Becoming Australia’s most successful Kickstarter project in 2016, nura has closed a $21 million Series A round led by existing backer Blackbird Ventures to push the rollout of its flagship product, the nuraphone.
According to the startup, the round was oversubscribed: it had announced a $15 million raise in August, however raised a further $6 million due to “strong interest”.
Founded in Melbourne by Luke Campbell and Dragan Petrovic, the nuraphone works by monitoring otoacoustic emissions, or tiny tones the ear generates in response to sound, to create a unique ‘hearing profile’ for a user, ensuring that the sound is always perfectly adapted to match their ears.
The company received over $1.8 million on Kickstarter from consumers in almost 90 countries before raising $6 million in seed funding last year.
The fresh round, which saw participation from investors including AirTree Ventures, SOS Ventures, and Qualgro Investments, will go towards further development of both the nuraphone and the startup’s software, and growing sales.
Having partnered with Amazon earlier this year, nura has also expanded into physical stores across 20 countries.
Dragan Petrovic, CEO of nura, said that while the startup knew its technology was “revolutionary”, the momentum it has seen since launch has been “truly exceptional”.
“We are proud to welcome back our existing investors and see their continued support in our vision to deliver perfect sound to every individual,” he said.
“Most importantly, we are proud to demonstrate that Australian startups can take on an industry dominated by the tall poppies of the world and bring new innovation to technology in the service of music. This is just the start for nura, and we look forward to the next stage of growth and innovation.”
Nick Crocker, partner at Blackbird Ventures, said the firm is “thrilled” to continue its journey with the startup.
“What they’ve achieved so far is nothing short of remarkable. From an office above a wedding shop in Brunswick, the team has shipped the best sounding headphones ever made,” he said.
“People all over the world love nura, and we’re only in the infancy of our journey. Dragan and Luke lead a wonderful team, with an obsession for product that’s truly world class.”
Also playing in this space is Brisbane startup Audeara, which raised over $466,000 on Kickstarter last year to produce its headphones that tailor sound to a user’s ears.
Image: Luke Campbell, Dragan Petrovic, Nick Crocker. Source: Supplied.
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