Interaxon develops the Muse EEG meditation headband and companion software that provides feedback to help users establish and maintain a meditation practice. The company announced a $9.5M Series C and is shifting toward a subscription membership and a hardware-as-a-service approach. A new subscription service is slated to arrive early next year and will include personalized insights and biosensor trend reports based on EEG readings. Interaxon plans to build a global meditation database and develop metrics to give users meaningful insights into brain health and lifestyle factors such as meditation, sleep, alcohol, stress, exercise and diet. The company has also launched an SDK initiative to explore uses of its brain-sensing technology for potential metaverse applications. The product faces a notable barrier to entry with roughly $300 upfront hardware cost, and the recent round was described as modest compared with 2022 standards. Interaxon’s flagship product, Muse, is a brain-sensing headband launched in 2014 that uses EEG sensors to provide real-time audio and visual feedback on a user’s meditative state via Android and iOS apps. The company has driven consumer adoption through retail partnerships with Amazon, Best Buy and others, and has begun offering specialized products for clinical, professional and wellness customers. In 2017 Interaxon licensed its technology to the Safilo Group for athlete eyewear and launched a SaaS product for professional and corporate wellness programs; the VR community is also working to integrate its brain-sensing technology. Interaxon plans to use new capital to expand further into the health and wellness space, release new Muse applications and services, enter tertiary clinician markets, and build out a developer marketplace. The company employs more than 50 people, including neuroscientists and engineers, at its Toronto headquarters and intends to grow the team to accelerate product and platform development. The recent financing positions Interaxon to scale its services-based brain health platform across consumer, professional and clinical segments. InteraXon develops Muse, a head-worn device with seven sensors that detects five bands of brainwave activity (delta, theta, alpha, beta, gamma) and pairs with smartphone apps to train users' attention and reduce stress. Its first app, Calm, guides focused-attention exercises and gives real-time, session, and historical feedback by translating brain signals into wind sounds. Muse is sold direct and through retailers including Best Buy, Bloomingdales, Amazon, and Gaiam, and retails for $299 on the company website. The company ran an Indiegogo campaign in December 2012 that raised $287,000 and showcased the product at CES. InteraXon previously raised $7.2 million in two rounds from Horizon, OMERS Ventures, A-Grade, Felicis Ventures, and ff Venture Capital. According to an SEC filing, the company has raised an additional $11 million, bringing total funding to at least $18.2 million. InteraXon builds Muse, a six-sensor headset that monitors brainwaves for thought-controlled computing. The company positions Muse as leading in brainwave-enabled devices, applications and experiences and has been demoing the headset publicly. Muse is scheduled to launch next year and InteraXon plans to release it alongside a Brain Health System development platform and a brain-fitness application with cognitive exercises. The company says it plans to build numerous other Muse apps and expects developers to take the first version and start building applications immediately. InteraXon previously raised nearly $300,000 on Indiegogo and has now announced a $6 million Series A. CEO Ariel Garten projected it could take about 10 years before robust brain-based computer control is viable and up to 25 years to become a default interaction method.

Total raised

$38M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Series C

Latest activity

Aug 2022