Boston-based Rest Devices, maker of baby tracking device Mimo, raised $1.2 million from Experiment Fund, Andy Palmer (Founder of Koa Labs), and Nuland & Arshad, according to an SEC filing. The company will use the money to bring its product to market.
"We are launching sales in mid January as well as bringing two additional products to market and growing our team," cofounder Dulcie Madden told MobiHealthNews.
The two other products her team is working on are "within the smart baby space as well," and will work with the Mimo system, although they are still six months from market.
Rest Device's flagship product, Mimo, is a onesie with a pocket for a sensor, which the company calls the turtle. This sensor checks the baby for breathing, temperature and sleeping patterns. The turtle sensor transfers information to the "lillypad base station," via Bluetooth Smart, which the company says is safe for infants, and the base station will connect to the companion app, available on iOS and Android, using WiFi.
Rest Devices raised $500,000 in the summer of 2011, under the name Nyx Devices, which the company used to bring its core technology beyond the prototype.
"We were looking at design for manufacturing, reliability, durability, everything as well as bringing it into a smart baby monitor suite that we have now," Madden said.
Madden believes Mimo is different from other baby trackers because its positioning on the baby's body helps provide more accurate data and the app can then show parents their baby's different health patterns.
"I think the fact that we are able to store all the data, we can do enhanced analytics, and looking at trends," Madden said. "I think that our form factor, just looking at a onesie, is really relatable and it's also really durable. It can go through as many washes as they'll need over the course of the onesie. And it's soft and cute and organic cotton."
The device launches in January 2014 and will be sold in a package with three Mimo baby body suits, one lilypad base station, and one turtle sensor for $199.
The company used to be known as Nyx Devices, but was rebranded because the name was confusing to consumers, Madden said. As Nyx Devices, the company developed a sensor-embedded sleep shirt for adults, called Somnus Sleep Shirt, and while the company is still working with a few researchers on the shirt, they are mainly focused on Mimo.
"Right now [Mimo is] just a consumer product," Madden said. "The sensors themselves have been tested pretty rigorously, and down the road we'd love to be able to look at a more clinical use, but right now we definitely just want to work with moms and dads who are regular consumers."