For nearly two years now,
Eccrine Systems LLC has been in the business of perfecting and commercializing a technology, trademarked "Sweatronics," that uses human sweat as a data-generating tool. Its efforts got a boost last week with the announcement of $1.5 million in seed funding.
With technology developed and licensed at the
University of Cincinnati, Eccrine Systems uses disposable electronic patches to collect biomarker data. Co-founder of the company and lead researcher on the topic, Jason Heikenfeld sees sweat as "best non-invasive fluid source for secure, real-time monitoring of human physiological function or dysfunction."
Contrary to what some may imagine, the "Sweatronics" platform doesn't involve a wearable. Eccrine Systems is less concerned with making this a consumer product and more concerned with the data-gathering potential this technology has in store.
"Our efforts are aimed at specialized and regulated medical and business markets that expect proof of data accuracy and chronological assurance," says Robert Beech, Eccrine's co-founder. “There are very large opportunities in areas such as medication adherence, clinical trials management, industrial safety, medical diagnostics, treatment effectiveness, nutrition support and elite performance optimization."
The $1.5 million in funding comes from a variety of investors, though the majority of the funding traces back to
CincyTech and their partners. The seed-stage investor sees incredible potential for Eccrine's technology.
“The implications for real-time trending and interpretation of sweat biomarkers, derived from very tiny amounts of sweat captured under a small electronic patch, are profound,” says CincyTech's Mike Venerable.
In turn, the Eccrine team hopes to benefit from CincyTech's market savvy to further promote their product.
As for the future of the company, the options are many.
"We foresee many high value applications for our Sweatronics platform across medicine, industry and sport," says Heikenfeld.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.