I too am glad to see banking and health be tackled by startups. I also think projects like Votizen may have an important impact on politics which is a great cause too.
Interestingly, I think the problem Google has been trying to solve for 11+ years now is (while certainly not as noble as health) quite important. The ability to find (just about) anything in under a second is amazing - and it pretty much defines the current generation of people. It ultimately means that you are not limited by your access to data, but what you do with it. The impact on innovation/education and most other areas is huge.
I would say one of the major problems we still have as a society is communication. For those of us in 1st world countries this may not sound like reality at all, but there's people who have no way to access the internet, talk to relatives or do emergency (tele)communications. This isn't necessarily an easy problem for a startup, but the road to free, ubiquitous communication is only starting to be paved now.
Interestingly, I think the problem Google has been trying to solve for 11+ years now is (while certainly not as noble as health) quite important. The ability to find (just about) anything in under a second is amazing - and it pretty much defines the current generation of people. It ultimately means that you are not limited by your access to data, but what you do with it. The impact on innovation/education and most other areas is huge.
I would say one of the major problems we still have as a society is communication. For those of us in 1st world countries this may not sound like reality at all, but there's people who have no way to access the internet, talk to relatives or do emergency (tele)communications. This isn't necessarily an easy problem for a startup, but the road to free, ubiquitous communication is only starting to be paved now.