On Wednesday October 11th, Jared Go, CTO of Ohmnilabs was invited to speak at the prestigious SOCAP17 conference. SOCAP is the world’s leading conference with the ambition to create positive social and environmental influences by raising the power of the capital market. The conference saw some impactful panels, one of which was the "We’re All Getting Older! Social Entrepreneurship Challenges & Opportunities in the Aging Economy" panel.
The panel was thankfully put together and moderated by Victor Wang - CEO of care.coach, and the panelists included Jared Go - CTO of Ohmnilabs, Val Ornoy - CEO of LifeAssist Technologies, Inc., Marcie Rogo - Co-founder of Stitch.net, Kai Stinchcombe - CEO of True Link Financial.
According to Jared (on the far right), more conferences like this are needed to raise awareness among the investment community around the huge demand in solving the problem of aging. Funding is indeed the hardest challenge in this aging space, as many venture capitals are not interested in placing their money in verticals they are not yet familiar with.
Another key topic raised during the discussion was how to make a social impact as a company. The two currently common paths are either to give away a percentage of the firm's profit to charity or to become a B-corp. "But Ohmnilabs is neither. We are making a product that actually solves a social problem," said Jared.
This is something we have witnessed first hand with our beta users. "Mom was not wanting different people that she didn't know coming in twice a day to look after things that we are able to manage remotely. So our major concern is to provide another support she needs without hindering her privacy. Bing (Ohmni) is the perfect fit," said Elaine, one of the happy beta users who purchased the Ohmni robot for her 94 years old mom who named it after her favorite singer.
A major problem with the senior community is that isolation and loneliness are a big part of their lives. In fact, loneliness kills. The latest researches on loneliness and aging all point to the same direction that elders who are lonely are more likely to have a higher mortality. Thus, "holistic approaches and a focus on emotional support to protect against loneliness are also key and growing quickly, not just band-aids when the wound is already made. Our Ohmni robot is more than just a telepresence robot. It is more than a treatment. It is a prevention," added Jared.
If you would like to try out Ohmni in your or your family's home, you can order it here!