Photonics experiment in a lab. Image: Science Photo/Shutterstock
Breakthrough wearable technology from Think Biosolution could be a game-changer for professional athletes and popular sports brands.
Dublin-based start-up Think Biosolution has been declared one of four companies to win the first round of Luminate NY, one of the world’s largest optical and photonics accelerators.
Think Biosolution, a previous Siliconrepublic.com Start-up of the Week, is an original design manufacturer that has created privately labelled wearable devices and customised software using QuasaR sensor technology for telemedicine platforms, professional athlete monitoring platforms and sports brands.
The QuasaR device allows users to track up to seven different health and fitness parameters (the maximum number of parameters a single wearable device can currently track) with the ease and price point of a wristband-based activity tracker.
The award comes with an additional $250,000 investment, which is part of Think Biosolution’s $1.5m Series A round.
“The Series A round will help Think Biosolution scale up manufacturing and go to market by Q1 2019,” explained CEO Shourjya Sanyal.
Think Biosolution previously raised €350,000 in a seed round from NDRC (Dublin), Luminate (New York) and University of Reno (Nevada), and currently employs four full-time staff.
Shining a light on photonics
Luminate NY, which is administered by NextCorps, is the world’s largest business accelerator for start-up firms in the optics, photonics and imaging OPI industries.
Double Helix Optics garnered the grand prize for its light-engineering technology. Its 3D nano-imaging module, Spindle, seamlessly integrates with existing microscopes, cameras and other optical instruments to turn 2D imaging into 3D information capture.
Intelon Optics was awarded the second-place prize of $500,000 for its Brillouin Optical Scanner System (BOSS), which uses laser light to measure the biomechanics or stiffness of tissues inside the body.
Positive Science was named third-place winner, securing $250,000 for its head-mounted eye tracking and behavioural analysis systems.
Fourth place was awarded to Think Biosolution, which received $250,000 for its wearable devices and software platforms using QuasaR technology to measure users’ heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen saturation, heart rate variability, temperature, movement and location.
The Audience Choice award for $10,000 went to Molecular Glasses for its creation of a new class of materials capable of reducing power consumption in mobile applications, providing higher display resolution and reducing costs by enabling lower-cost manufacturing processes.
