SPORT TECHIE - Sep 23 - The funding of Two Sigma Ventures, Mousse Partners, Accomplice, Promus Ventures, Valley Oak Investments, and NextView Ventures are pursuing a beta phase in the new Whoop wristband. Presenting real-time data 24/7, Whoop is able to measure three scores: Intensity, Recovery and Sleep Performance. Significant variables such as heart rate, body temperature measurements, sleep-cycle monitoring, skin conductivity, and specific recording of individual physical activity have provided professional coaches, athletic trainers, and doctors with an abundance of data to build the perfect training programs.
Leaf Healthcare Gets $3.3M For Ulcer Prevention Wearable
MOBIHEALTH NEWS - Sep 21 - The company has not disclosed investors, but SDL Ventures lists Leaf Healthcare as a portfolio company.The Leaf Patient Monitoring system, a small clip-on wearable for patients in hospital beds, monitors patient movement in bed, then uses that data to calculate when the patient needs to be turned to prevent the formation of pressure ulcers. That data is uploaded wirelessly to central monitoring stations or mobile devices so clinicians can monitor the readings. The system also alerts nurses or staff when a patient needs to be turned.
GLNeuroTech Secures $1.9M
HIT CONSULTANT - Sep 21 - GLNT has received $1.9 million from the National Institutes of Health to improve the efficacy of deep brain stimulation programming for Parkinson’s disease and minimize time required by a clinician to optimize settings. The technology development and commercialization will combine wearable motor symptom sensing and a DBS platform into a single integrated system.
Valencell Gets $2.6M For Health-sensing Earbud Technology
MOBIHEALTH NEWS - Sep 15 - Valencell has raised $2.6M in a combination of debt and equity, according to an SEC filing. This round brings the company’s total funding to date to $16.1M. Its last funding round, $7M, was led by new investor WSJ Joshua Fund, a recently founded Texas-based investor group. Existing investors TDF Ventures, True Ventures and Best Buy Capital also contributed.
Moff Raises Seed Funding To Tackle The U.S. Market
TECH CRUNCH - Sep 10 - Moff has raised $1.3 million in seed funding from Bandai Namco Entertainment, Orso, and TomyK. The company plans to find more distribution partners, as well as content providers and developers to help develop the wristband’s ecosystem of apps. The company recently launched a U.S. division and hired Albert Chu, whose past experience includes executive roles at Apple, AT&T, and PalmSource, as chief executive officer.
MC10 Quietly Raising $40M
BOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL - Aug 31 - The Lexington-based company makes wearable technology for a variety of industries including cosmetics, health care, sports and defense. The new investment round could put the company at about $100M in total funding since its founding in 2008, with an estimated valuation of $300M. Current investors include San Francisco-based Aberdare Ventures, New York-based Braemar Energy Ventures and Waltham-based North Bridge Venture Partners.
by Sara Castellanos
See full article at Boston Business Journal
Everywear Games Closes $2.25M Funding Round
VENTURE BEAT - Aug 31 - The wearables game developers, which produced the Apple Watch-optimized app Runeblade, has raised $2.25 in seed funding led by True Ventures with participation from fellow investment organizations Lifeline and Sunstone. Everywear intends to use this money to push forward with more games designed specifically for Apple and Android smartwatches.
Blockchain-Powered IoT Startup Filament Raises $5M
FINANCE MAGNETS - Aug 19 - The round was led by Bullpen Capital, with contributions from Verizon Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Samsung Ventures, Digital Currency Group, Haystack, Working Lab Capital, Techstars, among others. The funding will go toward producing 'taps' for customers ranging from smaller businesses to Furtune 50 companies in the oil and gas, manufacturing, agriculture and mining sectors.
Lemonade Lab Scores $5.8M From Foxconn Unit
TECHCRUNCH - Aug 6 - Lemonade Lab’s first batch of products will be targeted to professional cyclists and runners, before it starts competing directly with companies like Fitbit, Misfit, Jawbone and Garmin by chasing after the consumer market. In a statement, co-founder and CEO Kunihiko Kaji said Lemonade Lab will use FIH Mobile’s manufacturing platform to brings its devices to market, which will launch in the U.S., Japan, France, and Taiwan later this year.
Olio Raises $10M To Build Smartwatches
TECH CRUNCH - Jul 31 - Series A funding, led by New Enterprise Associates, will go to expand Olio’s manufacturing prowess and bring on new hires for the budding company. In addition to the raise, the company has announced a number of new models including a 24-carat gold model for $1,195 on a leather strap.
