The radar

Where demand is highand supply is low.

Every problem, ranked by opportunity: how badly the world needs a solution, divided by how well-served it already is. The biggest gaps are the best places to start. This is step zero.

The allocation quadrant

Demand, against the capital actually flowing.

Each problem plotted by how much it matters (demand) against the dollars per year pointed at it (sourced estimates, log scale). The top-left quadrant is the product: high demand, thin capital. That is where the next great company is hiding.

THE GAPS · high demand, thin capitalBACKED PRIORITIESWATCHLISTCONSENSUS-CROWDEDCAPITAL FLOWING AT IT ($/YR, LOG) →DEMAND →$1B$10B$100B$1TExtreme poverty ↘Biosecurity & pandemic preparedness ↘Infectious disease (malaria, TB, HIV) ↘Low-cost housing & construction ↘Loneliness & social isolation →Climate change ↗Longevity & aging →Pedagogy at scale ↘Fertility decline & demographic stagnation →Scientific productivity ↗Energy abundance ↗
hover a problem · arrows show capital momentum (3y)● underallocated● balanced● overallocated
01
DiabetesHealth
589 million adults have it. 59 percent take no medicine, though the drugs exist.
0 cos · 0 funds on it · $1.2T prize
demand 86●●●●●●●
dem
sup
61
02
Hypertension controlHealth
1.4 billion people have high blood pressure. The pills are cheap; only 23 percent have it controlled.
0 cos · 0 funds on it
demand 58●●●●●●●
dem
sup
60
03
COPD and chronic respiratory diseaseHealth
The fourth-largest killer on Earth, and one of the least funded.
0 cos · 0 funds on it · $300B prize
demand 85●●●●●●●
dem
sup
57
04
CancerHealth
The second-largest cause of death on Earth: 9.7 million deaths a year.
0 cos · 0 funds on it · $1T prize
demand 86●●●●●●●
dem
sup
49
05
Neglected tropical diseasesHealth
1.7 billion people need treatment for diseases that get under 2% of pharmaceutical R&D and falling aid.
0 cos · 0 funds on it · $20B prize
demand 81●●●●●●●
dem
sup
48
06
Extreme povertyPovertybalanced
Lift the ~700 million people living on less than $2.15 a day into stable prosperity.
0 cos · 0 funds on it · $212B/yr ↘ · $500B prize
demand 90●●●●●●●
dem
sup
47
07
Biosecurity & pandemic preparednessBiosecurityunderallocated
Stop the next pandemic, natural or engineered, before it spreads.
4 cos · 3 funds on it · $4B/yr ↘ · $200B prize
demand 86●●●●●●●
dem
sup
44
08
AI datacenter powerEnergy
AI data centers now need more electricity than grids can supply.
0 cos · 0 funds on it · $400B prize
demand 86●●●●●●●
dem
sup
41
09
Newborn survivalHealth
2.3 million babies die in their first month of life every year, mostly from causes medicine already knows how to prevent.
0 cos · 0 funds on it · $30B prize
demand 68●●●●●●●
dem
sup
35
10
Infectious disease (malaria, TB, HIV)Healthunderallocated
Malaria, TB and HIV still kill millions, and the cures are cheap.
5 cos · 3 funds on it · $25B/yr ↘ · $200B prize
demand 88●●●●●●●
dem
sup
22
11
Low-cost housing & constructionPovertyunderallocated
Too few homes get built, so homes cost too much.
5 cos · 5 funds on it · $10B/yr ↘ · $300B prize
demand 79●●●●●●●
dem
sup
17
12
Loneliness & social isolationSocialunderallocated
The US Surgeon General called it an epidemic. Mortality effect equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
4 cos · 1 funds on it · $300M/yr → · $200B prize
demand 74●●●●●●●
dem
sup
17
13
Climate changeClimateoverallocated
Decarbonize the global economy fast enough to limit warming, while keeping energy cheap and abundant.
0 cos · 0 funds on it · $1.5T/yr ↗ · $1T prize
demand 87●●●●●●●
dem
sup
15
14
Financial infrastructureGovernance
Moving money should be nearly free for everyone. It still is not.
0 cos · 0 funds on it · $1T prize
demand 80●●●●●●●
dem
sup
14
15
Longevity & agingLongevityunderallocated
Aging drives most disease. Slow it and most diseases recede.
8 cos · 5 funds on it · $8B/yr → · $3T prize
demand 87●●●●●●●
dem
sup
11
16
Pedagogy at scaleEducationunderallocated
One-on-one tutoring works far better than classrooms. AI may make it affordable for every child.
5 cos · 4 funds on it · $3B/yr ↘ · $300B prize
demand 73●●●●●●●
dem
sup
10
17
Fertility decline & demographic stagnationSocialunderallocated
Every developed country now has fewer births than it needs to keep its population steady.
4 cos · 1 funds on it · $1B/yr → · $200B prize
demand 74●●●●●●●
dem
sup
9
18
Scientific productivityScienceunderallocated
Each research dollar buys less progress than it used to.
9 cos · 9 funds on it · $400M/yr ↗ · $1T prize
demand 73●●●●●●●
dem
sup
5
19
Energy abundanceEnergyoverallocated
Clean, cheap power on demand, everywhere.
34 cos · 13 funds on it · $2.2T/yr ↗ · $2T prize
demand 82●●●●●●●
dem
sup
4

opportunity = demand (humans affected × severity × market) divided by supply (companies, capital, and solution quality already on it), nudged by urgency. Higher = a bigger, more urgent, less-served gap. The ● dots show how many independent demand signals (burden, willingness-to-pay, capital, research, policy, expert priors, queues & shortages) corroborate the number — more dots = more credible. allocation compares each problem’s share of real capital ($/yr, sourced estimates) to its share of demand: under half its fair share = underallocated, over double = overallocated. Arrows = 3-year capital momentum. Full method on the methodology page.

Weekly whitepaper drop

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Each week we ship a deep-dive whitepaper on a top-ranked humanity-scale problem — built in the spirit of Musk’s Hyperloop Alpha and the transformer paper. Problem + market size + before/after vision + a proposed solution + the investors who would back it. Humanity’s Requests for Startups, sourced and sorted quantitatively. No spam. No marketing.

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