Why VC-backed Longevity, Health & Wellness Startups are Failing?
- Jasaro.in
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
The global wellness market is thriving, valued at over $5.6 trillion and projected to reach $8.5 trillion by 2027. Venture capital funding in wellness and health tech has surpassed $40 billion in recent years. Consumer demand for healthier, longer lives has never been higher.
Yet, many VC-backed longevity startups are collapsing. From Forward Health’s billion-dollar implosion to Ever/Body’s distressed takeover and Ezra’s quiet acquisition, the fallout raises an urgent question: Why are so many VC-backed longevity startups collapsing?
The answer reveals a deeper misalignment between VC growth expectations and the slow, trust-driven realities of healthcare and prevention. In this article, we’ll unravel the common failure patterns, explore what’s working, and outline what founders and investors must do differently to build enduring businesses in longevity.
The Rise of Longevity
Longevity isn’t just about lifespan, it’s about healthspan, the number of years we live in good health. Unlike traditional healthcare, which reacts to illness, the longevity economy emphasizes proactive self-optimization. This includes:
Preventive diagnostics (blood panels, full-body scans.)
Hormone and metabolic optimization.
Cellular therapies and supplements.
Lifestyle interventions (nutrition, sleep, strength training.)
Aesthetic procedures that enhance perceived youthfulness.
The appeal is obvious: consumers want to take control of their health.
According to McKinsey, they’re also willing to pay out of pocket for personalized solutions.
So why are startups built on this trend failing?
The Collapse of the Health and Wellness Startups!
Forward Health’s $650 Million Burnout.
Once valued at $1 billion, Forward Health promised futuristic primary care with AI-driven diagnostics and automated CarePods. Despite raising over $650 million from elite investors, only five pods launched before the company shut down all operations in 2024. The promise of “scalable medicine in a box” clashed with clinical realities, regulatory barriers, and fragile consumer trust.
Ever/Body’s Distressed Takeover.
Backed by over $100 million, Ever/Body attempted to reinvent the medspa model with sleek branding and tech integration. But rapid expansion, high overhead, and undifferentiated offerings led to collapse. In 2025, the brand was quietly taken over by Advanced Medaesthetic Partners in a distressed deal.
Ezra and the Problem of Retention.
Ezra popularized full-body MRIs for cancer detection. But without insurance coverage and with high customer acquisition costs (CACs), retention was weak. The company was eventually acquired by Function Health under distressed terms.
Similar fates met Modern Age and supplement startups like Care/of and Rootine, showing a systemic problem, not isolated mistakes.
8 Reasons Why Health and Wellness Startups are Failing?
1. Lack of Domain Expertise
Many founders came from tech or DTC e-commerce, not healthcare.
Running a clinic or diagnostic service requires regulatory knowledge, medical staffing, and operational rigor that can’t be hacked with growth marketing.
2. Weak Clinical Depth
Startups leaned too heavily on wellness aesthetics without validated science.
Relying on vague biomarkers, pseudoscience, or unproven protocols eroded credibility.
3. Not Best-in-Class Offerings
Despite slick UX, many services weren’t better than what traditional concierge doctors already provided. E.g. Ever/Body charged flat fees but lacked advanced equipment common in established medspas.
4. Fragile Retention and Low Lifetime Value
Consumers might buy one diagnostic scan or supplement, but without measurable results, they rarely came back. Low LTVs made high CACs unsustainable.
5. Broken Unit Economics
Heavy real estate costs, underutilized staff, and premium branding led to negative margins.
Many startups never made $1 in net margin, let alone scale.
6. Poor Differentiation
Everyone claimed “personalized wellness” and biomarker insights.
Without unique IP or clinical superiority, many brands blended into the noise.
7. Fragile Consumer Trust
Evidence-based wellness turned into marketing without substance. With rising skepticism, consumers quickly abandoned brands that overpromised and underdelivered.
8. Platform Bloat
Startups tried to do it all, supplements, telehealth, diagnostics, coaching, medspas, but delivered mediocrity across all fronts.
Longevity stacks sounded futuristic, but failed in execution.
What’s Actually Working?
While many ventures failed, several models show promise:
Clinician-led practices: For e.g., Dr. Ronald Primas’s NYC clinic blends diagnostics, hormone optimization, and preventive care under physician leadership.
Hospital-backed centers: The Cleveland Clinic and Stanford are integrating precision health into mainstream medicine.
Longevity funds and incubators: Cambrian Bio and Longevity Science Foundation back therapies with rigorous science, even if timelines are long.
GLP-1 integration: Brands like WeightWatchers Health Solutions are embedding weight-loss medications into longitudinal care pathways.
The lesson: credibility, not hype, drives long-term success.
The Regulatory Reckoning
The longevity space currently sits in a regulatory gray zone, too clinical for wellness, too unproven for medicine.
The FDA and FTC are cracking down on unsubstantiated claims.
Diagnostics, biomarker tools, and peptides may soon face stricter classification as medical devices or drugs.
Abroad, governments like Singapore and the UK are advancing national longevity strategies, signaling that regulation is inevitable.
Smart regulation could actually help, legitimizing the space and filtering out pseudoscience.
Founders: Why You Need Scientists, Not Just Marketers
Longevity startups can’t scale on branding alone. To succeed, founders must bring scientists and clinicians to the leadership table.
A great scientist on your team will:
Challenge unproven assumptions
Keep protocols evidence-based
Navigate regulatory realities
Protect brand credibility and investor trust.
Investors: Longevity is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
For investors, the message is equally clear: science takes time. Expecting SaaS-style growth curves in healthcare guarantees disappointment. The winners will be startups that:
Build clinical credibility first
Deliver measurable, repeatable value
Pace growth with discipline and trust-building
Conclusion: The Future of Longevity Is Substance Over Hype
The collapse of VC-backed wellness startups isn’t a death knell for longevity, it’s a wake-up call. Consumer appetite for proactive health remains strong. But the era of shiny branding without substance is ending. The next wave of winners will:
Blend medical rigor with consumer empathy.
Prove efficacy with data and outcomes.
Scale slowly and sustainably.
Longevity isn’t a sprint fueled by hype.
It’s a marathon paced with strategy, credibility, and trust.
For entrepreneurs eyeing the space: build with science, not shortcuts.
For investors: be patient.
The future of longevity will reward those who value evidence over aesthetics.
Source: Forbes.
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