# Elemind

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/companies/elemind
Elemind is a Cambridge, Massachusetts startup co-founded by MIT scientists including Ed Boyden. Its headband reads brainwaves and plays sound timed to them, damping the alpha rhythm that keeps people awake.

## In brief

- Launched a $349 headband in June 2024; in a trial 76% of users fell asleep faster, by 48% on average among them.
- Raised $12M; 13 staff at launch; research collaborations with eight universities.
- Unlike EEG headbands that only track, it acts on the brain in real time (closed-loop stimulation).

## Facts

- Headquarters: US
- Status: private
- Raised: $12M
- Frontiers: [Neurotech](https://technooptimist.io/neurotech.md) (Brain-sensing wearables)

## Programs

- [Elemind headband](https://technooptimist.io/neurotech/elemind-headband.md) (Neurotech): Deploy; next: Delta-wave algorithm to enhance deep sleep. On sale since 2024 at $349; deep-sleep and memory features still in research

## Technical approach

- **Phase-locking: Sound timed to each brainwave**: The device estimates where each brain oscillation is in its cycle and times sound bursts to land at a chosen point, to weaken or boost it.
- **Bone conduction: Sound without earbuds**: A bone-conduction driver in the band plays the pink-noise bursts through the skull, comfortable to wear lying down.

## Open problems

- **Evidence beyond small trials** (open): Efficacy data come from a company-linked trial; independent replication in larger groups of insomnia patients is still needed.
- **Other rhythms, other uses** (active research): Targeting slow delta waves to deepen sleep, sharpen memory or raise pain thresholds is being studied but is not a product.

## Latest updates

- **25 Sep 2024**: MIT spinout Elemind ships first sleep headbands to pilot users. Elemind began shipping headbands to a small group of early users in summer 2024 to gather feedback before wider release. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/mit-spinout-elemind-ships-first-sleep-headbands-to-pilot-users-507b2ffd.md) · [original source](https://news.mit.edu/2024/startup-elemind-helps-people-fall-asleep-0925))
- **4 Jun 2024**: Elemind unveils a $349 headband that suppresses alpha brainwaves with timed sound to help users fall asleep. Elemind's first product reads EEG, isolates the 8-12 Hz alpha rhythm and plays pink-noise bursts through a bone-conduction speaker timed to the troughs, suppressing alpha so light sleep can take over. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/elemind-unveils-a-349-headband-that-suppresses-alpha-brainwaves-with-5db18d1b.md) · [original source](https://spectrum.ieee.org/elemind-neuromodulation))

## Funding

| Date | Round | Amount | Post-money | Leads |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2024 | Seed | $12M |   |   |

## Partners, customers and investors

- McGill University (partner): Studies on pain under sedation (with University of Washington) and memory in deep sleep.
- Leuven Brain Institute (partner): Memory consolidation research during deep sleep.

## People

- Meredith Perry, Co-founder and CEO
- Ed Boyden, Co-founder; MIT professor
- David Wang, Co-founder
- Nir Grossman, Co-founder

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