Longevity Treatments for a 91-Year-Old? A Bold Bet in Silicon Valley’s Immortality Race

Sam Altman, Brian Armstrong and other tech billionaires are pouring a fortune into anti-aging therapies that could take years to hit the market. One startup underdog is beginning to treat customers who may not have the luxury of waiting that long.

In Silicon Valley, some quests for the fountain of youth have most definitely won the backing of tech’s leading names.

Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, personally invested $180 million to launch Retro Biosciences, which is working on ways to rejuvenate aging cells. CoinBase’s Brian Armstrong co-founded NewLimit, which has raised over $200 million for a similar pursuit from investors that include Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. And Jeff Bezos reportedly helped bankroll a startup focused on life extension therapies, Altos Labs, which has amassed $3 billion in funding.

Then there are longevity startups like Mitrix Bio, a Pleasanton, Calif.–based company that’s working with only $4 million in funding, none of it coming from the tech billionaires who lately have become enthralled by the idea of treating death like a correctable software glitch.