Belgium-based Sunrise, developer of a chin patch home sleep test, has welcomed an additional aggregate investment of $6 million from Amazon’s Alexa Fund and French healthcare investor UI-Investissement, for a total of $24 million raised this year.
This new funding enables Sunrise to expand its reach further, making sleep diagnostics more accessible and personalized, according to Sunrise CEO Laurent Martinot. “This funding round is a vote of confidence, not just in Sunrise, but in the universal need for better sleep health solutions,” says Martinot in a release.
Sunrise has secured US Food and Drug Administration clearance in the United States, a renewed CE certification in Europe, and the 2022 SleepTech Award from the National Sleep Foundation.
Sunrise’s approach to sleep monitoring centers around mandibular jaw movements. Much like the diaphragm supports breathing during sleep, the jaw also plays a key role. By focusing on these jaw movements, Sunrise delivers a high-precision tool for sleep diagnosis. And all it takes is an eight-gram sensor placed on the chin.
Sunrise also measures respiratory effort. This allows for the distinction between central and obstructive sleep apnea. It also offers new metrics like respiratory effort burden, linked to fatigue, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension.
“Sleep disorders are a global concern, and we’re proud to be an investor in Sunrise and support their innovative approach to aid in the diagnosis of sleep-related breathing disorders,” says Paul Bernard, director of the Alexa Fund, in a release. “Their technology, designed for multi-night testing that leverages key sleep metrics, has the potential to redefine sleep apnea diagnosis and care for millions of people suffering from sleep disorders worldwide.”
