BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sonera, the company making neural data accessible to the masses through its breakthrough sensing technology, today exited stealth and announced $11M in seed funding led by Amplify Partners with participation from Abstract Ventures and existing investors. This latest funding brings total capital raised to $20M from investors including Spark Capital; Material Impact; Boom Capital; angel investor Josh Duyan, CTRL-Labs CSO and co-founder; and others. With this investment, Sonera will continue its mission to make neural data accessible for a range of applications, from personal computing and smart apparel to healthcare and neurotherapeutics.
Sonera has developed a new sensing modality that non-invasively measures magnetic fields generated by the body, in contrast with the electrical sensing techniques commonly used today. This proprietary technology holds the key to making brain activity as easy to measure as heart rate, temperature, and other physiological signals, and enabling data-backed insights related to movement, health, thoughts, and emotions.
“The tools we have today for measuring neural activity are either rudimentary or inaccessible, and that’s prevented us from gathering critical information about our brains and bodies,” said Sonera co-founder and CEO, Nishita Deka. “The only way to solve this is by developing high-performance sensors that are commercially viable, which is the goal of our work at Sonera. My hope is that our approach, which is to measure biomagnetic signals on a chip, will let us achieve universal access to neural data and generate insights that will impact both consumer and clinical applications. Knowing how ambitious and challenging this goal is, I’m grateful and excited to have support from investors who believe in our mission.”
The first application of Sonera's technology is the S1 chip for muscle sensing, which is poised to enable an entirely new class of consumer wearables and experiences based on muscle activity. This approach, which measures magnetic fields produced by the electrical currents from neural activity, eliminates the need for direct skin contact while still measuring high-fidelity signals – a huge step up from the performance and usability limitations of electrical sensors. The S1 chip will enable use cases including advanced prosthetics control, continuous monitoring of neuromuscular conditions, discovery of disease biomarkers, and sport performance tracking.
“Over the past decade we’ve seen an explosion of wearables flood the consumer market,” said Mike Dauber, General Partner at Amplify Partners. “Sonera is developing an entirely new sensing modality that enables numerous applications that have been out of reach until now. We’re excited to partner with Nishita and Dom to help make their vision a reality – one that we will all benefit tremendously from.”
"Sonera’s groundbreaking work is an entirely new approach to sensing the brain and body," said Nabeel Hyatt, General Partner at Spark Capital. "They had the clarity to acknowledge the past approaches were not going to work, and the inspiration to develop a novel sensor with massive potential. We are proud to support them as they unlock the edges of neuroscience."
To learn more about Sonera or if interested in joining the team, please visit www.sonera.io.
About Sonera
Sonera is making neural data accessible to the masses through its breakthrough sensing technology, which non-invasively detects magnetic signals generated by neural activity. The company’s mission is to make neural data ubiquitous for a wide range of applications, from personal computing to healthcare and beyond. Learn more at www.sonera.io.
