The Boston-based company, which was founded in 2015, has raised US$ 19 million for its technology that uses brief voice recordings to reveal the progression of health conditions. Sonde announced a new partnership with chip manufacturing giant Qualcomm that could potentially bring the technology to millions of smartphones, which could prove a crucial test of whether its tech is ready for prime time.
Sonde’s technology – based on more than one million voice samples from 80,000 people – uses subtle characteristics of voice collected for this purpose to determine that you may have a medical condition. It claims the technology can be used to detect symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and Covid-19, as well as characteristics of what it calls mental fitness.
Sonde’s new partnership could help the startup reach a far broader audience by integrating its technology directly into Qualcomm 888 and 778 5G chips that will be used in mid-range and top-tier phones from leading manufacturers toward the end of this year and in 2022. Several devices using the 888, including phones from Samsung and Sony, have already shipped, and Sonde’s capability will be available to them as well. The recently announced 888+ will also have Sonde capabilities when released.