Wearable sleep tracking device manufacturer Onera has raised an undisclosed sum after spinning off from TNO and nanoelectronics maker Imec.
Onera, a Netherlands-based wearable sleep tracking device spinout from nanoelectronics Imec and R&D organisation Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), closed a seed round of undisclosed size yesterday.
Imec.xpand, the investment arm of Imec, backed the round together with Dutch state-owned regional development agency Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschapij (BOM).
Founded in 2017, Onera is developing a medical-grade wearable device for treating sleep disorders. The device deploys precise sensors and computer algorithms to track the wearer’s sleep patterns more accurately than current products.
Holst Centre is an R&D hub that Imec operates in partnership with TNO. Its clinical program is now led by Hartmut Schneider, chief medical officer, who is also the laboratory director of Johns Hopkins University’s Bayview Sleep Disorders Center.
Onera was co-founded by Soukaina Adnane, previously an entrepreneur-in-residence for Imec’s i.start accelerator program, together with Pieter Ermers, the former technical project leader for Imec’s wearable health solutions department.
Stephan Hulsbergen, business developer at BOM Brabant Ventures, BOM’s venture capital division, said: “The development of this technology will enable us to meet the major challenges with regards to the rising healthcare costs and shortage of staff in this industry in the near future.”
Harmut Schneider added: “The medical sleep community has been long awaiting a product like Onera’s, making sleep diagnosis broadly accessible without sacrificing quality of care. I am thrilled to be part of the team that will make it possible.”