What Vermut is about, the social network for seniors who want to have fun

The age technology They are startups dedicated to creating technologies that promote well-being in the elderly. They develop platforms that meet the needs of baby boomersthose born between 1946 and 1964, in an increasingly digitized society.

Amazon itself developed Alexa together, a feature that turns Alexa devices into tools that allow users to call for help with a hotline, as well as detect a fall. For its part, Google is experimenting with an optimized user interface. Nest Hub Max to help residential occupants feel less isolated and more secure.

Other fields of great projection for these startups are finance, digital wealth management and ed techwhere learning options are offered through digital media.

The reference in this area is the US application GetSetUp, which offers more than 500 online lessons and events dedicated to people over 55 every week. There are classes in technology, health and fitness, photography, travel, cooking, and much more.

However, the call silver economy it’s not just about attendance or learning, it’s about a generation expressing a clear demand for entertainment in different industriesfrom gastronomic tourismwith a particular interest in remaining physically and socially active.

In this area, it stands out Vermut, a startup born in Barcelona in the summer of 2020 on the initiative of the Argentine Fernando Dellepiane and the Catalan Enric Duran Vallès, two former Glovo employeesboth under 30 but determined to devote their work commitment to the elderly.

Vermouth: how the social network works for the elderly

The idea was born during the quarantine, when Fernando had to spend a month at home with his parents. Between a chat and an afternoon of cooking, he realized how important it was to have new experiences and create new social ties despite being retired.

So one thought social network dedicated to the over 55swhose goal was not only to provide initiatives behind a screen, but to open a door to meet in real life.

“I started to notice that people of that age are not sitting on a bench feeding the pigeons, but they spend all day with their cell phone in hand. We understood that we had something powerful and this also convinced investors who saw the opportunity break a social paradigm. Of course, we are not an NGO, but we want to do something that has a positive social impact,” says Dellepiane.

According to the young entrepreneur, “the company says to retirees: thank you very much for everything, now come here and don’t worry.” Vermouth tries to offer an answer to that desire to live that many people, because they are left alone or out of work, are unable to satisfy. And you want to do it in a safe but real environment.

And he argues: “We are committed to the interaction between people, we want a platform capable of break social isolation and which facilitates interaction between elderly people with the same interests”.

currently vermouth combines a market of assets free time and training with a social network created specifically for the elderly.

Anyone can propose activities and meetings and the platform already has more than that 20,000 monthly users goods in Spain, for example.

You pay a subscription or just for each activityand the platform takes a commission There is currently no advertising, but relevant products and services for this group may appear in the future.

As for Facebook, Vermouth is a much more intuitive platformclose and with fewer features, being meant for non-native digital people.

Furthermore, all the activities are eventually transferred to real life, preferably around a vermouth. In fact, explains Dellepiane, “this ritual embodies the philosophy that we want to apply to our proposal: no one drinks a vermouth alone at home, and our goal is precisely to get people to know it”.

After having had a first important investment from some business angels in 2021, earlier this year the startup managed to raise 1.5 million euros in a round in which some large international funds entered. In particular, the global investment platform BitKraft.

The eye is now set to 2023, when another round is expected to enter the US and Latin America. In fact, after the entry of North American funds, Vermouth had to move to Delaware, becoming the first US-based technology of the Spanish era. The headquarters and operations, on the other hand, remain in Barcelona, ​​​​where around twenty people work. All very young, by the way.

With information from La Vanguardia.