Sonera – a company making neural data accessible to the masses through its breakthrough sensing technology – recently exited stealth and announced $11 million in seed funding led by Amplify Partners with participation from Abstract Ventures and existing investors. And this latest funding round brings total capital raised to $20 million from investors like Spark Capital; Material Impact; Boom Capital; angel investor Josh Duyan, CTRL-Labs CSO and co-founder; and others. With this funding round, 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 developed a new sensing modality that non-invasively measures magnetic fields generated by the body in contrast with the electrical sensing techniques commonly used. And 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 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. And 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. This is a major 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.
KEY QUOTES:
“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. 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.”
– Sonera co-founder and CEO Nishita Deka
“Over the past decade we’ve seen an explosion of wearables flood the consumer market. 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.”
– Mike Dauber, General Partner at Amplify Partners
“Sonera’s groundbreaking work is an entirely new approach to sensing the brain and body. 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.”
– Nabeel Hyatt, General Partner at Spark Capital
