Just twenty-five years ago, the idea that more than half of the world's humans would have a smartphone (4,5 billion cell phones) would have been considered crazy. Ditto for the advent of the electric car, which still makes its way between one obstacle and another. In other words: technologies present in the past and somehow "undervalued" have increased their presence and their value a hundredfold or more. Anyone who believed in such things and decided to invest in them today has a lot of money to spare.
Investing in emerging and growing technologies could do the same now. Here are four that are small today, but will become big in the coming years, giving a fortune to those who decide to bet on them.
Generative artificial intelligence
It could not be missing from the list, right? L'Generative Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing the way we interact with the digital world, going far beyond simple virtual assistance and data collection. Chat GPT is one of the best examples of this technological revolution, but you know it too: this is only the beginning.
Two of the most interesting startups in this field are Hume AI e RAD AI. The first aims to "teach emotions" to artificial intelligence, to help it interact better with users and offer better performance. The second is already putting a focus on "emotional artificial intelligence" to increase the efficiency of marketing campaigns. By collecting and analyzing user behavior data, RAD AI is able to generate personalized and engaging content that responds to the needs of individual consumers.
Exploration and commercial space tourism
The commercial space adventure is now a reality: already in 2021 startups like Blue Origin LLC by Jeff Bezos SpaceX by Elon Musk and Virgin Galactic by Richard Branson, successfully initiated the first manned commercial space travel. In any case, the first "real" flights will become fully operational by 2024, given the problems of economic recession and other imbalances on the world stage.
Why is it worth keeping an eye on the sector, when not investing in it directly? Right now, the price of tickets for a trip to space is prohibitively expensive for most people, costing an average of nearly $500.000, but prices are expected to drop over the next couple of decades. Indeed, many companies are investing huge amounts of money to develop sustainable space stations and other systems, making space exploration more accessible to a wider audience. In the next 15-20 years, more and more people will have the real possibility of space travel in their lifetime.
Green hydrogen
I told you at the beginning of electric cars, their advent and their presence increasingly important in the coming years. However, if I were you, I would not lose sight of green hydrogen: it is very likely that it will become increasingly popular as an alternative source of energy in the agricultural, manufacturing and transport sectors. Even though green hydrogen production is currently expensive, scientists around the world are working hard to find ways to produce carbon-neutral green hydrogen more cost-effectively.
In particular, the Norwegian fuel cell company In the SAA, the world's largest producer of electrolysers, projects that the production costs of green hydrogen will become equivalent to or lower than those of fossil fuels by 2025. This means that green hydrogen could become competitive with fossil fuels in the near future.
Private equity secondary markets
The world of startup investing has always been reserved for venture capitalists and angel investors, often excluding retail investors. But things are changing, and the growing popularity of this type of investment is also approaching the general public. The main problem for investors who focus on startups, however, is the block on invested capital. Why? Before going public, startups often remain "private" for 10-12 years. The development of a secondary market trading Private equity asset management allows investors of all types to sell their shares without having to wait for a quote. StartEngine, the largest equity crowdfunding startup in the United States, is working to create an inclusive secondary market for private equity trading.
Invest in the future? In summary
Investing in emerging technologies can be a great idea: there are some that have just been "fired" from the great cannon of history. They will change the world. Investors who know how to seize these opportunities will be able to say, like those who decided to invest in Apple in the 70s, "and I was there".
