SOND Raises $7M to Launch AI-Powered ‘Dreambuds’ Sleep Tech
SOND, a Boston-based startup led by the former head of Bose’s sleep division, has officially emerged from stealth mode. The company announced Wednesday that it has secured $7 million in funding to bring its debut product, the Dreambuds, to market.
The funding round included backing from E14 Fund, Crosslink Capital, Ubiquity Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Meach Cove Capital, and John Abele, co-founder of Boston Scientific. The company plans to reach mass production by the second quarter of 2026, following a planned crowdfunding campaign.
Active Intervention in Sleep
Unlike traditional sleep earbuds that focus primarily on masking environmental noise with calming audio, SOND’s Dreambuds are designed as a closed-loop system that actively monitors and reacts to physiological data in real time.
The device tracks a wide array of metrics, including:
- Respiration and heart rate variability
- Cardiorespiratory coupling and sleep staging
- Body positioning and snoring
- Seismocardiography (SCG), which measures chest wall vibrations from the heart
AI-Driven Coaching
Collected data is streamed to a cloud-based AI sleep coach. This system learns individual user preferences over time, selecting or generating custom audio programs—such as soundscapes, binaural beats, or guided breathing exercises—to facilitate better sleep.
CEO Yadid Ayzenberg, who previously led the development of Bose’s Sleepbuds 2, founded SOND in February 2022 after Bose exited the sleep wearable market. Ayzenberg and co-founder Amir Lazarovich, a former Google engineering manager, designed the system to function independently of a smartphone.
The Dreambuds charging case acts as the primary hub, featuring Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, an OLED display, and a built-in speaker. This design choice aims to keep phones out of the bedroom, with Ayzenberg noting, “giving an insomniac a phone is like running an AA meeting in a liquor store.” Users interact with the coach via a double-tap gesture on the earbuds, ensuring the AI only engages when explicitly prompted.
The hardware features a distinct aesthetic, with sensors visibly integrated into the exterior of the earbuds rather than hidden. Beyond sleep tracking, the buds include wide-frequency drivers for high-fidelity audio playback. Interested users can currently place reservations on the official SOND website.
