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| Dreem--Courtesy of Rythm |
Rythm, the developer of a connected headband designed to improve sleep, got a $4 million infusion of funding from private investors, boosting its total funding to $11 million.
The company, which has offices in San Francisco and Paris, announced the fundraising this week. The private investors include Laurent Alexandre, a French biotech investor, and Xavier Niel, founder of Kima Ventures. Terms of the investment weren't disclosed by Rythm. About $2.5 million of the startup's total funding came from winning two phases of the personalized medicine category in France's Concours Mondial d'Innovation grant competition.
The device is dubbed Dreem and is designed to track a user's brain activity by monitoring EEG waves while they are sleeping. The device sends data to a companion app that provides information about when the user fell asleep, how long they slept, the stages of their sleep and the history of their sleep. Additionally, the headband uses sound stimulation to improve the quality of sleep.
"This funding and partnership allows us to grow faster and healthier than any other company in this space," Hugo Mercier, president and CEO, said in a statement. "In just a few years, we are now positioned as the largest neurotechnology company in the world."
Mercier said the Dreem device, which debuted in early March, isn't expected to be available publicly until the first quarter of 2017. In the meantime, the company is conducting a limited--about 500--release of the headset for development purposes. When it does become widely available to consumers, the device is expected to cost about $349.
Similar device companies that track EEGs are Daqri, BrainScope, Intelliclinic and Emotiv.