Dr. Dustin Freckleton and the other co-founders of Austin-based Happy Health Inc. — including Tinder co-founder Sean Rad — are ready put their young startup into overdrive, thanks in part to a $60 million series A funding round. A product launch and big hiring plans are in the works.
The product: A high tech ring that detects stress and helps the wearer reduce it.
Though the series A round was just disclosed, Happy Health actually raised the funds in early 2020, with the majority of it being funneled into research and development. The round was led by ARCH Venture Partners.
Entrepreneurs Freckleton and Rad noticed they were absorbing a lot of stress from work, so they collaborated in making a ring that measures stress levels and offers user ideas to unwind. The two met when Rad invested in Freckleton's previous company, LVL, and became friends through the process.
In addition to Rad and Freckleton, other co-founders of Happy Health include Sue Smalley, Paul Berns and Robert Nelsen.
The Happy Ring monitors stress levels on a scale of 0-100 then gives suggestions on how to de-stress, such as meditation or breathing exercises, Freckleton said. The user will see which techniques are most helpful through biofeedback.
"Hardware is hard in general — hardware that is fully custom is even harder," Freckleton said.
Years ago, Freckleton struggled with health issues, having a stroke when he was 24 years old as a first-year medical student. The dehydration-caused stroke led him to his first startup, which developed a wearable device that measured a person's hydration levels. LVL was eventually acquired.
This time, Freckleton has significant financial backing to realize his vision. The same concept exists in other products, including the Oura ring, but Freckleton said his company’s ring differs as it uses custom sensors unavailable in other device.
Happy Health will open the waitlist for the ring on Aug. 24 and plans to ship the product out in the coming months.
"I think there's a lot to be said of learning and building on experience and being able to deliver unique value," Freckleton said. "And I think that's what we're doing here by not just trying to build a 'me too' product. But something that really addresses an untapped need, which is focusing on the mind."
A study comparing the Happy Ring with similar technologies was published in June through the National Library of Medicine. It concluded that the "Happy Ring performed well at home and in the lab, especially regarding sleep/wake detection. The personalized algorithm demonstrated improved detection accuracy over the generalized approach and other devices, suggesting that adaptable, dynamic algorithms can enhance sleep detection accuracy."
Although projects of this nature take large sums of capital, the company has paused fundraising efforts and shifted gears toward the launch of the ring. As the company continues to grow, it will seek other investors, Freckleton said.
The company is also focused on navigating complicated supply chains, which are unlike anything Freckleton has seen before, with global shortages and disruptions that have forced some companies to shutter or stop new product development.
Happy Health has 40 employees with 13 located in Austin, including its core leadership. Executives aim to grow its customer support, sales and marketing teams. The exact number of new hires needed is difficult to gauge, as it will be driven by demand, Freckleton said.
"Given strong interest, we expect this will require significant team growth starting in late 2022," he said. "But exact numbers and speed are hard to estimate."
