{"id":42580,"date":"2023-10-20T15:22:15","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/melbourne-startup-nura-raises-200000-in-two-days\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:22:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:22:15","slug":"melbourne-startup-nura-raises-200000-in-two-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/melbourne-startup-nura-raises-200000-in-two-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne startup Nura raises $200,000 in two days"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Nura<\/div>\n

An Australian startup that has created headphones that tune to each listener’s own ears has raised more than $200,000 in just two days through a crowdfunding campaign.<\/p>\n

Nura offers headphones which automatically adapt to the listener\u2019s hearing based on small changes in anatomy from ear to ear. The sound is then personalised for each user.<\/p>\n

Current headphones usually have only one sound profile, though users can edit this through equaliser settings on their device.<\/p>\n

Nura uses a tiny but sensitive microphone to hear not only the sound that enters your ear, but also the very faint sound our ears create, known as otoacoustic emissions.<\/p>\n

Using this data, the headphones automatically calibrate sound levels to suit each individual\u2019s ear structure.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Commercialising the idea<\/h3>\n

The team behind Nura went through the Melbourne Accelerator Program in May last year, where they received initial funding for the product.<\/p>\n

In January this year the team joined the worldwide HAX accelerator, and moved to Shenzhen, China to focus on their product.<\/p>\n

StartupSmart talked to the company\u2019s co-founder and CEO Kyle Slater, who had just finished presenting Nura at HAX\u2019s Demo Day in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Escaping to a corner of the busy demo room, Alex says things are going \u201creally well\u201d for the young tech company.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t lie, it\u2019s a fairly abrupt change being in San Francisco, we\u2019ve just spent the last three and a half months in Shenzhen,\u201d Slater says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s about 400 people here, media, presenters and investors, who we\u2019ve been getting lots of interest from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nura is looking to display its unique technology as more than just high-tech headphones for audiophiles.<\/p>\n

Slater says the product can aid streaming companies optimise their sound by gathering data on how different ears work.<\/p>\n

But for the time being Slater is just focused on the Kickstarter campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt there was a huge population of music lovers, and when you\u2019re buying headphones it can be confusing to know what to get, not to mention expensive,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew that if we could present a solution to that which is far more objective, and actually talk about how people hear, people would get on board.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one really knew it was possible to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nura uses a digital connector to connect with phones instead of the common analog jack, and Slater says there is \u201cno question\u201d that this is the future.<\/p>\n

Dealing with the demand<\/h3>\n

Nura\u2019s initial crowdfunding goal was $100,000, which it quickly hit in just 14 hours, and is currently sitting at just over $200,000.<\/p>\n

Slater says he\u2019s excited about how quickly the project was funded, and isn\u2019t concerned about the thousands of users now waiting for their product.<\/p>\n

The shipping date is set for April 2017, giving Nura just under a year to produce and test its headphones.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a reasonably long shipping date, we put a lot of thought into it and decided April 2017 is when we can deliver,\u201d Slater says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to be one of those Kickstarter companies that doesn\u2019t deliver.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a really strong team, and we\u2019ve over come a lot of the major barriers regarding credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have tried the product and it does exist and it does work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having spent the last three months in China focused solely on the product, Slater says they wouldn\u2019t have launched if they didn\u2019t believe they were ready.<\/p>\n

Many Kickstarter projects introduce stretch goals – new additions or changes to the product are added when the project hits a certain amount of funding.<\/p>\n

Slater says Nura will introduce stretch goals soon, but \u201cnothing that will jeopardise the delivery day\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to focus on what the product is about, no different colours or anything that introduces a risk of us not being able to deliver,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see ourselves as someone that will partner with the music community, they\u2019re the reason our product exists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need them, so we want to do something that benefits the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knowing when to launch<\/h3>\n

For other crowdfunding hopefuls, Slater says the best thing you can do is to go around and show people your product before you launch.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely don\u2019t launch too early unless you have a product you can demonstrate,\u201d Slater says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe honest about your product to your backers, they know it\u2019s your first product and if you\u2019re transparent they will support you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking forward, Slater says Nura is focused on delivering to the first backers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to get side tracked until that\u2019s done,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, Nura hopes to be able to improve the music community overall, using its data to optimise streaming and listening experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s power in understanding how hearing changes, and actually understanding who is connected to the headphones,\u201d Slater says.<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and SoundCloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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