Founded in 2011 by CEO Karl Martin and backed by ten years of research at the University of Toronto, Nymi launched the Nymi Band in 2014. The Nymi Band is a wearable authenticator that uses a wearer’s cardiac rhythm as a biometric identifier and enables continuous presence-based authentication. The device communicates via patented secure Bluetooth and Near Field Communication (NFC) systems. Nymi has recently focused on Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The company closed a US$15m Series B and intends to use the funds to enter the next phase of scaled deployments. It aims to deploy at scale later this year. Bionym develops the Nymi, a wristband that embeds an advanced electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor to authenticate a wearer by matching their heartbeat to a stored profile. Once authenticated the band wirelessly authenticates other devices throughout the day until it is removed, at which point it requires re-authentication. The Nymi is the company’s first product and is currently in the hands of developers, with a consumer launch planned for later this fall. A pre-order campaign has generated over 10,000 orders to date. The company will use the Series A proceeds to hit its ship date and to support ongoing hiring as it grows; Bionym has about 40 employees and was founded in 2011. Strategic partners such as MasterCard, Salesforce Ventures and Export Development Canada see applications for commerce, hospitality and enterprise security, and the company may license its ECG technology beyond its own wearable. Bionym builds Nymi, an ECG heartwave–sensing wristband that authenticates users by matching the shape of their heartwave and sustaining an authenticated state while worn. The device captures ECG data via on‑device sensors, transmits encrypted data over Bluetooth Low Energy, and stores credentials in a hardware secure element to prevent spoofing and tracking. Nymi also includes a gyroscope and accelerometer (6‑axis motion sensing) to enable gesture unlocking and basic activity tracking; the company plans an open-source API/SDK to attract third‑party developers. The companion app is slated for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac OS X, and the device was offered for pre‑order at $79 with early 2014 shipping; battery life is reported at about a week between charges. Bionym positions the product beyond device unlocking toward smart environments and hyper‑personalized experiences. The company was spun out of the University of Toronto and is led by CEO and co‑founder Karl Martin; it closed a CAD$1.4 million seed round reported in the article.

Total raised

$30M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

May 2017