Neumitra, a startup founded by neuroscientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has a big vision: It wants to help everyone stress less, no small feat in this turbo-charged world. The first step it’s making toward that aim is an app called “bandu,” which monitors your body’s stress levels through a wearable watch and alerts you through a mobile app as to when you should take a step back and try to relax.
The company has already gotten some strong traction in recent days: After presenting onstage at the DEMO conference this week Neumitra snagged a ‘Gods’ award, and my colleague Rip Empson named Neumitra one of the 14 “most interesting startups” out of all 77 companies that presented in this latest DEMO class. Neumitra is also part of the Boston 2012 batch of the RockHealth startup accelerator.
But the momentum doesn’t stop there. Neumitra co-founder Robert Goldberg tells TechCrunch exclusively that the company has secured seed funding from the founders of Yahoo and Boston Scientific — Ash Patel’s Morado Ventures and John Abele, respectively. The company is not disclosing the amount that has been invested, since Neumitra is also promoting an IndieGoGo campaign at the moment to raise $250,000 to pay for its first production round. You can read more about the efforts at www.stressfriend.com. People who donate $189 or more get a bandu device of their own.
Neumitra, which has a staff of 10 people, is headquartered in Boston. But Goldberg was in the San Francisco area this week for the DEMO presentation, so we were happy to have him swing by TechCrunch TV to give us a first-hand look at bandu up close and personal and talk a bit more about the company’s new funding and its larger aims. Watch the video embedded above to see that.