Michael Barbella, Managing Editor02.23.23
Sonde Health is $19.25 million in the black, having raised Series B funding led by Partners Investment, with participation from NEOM Company, KT Corporation, and existing investors, including co-founder PureTech Health and M Ventures. The company has raised $35.25 million in total and will use the funding to drive its global commercial growth, deepen its respiratory and mental health monitoring technologies, and build capabilities for additional health conditions.
"Digital biomarkers are becoming a mainstay in healthcare. Today's healthcare companies are realizing how vocal biomarkers can engage people earlier in their health. The data and insights found in voice can power health monitoring and patient stratification so issues can become apparent well before a costly medical event occurs," Sonde Health CEO David Liu said. "With voice and any listening device, accessible and effective health monitoring can be made available to the majority of the world."
Sonde claims to have the largest and most diverse health-labeled voice dataset with more than 1.2 million voice samples from over 85,000 subjects on four continents. Sonde is the only vocal biomarker company to offer AI/machine learning-based monitoring products for multiple health conditions and to have developed the ability to embed its technology into device chipsets for passive and safe health monitoring through voice.
Sonde provides its enterprise vocal biomarker technology to companies across several health verticals, including telehealth, pharmaceutical, remote patient monitoring, and consumer/medical devices. Sonde licenses its platform to customers globally in two ways:
Health Checks
Sonde’s latest funding round follows a stream of new and expanded commercial partnerships to accelerate development and adoption of vocal biomarkers worldwide. KT Corporation, one of the world’s leading telecom companies, recently announced it will be working commercially with Sonde to advance its voice-based businesses, including its call centers and AI voice assistants for health monitoring. It will also deploy Sonde’s technology for applications in digital therapeutics and telemedicine in Asia.
GN Group will integrate Sonde’s Mental Fitness vocal biomarker into its hearing products. The company is already working with Sonde to develop an MCI vocal biomarker. Qualcomm, which has already integrated Sonde’s vocal biomarkers into its mobile device chipsets, has extended the relationship to include its wearable chipsets. Koye Pharmaceuticals, which had already engaged Sonde to develop a COPD vocal biomarker, has expanded the partnership to develop a novel mental health vocal biomarker for deployment in India.
Sonde develops voice-based health monitoring. It serves top health companies, providers, pharmaceutical, and medical device OEMs through its vocal biomarker platform. Sonde uses advanced audio signal processing, speech science, and AI/machine learning to sense and analyze subtle vocal changes due to changes in a person’s physiology to provide key insights into health and well-being.
Partners Investment is a Seoul-based venture capital firm founded in 2000 investing in breakthrough technologies in healthcare and therapeutics in Korea, North America, Europe, and China.
"Digital biomarkers are becoming a mainstay in healthcare. Today's healthcare companies are realizing how vocal biomarkers can engage people earlier in their health. The data and insights found in voice can power health monitoring and patient stratification so issues can become apparent well before a costly medical event occurs," Sonde Health CEO David Liu said. "With voice and any listening device, accessible and effective health monitoring can be made available to the majority of the world."
Sonde claims to have the largest and most diverse health-labeled voice dataset with more than 1.2 million voice samples from over 85,000 subjects on four continents. Sonde is the only vocal biomarker company to offer AI/machine learning-based monitoring products for multiple health conditions and to have developed the ability to embed its technology into device chipsets for passive and safe health monitoring through voice.
Sonde provides its enterprise vocal biomarker technology to companies across several health verticals, including telehealth, pharmaceutical, remote patient monitoring, and consumer/medical devices. Sonde licenses its platform to customers globally in two ways:
Health Checks
- Respiratory Fitness: Sonde’s platform can detect and monitor respiratory health conditions, like asthma, from six seconds of voice. Patients are engaging with Sonde’s respiratory fitness health checks twice weekly.
- Mental Fitness: Sonde’s platform can detect and monitor evidence of depression and anxiety from 30 seconds of voice. Patients are engaging with Sonde’s mental fitness health checks three times per week.
- MCI, COPD, General Health: Sonde is developing novel vocal biomarkers using its proprietary “research-build-validation” methodology with clinical partners.
Sonde’s latest funding round follows a stream of new and expanded commercial partnerships to accelerate development and adoption of vocal biomarkers worldwide. KT Corporation, one of the world’s leading telecom companies, recently announced it will be working commercially with Sonde to advance its voice-based businesses, including its call centers and AI voice assistants for health monitoring. It will also deploy Sonde’s technology for applications in digital therapeutics and telemedicine in Asia.
GN Group will integrate Sonde’s Mental Fitness vocal biomarker into its hearing products. The company is already working with Sonde to develop an MCI vocal biomarker. Qualcomm, which has already integrated Sonde’s vocal biomarkers into its mobile device chipsets, has extended the relationship to include its wearable chipsets. Koye Pharmaceuticals, which had already engaged Sonde to develop a COPD vocal biomarker, has expanded the partnership to develop a novel mental health vocal biomarker for deployment in India.
Sonde develops voice-based health monitoring. It serves top health companies, providers, pharmaceutical, and medical device OEMs through its vocal biomarker platform. Sonde uses advanced audio signal processing, speech science, and AI/machine learning to sense and analyze subtle vocal changes due to changes in a person’s physiology to provide key insights into health and well-being.
Partners Investment is a Seoul-based venture capital firm founded in 2000 investing in breakthrough technologies in healthcare and therapeutics in Korea, North America, Europe, and China.