San Francisco, California, May 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- At the 12th Session of the Open-Ended Working Group on Aging held in April, Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, delivered these stirring words regarding the world’s population of older adults:

“The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed more than six million lives, the majority of them older persons …  Older persons have been left at the edges of society at the time when they are most in need of our support.

By 2050, there will be twice as many older persons aged 65 than there are today. They will outnumber young people aged 15 to 24.

We should ask ourselves: what kind of world do we want to live in by then?”

Social isolation and loneliness impacts people from all age groups worldwide, but it is especially lethal for older adults. A Brigham Young University study revealed loneliness as a key contributing factor in early death among adults, ranking it as on-par with smoking, alcohol, and obesity. 

Yet older adults continue to be overlooked and marginalized in society – and for Serena Dang, the issue is exacerbated by the aging population’s lack of access to technology that increasingly caters to a younger generation.

Now, she is embarking on a social mission unlike any other in her illustrious career in the ESG field. After stops as Vice President of Nomura Securities, Founding Member of 1Sharpe Ventures, Head of North America for She Loves Tech, and Advisor to Trella Urban Forestry Technology, Dang is now launching her own tech startup Teacup Inc. – a voice-first online platform leveraging the power of social technology to improve the well-being of older adults worldwide.

With a proven track record in the ESG field and a strong belief in the power of social technology, Teacup founder and CEO, Serena Dang, is determined to solve a growing problem in the world’s aging population. Too many older adults struggle to use existing social platforms to connect online, leading to social isolation and loneliness. It is a problem that has only grown due to the COVID pandemic, and a problem that Teacup intends to solve.

“COVID has made it difficult for everyone, and especially older adults, to connect socially,” Dang says. “Because of this, older adults are now suddenly rushed online but have nowhere to go.”

The problem, Dang says, is that the existing online social platforms are not designed to meet the needs of an aging population -- many who may be connecting online for the first time.

As Dang wrote in recent op-ed for Medium:

“As these adults step into the second half of their lives, especially post retirement, they still have 20 to 40 years to live. Unequipped and unprepared for the increasing digital and virtual world, many of them find themselves daunted by the prospects of adopting new technology to stay connected, as their vision, mobility, and cognitive functions deteriorate. Each new feature designed by the big tech firms to excite the younger generation in turn pushes the older adults away, as it ends up being one more thing for them to pick up and re-learn.”

“The internet infrastructure has never really been created for older adults,” Dang says. “So, there is a huge gap but also an opportunity for a company that is focused on designing platforms with the interests and needs of older adults in mind. And that is ultimately the goal of Teacup.”

The groundbreaking voice-first app delivers an online experience that will benefit a population that has previously been underserved in technology. As a result, older adults around the world will now have the opportunity to access information, connect with others, and build a safe and supportive online environment.

“I have been describing it as somewhere between joining a Clubhouse chatroom and listening to a podcast or radio show,” Dang says. “Older adults can find high-quality information that is relevant to their age, and to meet like-minded people as they enter retirement and have new life experiences.”

Teacup will be the first of its kind, leading the way in building a social network that serves older adults. As Dang says, it will be a source of valuable information for seniors and a way for them to create their own trusted community of users.

“We are helping older adults find their own hyperlocal online community,” Dang says. “It could be based on their neighborhood, on their retirement community, their interests. Whatever they want to use it for, it’s really up to them.”

This is not the first time Dang has leveraged her unique skill set to help solve important ESG problems. She currently serves as the Head of North America for She Loves Tech, growing what began as a regional organization into the world’s largest acceleration platform for women and technology.

As an advisor for Trella Urban Forestry Technology, she is leading cross-cultural ESG initiatives between the United States and China, using impressive greenhouse technology to grow millions of trees in a faster and higher quality environment. Their ultimate goal is to produce and distribute trees through organizational partners around the world, dramatically reducing carbon emissions and fighting climate change.

Teacup is set to launch in 2022, and with Serena Dang at the helm, it promises to be an exciting and revolutionary online platform for the world’s population of older adults. 

Today’s young people are tomorrow’s older members of society. It goes without saying that societies which actively support their older persons will pave the way towards a more dignified future for everybody.

To learn more about Serena Dang’s groundbreaking work in technology and finance as well as the future of Teacup, connect with her on LinkedIn.

Contact Information:
Serena Dang
hello@teacupinc.com 

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