Obvious Ventures

Consumer AI Series: The Future of Health 🫀 Technology has simultaneously driven people closer together and further apart: the same platforms that enable us to stay connected despite distance, reconnect with old friends, and discover new communities are the same tools that drive wedges in authentic connection by fostering a culture of distraction, multitasking, and addiction to screen time. As a society, we’ve never been more technologically connected yet socially isolated. Many folks have written about the loneliness epidemic we’re experiencing, and at Obvious Ventures, we’re excited about world positive applications of AI to create and strengthen authentic human connection. 👥 Companionship and Loneliness From voice applications to avatar/digital double technology, consumers have rapidly turned towards AI for companionship in recent years. The potential upsides are clear: over 160k Americans die each year due to loneliness and social isolation, and loneliness is linked to increased risks of depression, anxiety, heart disease, dementia, and more. As AI becomes increasingly personalized and integrated into our everyday lives, we see real applications to provide companionship and solve loneliness in meaningful ways. ♥️ Consumer Health and Longevity  It's no surprise that healthcare and health-related expenses constitute top consumer spend categories. In the US, healthcare spending grew 7.5% in 2023 eclipsing $4.9T, roughly 17.6% of GDP. Increasingly, consumers are paying more attention to - and spending more money on - their health. We’re excited about the fundamental pivot of consumer health systems from existing reactive, symptoms-based care models to proactive, preventative, root cause-based care. Applications across key areas of healthcare including the care economy, nutrition and weight loss, women’s health and fertility, and longevity present tremendous opportunities for impact. We’re also excited by founders building solutions that enable consumers to gain more holistic understandings of their health (spanning physical, mental, emotional, etc.), leverage deeply personalized and tailored care plans, and better access democratized health knowledge and resources, all in the ultimate pursuit of improving health outcomes. 🤖 AI-Powered Care As AI and agentic infrastructure continues to develop rapidly, we’re excited about the opportunity to pioneer the future of AI-native care. We’re witnessing unprecedented advancements in the space (ex: AI therapists and AI primary care providers) with tremendous impact, such as decreasing excessive specialist referral wait times, physician burnout, and more. While we still believe that human connection, intuition, and experience serve as a cornerstone of excellent care delivery, we also believe world positive AI applications can help provide greater access to often inaccessible or unaffordable healthcare resources.  #ConsumerAI #ConsumerHealth #Longevity #AI

Consumer AI Series: The Future of Commerce 💰 🔶 The first wave of e-commerce was about convenience — bringing the store to your screen 🔶 The second wave was about personalization — tailored recommendations based on your preferences and history 🔶 The coming AI wave will be a complete transformation of the commerce experience. Think about how you shop today: You probably bounce between a dozen social apps, retail websites, brick-and-mortar stores, review websites, and more. It's fragmented, often frustrating and overwhelming, and surprisingly inefficient despite decades of digital innovation. The $9B commerce AI market is about to change all of that. The key insight driving this change: commerce is changing from a series of transactions into a continuous, dynamic process that weaves through daily life. AI is building this new experience in 5 key ways: 1️⃣ Your personalized AI agent will not just help you find the best items that fit your needs, style, and budget but will also proactively recommend specific items, suggest the best time and channel to purchase for the best price, and ultimately execute transactions on your behalf. 2️⃣ Digital and physical omnichannel experiences will blend seamlessly from both a consumer and brand perspective, enabling frictionless user journeys, elevated customer experiences, and higher conversion, loyalty, and brand sentiment. 3️⃣ Social discovery and purchasing will become increasingly mainstream and frictionless. 83% of Gen Z already report starting their shopping experiences on social platforms, which creates net-new opportunities for discovery of smaller brands and businesses. 4️⃣ Sustainability, circularity, and values-aligned purchasing will continue to increase in importance. AI applications will fuel the future of secondhand and resale while simultaneously making it easier for consumers to discover and support brands that align with their personal values. 5️⃣ Post-transaction support and experiences will present invaluable opportunities to strengthen consumer sentiment and loyalty. Return workflows also serve as an often underutilized yet critical customer touchpoint to regain consumer trust. #consumer #AI #agents #commerce

If there is one thing I've learned in my career, it’s that progress is built in steps—some bold, some small, but all necessary. Progress is not a linear process, it’s messy, full of setbacks, recalibrations, and days you just feel like quitting. We often just see the highlights of others’ journeys. There is no mention of the countless late nights and failures that led to success. Read on for more insights from my career and what I look for in companies to invest in. https://lnkd.in/gtukTQRQ

Consumer AI Series: The Future of Travel ✈️ The travel industry is at an inflection point, and these changes are rooted in a generational shift away from legacy platforms and towards discovery, authenticity, and socially native experiences. At Obvious Ventures, we think travel is fundamentally transforming in three key ways. 1️⃣ The Death of Traditional Discovery: Consumers, particularly younger demographics, are increasingly turning away from legacy incumbents like Expedia and TripAdvisor. 60%+ of Gen Z and 30%+ of Millennials use TikTok as their primary travel search engine, signifying a generational shift towards socially-inspired, personalized, and authentic travel discovery. 2️⃣ The Rise of AI Travel Agents: Today, consumers use an average of 30+ different sites to discover, book, and plan travel, revealing a highly fragmented and inefficient landscape. Every traveler will soon have access to sophisticated AI agents that act as their own personal luxury concierge service. These AI assistants will create hyper-curated itineraries based on individual preferences, manage real-time logistics, and provide around-the-clock support throughout the journey. 3️⃣ The Social Layer: Travel is becoming increasingly social and shareable, creating powerful network effects that drive organic discovery and validation. Future travel platforms will be rooted in community-driven recommendations driven by human content and engagement. The future belongs to platforms that can deliver hyper-personalized, socially native, AI-powered end-to-end travel experiences 🌍 #consumer #AI #agentic #FutureOfTravel