SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aging2.0, the global innovation network and startup accelerator, announces the launch of their new corporate partners program — the Aging2.0 Leaders Circle. The Leaders Circle brings together 12 of the leading organizations from across the continuum of care, who individually and collectively have unparalleled insight, access and reach into the senior care market.

“The Leaders Circle members are just that — true leaders in the field. Each is committed to exploring new ideas, investing in innovation and pioneering ways to improve the lives of older adults,” said Katy Fike PhD, Aging2.0 Co-Founder. “Their leadership and partnership adds incredible depth and breadth to the Aging2.0 platform and amplifies our ability to truly connect, educate and support entrepreneurs working in aging and long-term care."

The Leaders Circle will serve as an advisory council to the Aging2.0 team as they continue to grow the global platform. They will also be tightly integrated into the Aging2.0 Academy program to provide invaluable insights, mentorship, pilot opportunities and distribution to the startups in the class, which will be announced tomorrow.

In turn, Leaders Circle members get early access to the startups who are working on the front lines of innovation in aging and long-term care. Based on their expertise and market position, the Leaders Circle members are able to help shape the development of these early-stage companies and truly accelerate their path to market. In addition, Leaders Circle members get first priority to host local Aging2.0 chapter events and focus groups in their communities. This provides unique and powerful opportunities to foster intergenerational collaboration, which mutually benefits the entrepreneurs and the older adults.

“Given our commitment to innovation, Genesis Rehab is excited to be part of the Leaders Circle and to work closely with the startups in the Aging2.0 Academy,” said Dan Hirschfeld, President of Genesis Rehabilitation Services, one of the world’s largest providers of post-acute rehabilitation services. “Aging2.0 helps large organizations like ours engage with the most promising entrepreneurs from around the world who are focused on aging and long-term care — together we can transform the care delivery system to the benefit of our patients, residents and staff.”

The Leaders Circle launch comes on the heels of two recent partnership announcements by Aging2.0. First, in May 2014, Aging2.0 announced a partnership with Formation Capital — a $5.5bn private investment firm focused on seniors housing real estate and post-acute healthcare services — and welcomed Arnold Whitman, Formation Capital chairman and long-term care industry veteran, as a Partner. In addition, Aging2.0 and Google for Entrepreneurs announced their partnership last week, which extends the reach of the Aging2.0 network and amplifies their support of entrepreneurs in aging and long-term care.

Introducing the founding members of the Aging2.0 Leaders Circle:

• Formation Capital, LLC is a leading private investment firm, which is solely focused on post-acute services, seniors housing and care, and healthcare real estate. More than 13,000 skilled nursing and assisted living facilities are owned, operated or serviced by Formation partners. In addition to the investment team, Formation Capital has an in-house clinical advisory team, Formation Healthcare Group and an internal development team, Formation Development Group. Alpharetta, GA
• Brookdale Senior Living is the largest senior living solutions company in the United States with more than 1,100 communities in 46 states, covering 80% of the U.S. population. Currently Brookdale operates independent living, assisted living, and dementia-care communities and continuing care retirement centers. Brentwood, TN
• Direct Supply is the leading provider of equipment, eCommerce and service solutions to the Senior Living industry. The 30-year old, employee-owned company provides products and services to over 36,000 skilled nursing and assisted living communities throughout the United States, including equipment and furnishings, renovation and design, technology solutions, procurement automation and building management and maintenance services. Milwaukee, WI
• El Camino Hospital/Pathways Home Health & Hospice: El Camino Hospital is an acute-care, 542-bed, non-profit and locally governed organization with campuses in Mountain View and Los Gatos, California. Pathways Home Health & Hospice is a non-profit community based organization that cares for patients in their place of residence, whether it be their home, hospital, nursing home or assisted living facility. Mountain View, CA / Sunnyvale, CA
• Genesis Healthcare / Genesis Rehabilitation Services is the largest provider of physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, respiratory therapy, skilled nursing and wellness services for the older adult population. Genesis Healthcare operates more than 400 centers across 28 states and Genesis Rehabilitation Services’ 1,500 gyms across 46 states and the District of Columbia serve approximately 45,000 patients each day. Kennett Square, PA
• Health Care REIT is a real estate investment trust that invests across the full spectrum of seniors housing and health care real estate. The company provides an extensive array of property management and development services, and their portfolio includes many of the largest senior living providers including Belmont Village, Benchmark, Brandywine, Brookdale, Genesis HealthCare, Merrill Gardens, Senior Lifestyles, Senior Star, Silverado and Sunrise. Toledo, OH
• Home Instead Senior Care (HISC), founded in 1994, is the largest provider of non-medical home care services in the world with a network of 900 franchise offices throughout the United States, Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Finland, Austria, Northern Italy and Puerto Rico. HISC employs nearly 65,000 trained CAREGivers^SM who provide millions of hours of elder care services annually. Omaha, NE
• Life Care Services (LCS) is a leading developer and manager of continuing care, assisted living retirement communities throughout the United States. Today more than 30,000 people live in over 100 communities managed and marketed by the companies of LCS and thousands more benefit from the services of Health at Home. Des Moines, IA
• Medline is the largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of healthcare supplies in the United States, providing more than 350,000 products that serve the entire continuum of care. Medline’s products and programs can be found in most hospitals, extended-care facilities, surgery centers, physician offices, home care dealers, home health agencies and retail outlets. Medline has been family-led for four generations. Mundelein, IL
• National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to advance the quality and availability of seniors housing and care options for America's elders. NIC provides research, education and increased transparency that facilitate informed investment decisions, quality outcomes and leadership development in seniors housing and care. Annapolis, MD
• Silverado is nationally recognized as the leader in caring for the memory impaired. Silverado offers a continuum of care from home health to hospice services and operates 30 memory care communities serving over 2,000 people in six states. Silverado’s philosophy is based on a social-model setting, which has earned numerous awards and influenced seniors housing providers nationwide. Irvine, CA
• TridentUSA Health Services is the leading national provider of bedside diagnostics, laboratory services and hospice care in the United States. TridentUSA provides services to more than 12,000 post-acute facilities across 43 states and maintains customer relationships with more than 7,000 skilled nursing facilities throughout the country. Horsham, PA

About Aging2.0

Aging2.0 (http://www.aging2.com) is a global organization on a mission to accelerate innovation that will improve the lives of older adults around the world. Aging2.0 connects, educates and supports innovators through its global chapter network, consumer research panel, conferences, Aging2.0 Academy startup program and the Generator Ventures fund. In less than three years, Aging2.0 has become the premier platform for discovering and cultivating innovations focused on aging and long-term care.

About Formation Capital

Formation Capital (www.formationcapital.com) is a leading private investment management firm focused on seniors housing and care, post-acute and health care real estate investments. Since 1999, Formation Capital has overseen the investment of over $5.5 billion of capital in seniors housing and care, post-acute services and health care real estate and has demonstrated an ability to source attractive opportunities, execute complex investment structures, align partner incentives, mitigate investment risk and generate value in real estate and operationally oriented strategies.