HabitAware, a Minneapolis-based tech startup developing a smart awareness tracker called Keen to stop behaviors like hair pulling, nail biting and skin picking, has been named on Time Magazine's list of Best 2018 Inventions.
Time's list includes 50 total devices in categories such as transportation, toys, sustainability and gadgets. HabitAware was highlighted in the health and wellness category along with six other companies.
Keen, HabitAware's flagship product, helps users pick up on repetitive motions and vibrates when it catches them in the act. This kind of awareness-building is key to kicking compulsions for good. Keen retails for $149 and is on track to pass $1 million in sales this year, Time reports.
HabitAware is led by the husband and wife team of Sameer Kumar, the company’s CEO, and Aneela Idnani Kumar, CMO. Together with their friends Kirk Klobe, CTO and Dr. John Pritchard, lead hardware engineer, they founded the company in January 2016.
Aneela has dealt with trichotillomania, the disorder affiliated with impulse control issues, for more than two decades. She and the rest of the team were motivated to start HabitAware to help others struggling with this disorder.
HabitAware won the 2018 Minnesota Cup last month, beating out 89 other local companies and walking away with combined winnings of more than $80,000.
Earlier this summer, HabitAware was awarded a $300,000 federal research grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to further develop Keen. The company was also one of the first 100 startups to receive investment from Backstage Capital, a Los Angeles, California-based venture capital firm that has been making headlines for its focus on investing in minority entrepreneurs.
