SoundHealth is a company that efficiently accelerates medical innovations, fulfilling the mission of the world’s leading foundations and non-profits and overall bettering global health. Pulse 2.0 interviewed SoundHealth CEO Paramesh Gopi to learn more about the company.
Paramesh Gopi’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Gopi said:
“I’m a serial Silicon Valley entrepreneur with extensive experience in both private and public companies. I have been fortunate to be at the intersection of every major consumer product in the last two decades. I helped pioneer the use of WiFi in gaming, smartphones, cameras and printers while starting and running Marvell’s consumer business, which grew to over $500 million in under five years). I then helped revolutionize the server space by introducing the world’s first 64-bit ARM servers for cloud data centers by turning around a public company, AppliedMIcro, as CEO and leading it to an $800 million exit.”
Formation Of SoundHealth
How did the idea for the company come together? Gopi shared:
“After I sold my last company, I was struck with a series of sinus infections that lasted many months and was referred to Dr. Peter Hwang at the Stanford Sinus Center. Dr. Hwang had been working on a new drug-free customized vibroacoustic intervention to treat chronic rhinitis along with Dr. Bryant Lin. Both Hwang and Lin are serial entrepreneurs. I became their first patient. Their first prototypes used my CT scans to find my sinus resonances. As a result, I have been infection- and steroid-free for more than three years. My personal health journey spawned SoundHealth! We pioneered the use of ML/AI to build the world’s first models to predict skull cavity dimensions from a selfie to within 5%. This was the key game changer. Now, with thousands of data sets for living subjects and cadavers, we have launched the world’s first FDA DeNovo-authorized AI-enabled wearable to treat allergies with efficacy that matches or is better than steroids and no side effects.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Gopi reflected:
“We had pregnant women in our first studies who could not use any medication due to their pregnancy-related rhinitis, which affects over 40% of women in the United States. Our device, SONU, was a game changer; their husbands wrote us emails of gratitude, which were so meaningful.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Gopi explained:
“SONU, the company’s flagship product and app, is the world’s first AI-enabled personalized vibroacoustic platform that is FDA-approved for treating allergies. SONU’s efficacy is better than the standard of care (corticosteroids) and is side-effect-free.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Gopi and the team faced in building the company? Gopi acknowledged:
“FDA approval for a brand-new treatment for a condition that affects almost 50% of Americans is one of the toughest hurdles for any digital health or medtech company.”
“The addition of AI and biometric personalization increased the complexity of running a gold-standard pharma-quality randomized control trial that spanned multiple seasons and states.”
“Our founding team, Dr. Lin and Dr. Hwang, have been involved with almost every new innovation in the ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgical space and contributed their wealth of experience. We were very fortunate to have experienced advisors who had brought major consumer products to market from Apple and Samsung work with us to ensure that the product was ready to go to market.”
Evolution Of SoundHealth
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Gopi noted:
“We created major software innovations in the app and its AI features. These include the world’s first personalized allergy prediction app based on nasal anatomy. We also introduced a pioneering feature of using voice as a biomarker for nasal congestion!”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Gopi cited:
“SoundHealth’s FDA DeNovo classification and seed funding round are among its most significant milestones. Additional details can be found in the press release HERE.”
Customer Success Stories
When asking Gopi about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“Please see individual customer testimonials on our website HERE.”
Funding
When asking Gopi about the company’s funding details, he revealed:
“We just closed our seed round.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Gopi assessed:
“SoundHealth is pursuing total addressable markets of $20 billion for rhinitis $10 billion for sleep therapy.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Gopi affirmed:
“SoundHealth is a pioneer in the use of AI-enabled personalized medicine to treat one of the top conditions that affect over 100 million Americans. We are on a mission to replace steroids with sound!”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Gopi pointed out:
“We plan to build out our therapy pipeline with personalized vibroacoustics to treat insomnia, pain, and mental illness.”
“We recently pioneered the use of acoustic resonance therapy (ART) to help with chronic insomnia. Our pilot study with Stanford Medicine sleep doctors showed very positive results.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Gopi concluded:
“SoundHealth also introduced SONUCast, the first-ever real-time personalized allergy forecasting solution based on facial anatomy and air quality.”
“SoundHealth will also be introducing the use of voice as a biomarker for congestion.”
