Social Isolation And Connection With Friendi.fi, Vermut And Happy Talks Rethinking Aging Club podcast

Social Isolation and Connection with Friendi.fi, Vermut and Happy Talks

5d ago 39:33

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This episode focused on social isolation and connections. Victor Wang introduced Friendi.fi (pronounced “friendify”) a platform using AI to combat loneliness among older adults, highlighting its success in PACE programs and its mission to scale to millions. Friendi.fi was a spin-out from Care.Coach, Victor’s first startup.

Fernando Dellepiane shared Vermut’s marketplace of activities for older adults, illustrating its success in Spain, partnerships with healthcare companies and plans for expansion into the US.

Christian Ross discussed Happy Talks, a service offering social phone calls and more to older adults to combat loneliness; with memberships ranging from $59 to $189 per month. Noting its impact on mental health and the importance of sentiment analysis and prevention of exploitation.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

Recorded on May 29, 2025, this episode is part of our Social Isolation Series. Speakers are listed in their order of appearance.

Victor Wang, Co-Founder, Friendi.fi; Chairman of the Board, care.coach; co-Founder AgeTech Las Vegas
Friendifi is an AgeTech Collaborative from AARP Portfolio Company

Fernando Dellepiane, CEO and Co-Founder, Vermut App
Vermut won the AgeTech Collaborative™ from AARP pitch competition at VIVE in 2025

Christian Ross, Founder, Happy Talks; AgeTech Atlanta company member, Atlanta Startup Village Co-Host

Resources:
Victor’s Friendi.fi presentation at the Spring 2025 Medicarians conference

Mary Furlong’s 3-5-25 What’s Next Living Longer Better Smarter Podcast with Fernando

Bob Kramer’s mid-May 2025 LinkedIn post on Social Isolation and Intergenerational Connections

We apologize for the technical difficulty with some of Victor Wang’s audio quality during the second half of this show.

BoomerTechTalk.com episode page with additional resources connected to our speakers.

LinkedIn Show Post

Co-Hosts: Linda Sherman and Debbie Howard

We continue to record new Rethinking Aging Club podcasts live on Thursdays. How to join live.

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Music: Solemnity written and performed by Richard Sherman

Chapters

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. Victor Wang, Friendifi and CareCoach (00:05:10)

3. Fernando Dellepiane, Vermut App (00:15:33)

4. Christian Ross, Happy Talks (00:26:59)

116 episodes