Awarables, Inc.

Awarables, Inc. operates at the intersection of consumer electronics and clinical assessment, developing tools to evaluate sleep quality within a home environment. The company was co-founded by Madhvi Upender, PhD, who serves as CEO, Gilmer Blankenship, PhD, the Chief Science Officer, and Raghu Upender, MD, the Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Madhvi Upender brings expertise in clinical diagnostics and neuroscience, having previously co-founded and successfully exited a clinical diagnostics company. Dr. Blankenship is a professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Maryland, while Dr. Raghu Upender is a neurologist with a certification in Sleep Medicine.

The firm is developing the Awarables Sleep Analytics System, a platform designed to provide comprehensive sleep analysis outside of a traditional lab setting. This system utilizes small, wearable wireless sensors to capture biometric data. The product aims to measure multiple variables typically monitored in an overnight sleep lab study, including heart rate, light, temperature, and even snoring via a microphone. This data is then processed through algorithms on a smartphone to compute the user's sleep architecture. The company initially focused on serving children and their families, particularly those affected by ADHD and autism spectrum disorder.

Awarables also incorporated an imaging device called SONOSA, which functions as an ultrasound for the airway to detect sleep apnea, a condition where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. This combination of wearable sensor technology and airway imaging allows the company to provide data that can be used clinically by doctors to diagnose and manage sleep disorders. The business model is centered on providing these tools to consumers and clinicians to identify sleep issues and support treatment. The company has received funding through grants from the National Science Foundation and a seed investment from the Abell Foundation, totaling over $500,000. Following the Abell Foundation investment in 2016, the company relocated its operations from College Park to Baltimore.

Keywords: sleep analytics, wearable sensors, sleep quality monitoring, home sleep assessment, sleep disorders, clinical diagnostics, biometric data, sleep medicine, sleep apnea detection, SONOSA, ADHD sleep, autism sleep, mobile health, neuroscience, physiological monitoring, medical device, Jeffrey Wolf, Madhvi Upender, Gilmer Blankenship, Raghu Upender