Nirva raises $33M for a pendant that only listens to you

Ambient AI is having a moment. Amazon launched a caller wrist-worn device with Bee; a erstwhile Plaud exec launched ambient apps done a startup called Ambi, which aims to besides physique its ain hardware; and Apple launched Voice Intelligence features during its iPhone motorboat successful September. Now, a institution called Nirva is betting connected a jewelry-like pendant and its quality to perceive lone to the wearer.

The startup contiguous announced a caller $25 cardinal pre-Series A round, adding to the $8 cardinal it raised earlier successful the twelvemonth from investors similar Lightspeed and South Park Commons, bringing its full rise to $33 million.

Nirva was founded successful 2025 by 2 erstwhile Meta Reality Labs employees, Wei Lyu and Jason Chen, on with Hanying Hu, who founded a manner and jewelry brand.

The company’s archetypal instrumentality is simply a pendant, which tin besides beryllium worn arsenic a bracelet. The instrumentality weighs lone astir 8 grams, making it casual to deterioration each day. Its artillery lasts up to 3 days connected a azygous charge.

Longer term, Nirva aims to merchandise much devices.

Image Credits:Nirva

In a telephone with TechCrunch, Nirva CEO Lyu said that the institution wanted to physique a wearable that blends successful with fashion, but besides provides worth to users.

“This is simply a portion of jewelry that lone focuses connected listening to your ain speech. We are not similar a dependable recorder oregon similar a gathering enactment taker. One cardinal quality betwixt us, Taya, Vocci, oregon Sandbar Ring is that we’re ever passively listening to your ain speech. So it’s ever on. It keeps modeling the idiosyncratic and modeling your mind,” Lyu said.

For ambient devices, privateness is simply a large question, arsenic radical mightiness not similar to beryllium recorded each the time. Plus, devices similar the Ray-Ban Meta person instilled fearfulness successful those who are astir the idiosyncratic wearing the astute glasses that they are being recorded too.

Nirva gets astir this occupation by asking users to grounds snippets of their dependable during onboarding and gathering its exemplary based connected that. During use, the instrumentality filters retired conversations oregon information captured from the different radical astir the device. That means it’s lone signaling the wearer.

In addition, Nirva by default doesn’t support immoderate audio information oregon transcripts aft processing the conversations.

Nirva is positioning itself arsenic a idiosyncratic insights institution alternatively than a productivity startup. However, its app shows you reminders oregon enactment items and ways to enactment connected them. Lyu said that done its app, the startup wants to assistance users amusement up for others successful a amended mode successful their lives.

“I deliberation there’s nary cosmopolitan mode to assistance everyone to lick their problems. We are gathering a instrumentality to assistance radical to amended their self-understanding, self-compassion, and self-awareness,” Lyu said.

Image Credits: NirvaImage Credits:Nirva

The companion app parses users’ code and creates insights that it infers are related to the user’s personality, including patterns, the radical who thin to beryllium astir them, the places they’ve been to, and different regular notes. Lyu emphasized that the app shows users insights astir their emotions, connection style, and ways they tin improve.

Wyu gave an illustration of an incidental erstwhile she forgot to convey her parent for something, and the app aboriginal nudged her with a reminder astir this.

The institution besides said that, earlier it discards the audio, it’s capable to way the tone, pitch, volume, and speed, which are utile for deriving emotion-related understandings that are past surfaced successful the app.

Nirva volition commencement taking orders for its devices successful November, with an purpose to vessel them to aboriginal users by the extremity of the year. The $249 instrumentality volition beryllium disposable successful silver, brushed silver, black, and gold.

The startup has contention successful the AI wearables area. There are companies similar erstwhile Apple employees’ Taya, which is besides gathering intelligent jewelry. Plus, startups similar Friend and Bee are trying to beryllium companion gadgets arsenic well.