Toronto-based InteraXon, the company behind the brain-sensing headband Muse, announced the close of $6 million dollars in a Series A round of investment yesterday. CEO and Founder Ariel Garten informed BetaKit that the close happened minutes before taking the stage at the Grow Conference in Vancouver.
Investors include Horizons Ventures, OMERS Ventures, A-Grade Investments (the fund put together by Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary, and Ron Burkle), ff Venture Capital, Felicis Ventures, Bridge Builders Collaborative and Harbor Pacific Capital. Garten told BetaKit that this round of funding will go towards manufacturing more units, bringing the product to market, and hiring more employees.
Muse is a sleek and flexible headband with six non-contact EEG sensors built into the loop. The device measures your brainwaves in real-time, then sends this information to your smartphone or tablet, and translates the waves into instructions that allow you to interact with the content on your device.
Since 2007, InteraXon has been building a reputation as a leader in brain computing interface technology. In 2012, they nearly doubled their funding goal on crowdfunding site Indiegogo, totaling just over $280,000. Since the project, InteraXon has been working hard to modify the fit on the device to ensure it’s extremely comfortable and easy to wear.
Right now, Muse’s applications are primarily focusing on things like brain health, fitness and stress management. However, the devices ability to measure brainwaves really paves the way to be able to control any smart object as we move further and further into the ‘Internet of Things’ era. There has already been interest in using Muse for home automation, gaming and even being able to control drones and robots with your mind. It’ll be up to the development community to use Muse’s SDK to make this happen.
InteraXon expects to start shipping Muse later this year or early 2014. They are currently accepting pre-orders at a price of $199 USD which will be going up to $249 after September 3, 2013.
We’ve got the original Indiegogo video for you to watch below.