Dreem, the US-based developer of an electronic sleep aid, has raised $35m in a funding round co-led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, the corporate venturing division of pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson.
French state-owned investment bank Bpifrance co-led the round with Johnson & Johnson.
Founded in 2014 as Rythm, Dreem is the creator of a headband (pictured) that monitors the wearer’s brain activity at night using EEG electrodes, utilising precisely timed auditory stimulation to help the user fall asleep more quickly and enjoy deeper sleep.
The use of sound stimulation as a way of improving sleep is based on research by Jan Born, a professor at the Institute for Medical Psychology and Behavioural Neurobiology at Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen.
The money will allow Dreem to bring its technology to international markets and continue research and development activities in a bid to make the headband as accessible and discreet as possible. It will also recruit additional staff.
Dreem had previously disclosed a total of $22m in funding from insurance provider Maif and angel investors Xavier Niel and Laurent Alexandre in June 2017. Niel and Alexandre were also among the backers that invested $11m in the company in early 2016.
– Photo courtesy of Dreem.