They are using earbuds to measure your heart rate | Erika Bondareva | Auryx | TechBBQ interview

What if the earbuds you already use could also monitor your health? At ‪@TechBBQ‬ , Nectora sat down with Erika Bondareva from Auryx to discuss how her team is building technology that extracts health information from sound. The idea starts with something surprisingly simple: noise-cancelling earbuds already contain microphones pointing into the ear canal. By repurposing those microphones, their technology can listen to signals from the heart, lungs and blood flow and derive metrics such as heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure and cardiac output. But this conversation goes beyond the technology. Erika also shares what it has been like building the company with an academic founding team, raising £1.6M, securing paid pilots, and learning that strong research alone is not enough to build a successful startup. One of the main lessons: start talking to customers as early as possible. Highlights 00:00 — Why sound can reveal more than heart rate 00:47 — Turning everyday earbuds into health sensors 02:16 — Earbuds vs. smartwatches and smart rings 02:49 — Can it work while listening to music? 03:34 — Raising £1.6M with a research-heavy founding team 04:09 — Technology alone is not enough 04:37 — Paid pilots and market validation 05:09 — When should researchers start talking to customers? 05:37 — Building an all-female founding team 06:20 — What comes next Recorded at TechBBQ. Nectora covers founders, investors and technology leaders across the European startup ecosystem. #Nectora #TechBBQ #HealthTech #DeepTech #Wearables #DigitalHealth #Startups #Entrepreneurship