-in-residence (EiRs)
- Weekly expert-led workshops
- In-person Community Build week and final Demo Day pitch and cumulative summit
- Startup perks, including Google Cloud credits and AI insights
- International travel for key events
Timeline — Applications close at 11:59 PM GMT on 30 November. Shortlisted teams will be interviewed on 3–4 December, and the programme begins on 5 January 2026, running for three months through the end of March.