Mountain View, California-based sleep tech company Beddr has closed $5.6 million in Series A funding and unveiled its flagship product, the Beddr SleepTuner. The funding round was led by Three Leaf Ventures, with additional participation from the Stanford-StartX Fund, Delta Dental Washington Seed Fund, IT Farm, and other unnamed individuals.

Beddr CEO and cofounder Michael Kisch told MobiHealthNews that his company will primarily be using the new money to commercialize and push its clinical-grade consumer sleep tracker to market.

“The issue with [consumer sleep devices] is that they’re not really gathering the gold standard data that physicians have relied upon for decades to really understand sleep issues,” Kisch said. “The point of view that we had is that there’s this new approach … that combines the consumer-friendly aspect of sleep trackers backs it up the clinical validity, the regulatory approvals, and the accuracy and precision of a medical device.”

Made available for preorder today, the SleepTuner is a tracker roughly the size of a quarter that is attached to the user’s forehead with one-time use hypoallergenic adhesives (12 of which are included with the device). Along with sleep duration, the device gauges sleep quality by tracking sleeping position, heart rate variance, blood oxygen saturation, and stopped breathing events. The data from its sensors is displayed through the accompanying mobile app, which offers daily sleep quality ratings and user insights.

Kisch said that his company’s team contains a split of consumer product and medical device veterans, an intentional choice when regarding the dual-focused trackers that the company is pitching. To this end, the SleepTuner has been filed with the FDA as a Class 2 device, a process that he and the company “fully expect to be through” in time for the September launch.

“It’s always been our intention that we’re going to do multiple filings with the FDA,” he said. “This first one, we’re considered a Class 2 device that’s called a ‘wellness oximeter.’ So that allows us to measure, display, and present information related to blood oxygen levels, stoppages in breathing, and pulse rate. The ambition of the company is to continue to gather more data and expand the clearances that we’re going to get with the FDA over the course of the next six to eight months. This is really a starting point for us.”

Kisch said that Beddr is primarily targeting consumers with its product, but is also pursuing pilots with self-funded employers as well.

But in some respects, the device was also designed with sleep health practitioners in mind, he continued, as the quality and types of data being collected could be a boon for those treating patients.

“We’re working with some of the leading minds in sleep research and sleep medicine,” Kisch said. “We believe that this is a product that is going to empower individuals to better understand their sleep, but we also view it as a powerful way for the existing sleep medicine community to improve how they are going to be able to deliver care to their patients. And we’ve worked very closely not only on driving the user-centered component of this, but also working with physicians and making sure that this is done in a responsible way that is consistent with how they are practicing medicine at their clinics.”

According to a statement, Beddr also hopes to facilitate access to board-certified sleep physicians, ongoing coaching, and support personalized treatment options in the future.