Sonion, a leading provider of micro acoustic, specialty earphones and hearing instruments solutions, and Valencell, the leading innovator in wearable biometric sensor technology, announced a strategic partnership that will increase the limits for the use of biometric sensors in the ear. Valencell’s role in the partnership will be to provide the most advanced biometric sensor modules for hearables and wearables in the industry, which Sonion will optimize for size, power consumption and cost for in-ear and on-ear applications. The companies aim to work together to design, develop and manufacture biometric sensing ear modules for the hearing health, medical, consumer and professional communications markets.
Wearable Technologies reported last month that the collaboration of these two companies raised $10.5M in Series E Funding.
“I am truly excited about the partnership with Valencell,” says Jesper Ahlmann Funding Andersen, President & CEO of Sonion. “We are bringing the best of two worlds together. Biometric sensing is the next big thing for many of our customers, making the ear-level devices truly multi-functional. Joining forces with the global leader in this field – Valencell – brings accuracy and the possibility to add innovative new metrics to the products we develop for our customers, including advanced medical monitoring. We look forward to together setting a new standard for what is possible.”
The markets for hearables and hearing health devices are both predicted to experience a steady growth. According to IDC, the consumer hearables segment will grow at 48% CAGR through 2022, while according to orbisresearch.com, the hearing health market will increase 22% over the same period.
Under the strategic partnership, Sonion will launch an extensive collection of sensor modules for various applications in the ear and Valencell will continue developing its innovative portfolio of advanced and accurate biometric sensor capabilities. As part of the sensor modules, Sonion will integrate its world class balanced armature speakers.
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Using its manufacturing expertise in miniaturized components for ear-based devices, Sonion will be able to reduce the size, cost and power consumption of photoplethysmography (PPG)-based sensors for continuous blood pressure, heart rate, and other medical monitoring and fitness/wellness related functionalities into hearables, hearing aids and other ear-level devices.
About Sonion
Owned by Novo Holdings A/S, Sonion A/S is a global leader in microacoustics and micromechanics for hearing health and other ear-level devices. Headquartered in Roskilde, Denmark, the company employs over 5.500 employees across locations in Denmark, Holland, Poland, USA, China, Vietnam and Philippines.
About Valencell
Valencell, founded in 2006, is a US-based biometric technology company that develops biometric sensor technology for wearables and hearables. The company also provides its patent-protected technology to consumer electronics manufacturers in various industries. Valencell was co-founded by a team of scientists and engineers. Michael Dering is the Chairman, CEO and Dr. Steven LeBoeuf is the President and co-founder. Since inception, the company has won more than $3 million in government grants and has raised more than $35 million in venture funding.
