Halma invests in Valencell’s biometric sensors for wearables

Jan 28, 2020, 2:04 pm EST | Luana Pascu

Valencell has obtained a strategic financial investment from Halma and other investors, which will help boost development and innovation for its biometric sensors for medical-grade hearables and wearables, blood pressure technology, and sales growth, the company announced.

Other investors include Sonion, TDF Ventures, GII LLC and WSJ Joshua Fund. Halma will appoint a representative to join the Valencell board of directors.

Valencell has also entered a partnership with SunTech Medical, a company that is part of Halma’s investment portfolio. The two will develop clinical-grade blood pressure solutions augmented with PPG sensor technology.

“Valencell has established a strong position in the convergence of consumer wearables and health & medical devices with advanced sensor technology to measure everything from heart rate to blood pressure,” said Kent Novak, CEO, Valencell. “With Halma leading the investment round, Valencell adds a new strategic partner with a large footprint in the health and medical sector, where Valencell is seeing great traction and opportunity. We look forward to working with our new and existing partners to expand Valencell core technology in the market.”

Valencell reports high global demand for biometric sensor technology, specifically for hearables, hearing aids and other wearables. At CES 2020, It demonstrated its innovative calibration-free blood pressure sensor system for hearables and wearables. The company says its technology has been implemented in over 50 different wearables and hearables available on the market. Valencell has a rich patent portfolio in wearable PPG, including more than 85 granted patents and over 100 patents pending.

According to IDC, “Hearables are the new wearables” with over 273 million hearables estimated to be shipped by 2023, showing 41.3% CAGR from 2019-2023. By 2023, nearly 500 million wearable units are forecast to be shipped.

Last January Apple and Valencell settled a patent infringement and breach of contract suit related to light-guided sensors and methods for acquiring physiological information used in the Apple Watch.