Sleepace Raised $7M To Help People Sleep Better
TECHINASIA - July 20 - Chinese hardware startup Sleepace, maker of a gadget that monitors people’s sleep, has secured $7M in series B funding. Sleepace’s sole device right now is RestOn, which lies across the width of a bed in order to monitor a user’s sleep cycles, movements, respiratory rate, and heart rate. It costs $177 which makes it a pricey alternative to using a cheap fitness tracker wristband, but the startup reckons that its more comfortable because the user doesn’t have to wear any gizmos while they sleep. Sleepace raised $3M in series A funding last summer.
Doppler Labs Raises $17 Million Series B
FORBES - Jul 7 - The New York-based startup is also coming off raising $635K from a Kickstarter campaign that closed this month for its upcoming product, Here Active Listening, which are earbuds designed to customize sound around you. The Chernin Group, Wildcat Capital Management and Acequia Capital led the round and included a few investors from the entertainment world — Live Nation Entertainment, WME and Universal Music Group.
Paytm Founder Invests In GoQii Technologies
DAIJIWORLD - Jul 6 - Fitness-tracker start-up GOQii, founded by angel investor and former Indiagames CEO Vishal Gondal, was incorporated in 2013. GOQii is headquartered in California with offices in Mumbai and Shenzhen. "We are sure this collective partnership will further help accelerate our vision to build a healthier ecosystem," Gondal said.
LG Display Will Invest Up To $803M For New OLED Plant
FIRST POST - Jul 6 - The plant will produce flexible OLED panels used for smartphones and wearable products and will be built in South Korea.
Rithmio Raises $3M Seed Round
CHICAGO INNO - Jun 30 - Rithmio, a Chicago-based maker of software that integrates with wearable technology to more accurately measure movement, hopes to grow its team and become the "world's leading gesture recognition platform." The round was co-led by KGC Capital and Intel Capital, with investments from MAS Capital Pvt Ltd., OCA Ventures, Hyde Park Ventures Partners, Hyde Park Angels, Foley Ventures, MKRC Ventures, Serra Ventures, and New Coast Ventures. Rithmio previously raised $650K last September.
The all-Chinese Smartwatch, Ticwatch
WAREABLE - Jun 29 - 16,000 backers on e-commerce and crowdfunding site JD.com have raised over RMB 8 million ($1.3M) for Mobvoi, the startup that built the $160 smartwatch. Instead of attempting to localise an international smartwatch and failing, Mobvoi has started local and is building a smartwatch around what it does best, voice recognition and search services in China. Mobvoi enlisted the help of Frogdesign's Shanghai studio.
KIWI start-up I Measure U launches Indiegogo Campaign
AAP - Jun 24 - The $US200,000 will raise funds to help manufacture its first wearable technology consumer product, the IMU-Run. The company has developed a sensor that measures human body movement through physiologically based mathematical models that works by the runner strapping the sensor to their ankle to transmit data to their smartphone or smartwatch.
Sano Raises $10M For Health-sensing Wearable
MOBIHEALTH NEWS - Jun 22 - Sano Intelligence is developing a biometric-sensing wearable that, among other things, noninvasively tracks blood glucose to “will help people understand what’s happening inside their bodies through continuously monitoring important markers in their bodies’ chemistry”. Funding from True Ventures and Intel Capital with participation from First Round, Felicis Ventures, Elevation Capital, Floodgate, and Rock Health.
Wiivv Wearables 3D Printed Insoles
3D PRINT - Jun 18 - Wiivv Wearables Inc. of Vancouver is gaining an influx of capital coming in from Evonik Venture Capital. While the amount is yet undisclosed, it is known that soon Wiivv will begin producing 3D printed biomechanically optimized insoles which are able to offer specific customization depending on individual requirements.The investment deal was also supported by financial investor Formation 8 and Real Ventures.
Fitbit Shares up 48% In Market Debut
NY TIMES - Jun 18 - The shares opened at $30.40 on Thursday morning, up 52% from the I.P.O. price of $20. They closed up 48.4%, or $9.68, at $29.68. The company raised the price above its previous range of $17 to $19 a share and increased the size of the deal to 36.6M shares from 34.5M. The company raised $732M for itself and its selling stockholders. The I.P.O. price valued Fitbit at $4.1B.
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- Q&A With Linden Tibbets, CEO Of IFTTT, 2nd part
- Q&A With Linden Tibbets, CEO Of IFTTT, 1st part
- Q&A With Mark Gainey, CEO Of Strava
- Q&A With Niina Venho, CEO Of Moodmetric
- Q&A With Chaotic Moon Studios
- Q&A With Benjamin Hubert, Founder Of Layer
- Neuro-marketing Primer Part 2
- Neuro-marketing Primer Part 1
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