Last Week in Longevity #16 - $508M raised + €500M new dry powder
Your weekly business digest of everything that happened in longevity.
👋 Hi, I am Fabian, and welcome to my newsletter Last Week in Longevity. Every week, I track where the money, talent, and ideas are moving in the longevity business.
💸 Closed funding rounds
US$ 508M raised across 6 deals (↗️ +17% vs. US$ 434M across 9 deals last week)
Direct Longevity Interventions (Category 1)
Function Health – US$ 298M (Series B) | Austin, USA
What they do: Membership platform for large-panel lab testing (160+ biomarkers twice per year), plus MRI/CT scanning and an AI “Medical Intelligence Lab” that turns this data into personalised health insights.
Why it matters: Function is currently one of the most scaled, consumer-facing implementations of comprehensive prevention: biomarker panels, whole-body imaging, and a longevity narrative around “owning your health”. A serious contender for the default health operating system of many consumers.
Investors: Redpoint Ventures (lead), Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Aglaé Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Battery Ventures, and many more.
Valuation: US$ 2.5B post-money
Holo – €1M (Pre-Seed) | Barcelona, Spain
What they do: Consumer preventive-health platform combining comprehensive lab testing (>110 biomarkers), wearable data and functional-medicine physicians into a personalised “health graph” and longevity programmes.
Why it matters: This is classic structured prevention: repeat biomarkers + longitudinal tracking + clinical oversight to catch risks before symptoms show and guide lifestyle changes. If they execute well (UX, adherence, medical quality), this is exactly the kind of “Revolut of health” infrastructure that can normalise proactive longevity care in Europe, especially for younger, tech-savvy consumers.
Investors: Calm/Storm Ventures (lead), Mission VC, ENISA, plus a long list of angels..
Valuation: Unknown.
Longevity-Aligned Disease Modification (Category 2)
Aspen Neuroscience – US$ 115M (Series C) | San Diego, USA
What they do: Autologous iPSC-derived neuron replacement therapies for Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative indications, using a patient’s own cells to restore dopamine function and rebuild neural circuits.
Why it matters: Neurodegeneration is one of the hardest late-life burdens – once neurons are gone, there’s usually no way back. If Aspen’s cell replacement can safely reverse motor symptoms and slow progression, it could meaningfully extend functional healthspan and independence for Parkinson’s patients, with spill-over into other CNS diseases. It’s a high-risk, high-reward bet directly on “rebuilding” aged brains rather than just managing symptoms.
Investors: Co-led by OrbiMed, ARCH Venture Partners, Frazier Life Sciences, Revelation Partners; participation from new investors Kite, a Gilead company, and Balyasny Asset Management
Valuation: Unknown.
Okami Medical – US$ 45M | Aliso Viejo, USA
What they do: Develops vascular occlusion systems – minimally invasive embolisation devices using proprietary technology to rapidly occlude peripheral vessels in a “one-and-done” procedure.
Why it matters: Vascular disease and interventional radiology procedures are a huge part of older-adult medicine. Faster, more reliable embolisation means better control of bleeding, aneurysms and malformations, potentially fewer complications and shorter hospital stays. It’s not targeting aging biology, but it directly improves survival and quality-of-life in age-linked vascular conditions, so it fits squarely into longevity-aligned disease modification.
Investors: Growth financing from Gilde Healthcare and existing backers including Vensana Capital and U.S. Venture Partners (USVP).
Valuation: Unknown.
AI Proteins – US$ 41.5M (Series A) | Boston, USA
What they do: Uses AI-driven de novo design to create programmable “miniprotein” biologics from scratch, aiming for safer and more precise protein therapeutics across oncology, metabolic and inflammatory diseases.
Why it matters: From a longevity perspective, AI Proteins is a platform bet on better drugs for the diseases that actually kill people in mid- to late-life: cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular/inflammatory conditions. De novo miniproteins may hit targets with higher specificity and better pharmacology than antibodies, which could translate into disease control with fewer side effects and longer, healthier lives. It’s downstream of aging, but if even a few of these programmes succeed, the impact on late-life morbidity could be substantial.
Investors: Mission BioCapital and Santé Ventures (co-leads); participation from Lightchain Capital, Cobro Ventures and others.
Valuation: Unknown.
Longevity Enablers (Category 3)
Lumia – US$ 7M (Funding) | Boston, USA
What they do: Smart earrings (“Lumia 2”) that continuously track blood flow to the head plus standard wearable metrics (sleep, temperature, cycle, readiness), originally developed for POTS/Long-COVID patients and now offered as a general consumer wearable.
Why it matters: You can read this as “next-gen continuous hemodynamic monitoring in a consumer form factor”. Blood-flow dynamics are tightly linked to orthostatic intolerance, cognitive performance, and potentially cerebrovascular risk. A device people actually wear 24/7 that quantifies these patterns could become a powerful longevity enabler – catching dysautonomia, overtraining, or cardiovascular issues earlier and driving better lifestyle adherence. It’s still non-medical and early, but conceptually it pushes wearables closer to meaningful physiology, not just steps and HR.
Investors: J2 Ventures, BonAngels Venture Partners, plus angel investors
Valuation: Unknown.
📰 Top longevity business news
Medicxi raises €500M to fuel next wave of global biotech innovation
What happened:
Medicxi announced a new €500 million fund dedicated to early- and mid-stage biotech companies across Europe and the US, with a clear interest in age-related diseases and platform technologies. Read more here.Why it matters:
This is one of the largest European funds dedicated to biotech this year, injecting much-needed capital into a tightening venture market.
For longevity founders, this signals a shift toward “quality over quantity”. Medicxi tends to pick companies with clear translational paths, raising the bar for scientific and commercial rigour.
🗓 Events & meetups (Europe-only)
(ES) 4th Longevity World Forum (Feb 18-20, 2026)
(CH) SIP Longevity Retreat (Apr 20-24, 2026)
(PT) 4th Global Longevity Med Summit (May 6-7, 2026)
(DE) LIFE Summit (May 29-30, 2026)
(IE) Longevity Summit Dublin (Jun 24-26, 2026)
(NL) HLTH Europe (Jun 15-18, 2026)
(CZ) 8th World Aging & Rejuvenation Conference (Jun 18-19, 2026)
(UK) The Longevity Show (Jun 26-27, 2026)
(AT) 2nd World Congress on Future of Aging & Rejuvenation Science (Jul 20-21, 2026)
(DE) POLLY Longevity Festival (Aug 21-23, 2026)
💼 New Longevity jobs (Europe-only)
(London) Senior Longevity Editor @ Elsevier
(London/remote) Experiences & Community Lead @ Healf
(London/remote) Growth Lead @ Healf
👉 To see the full list of all Longevity jobs, visit our Job Board.
Keep building the future of longevity - one week at a time.
Fabian
P.S. Want your open positions or events to be featured? Just send them my way by replying to this email.