Valencell Sees Third Consecutive Year of Triple Digit Growth

RALEIGH, N.C., Dec. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Valencell, the leading innovator in performance biometric sensor technology, announced today it has seen a third consecutive year of triple digit growth for its PerformTek^® biometric sensor technology in 2016 with a 360 percent increase in companies who have acquired Valencell technology over last year. This increase was driven by sales of its wrist and ear Benchmark™ sensor systems, as well as robust interest in its technology for hearables for fitness and healthcare applications.

Ten new Valencell-powered products came to market in 2016, many of them hearables, including the Bose SoundSport Pulse, Jabra Elite Sport, Jabra Sport Pulse Special Edition, and the FIIL Carat Pro, which are all wireless earbud devices. Valencell also continues to provide patent licenses to a broad range of innovative and exciting companies. In all, there are 17 Valencell-powered products currently in the market, with a strong pipeline of additional products scheduled to launch in 2017.

Additionally, the Company announced that it has seen a 35 percent growth in granted patents in 2016, with 10 new patents added this year. Valencell has a highly-cited patent portfolio in optical biometric sensor technology in the wearables and hearables industry, which now includes 39 patents granted and more than 90 additional patents pending.

Valencell's growth has outpaced the worldwide wearables market, which recently recorded its tenth consecutive quarter of steady growth. According to IDC, vendors shipped a total of 22.5 million wearables in the second quarter of 2016 alone – a 26.1 percent increase from the same quarter last year. Growth is particularly strong in the global hearables device market, which industry experts believe will surpass $40 billion by 2020. In addition, the market for wearable medical devices is expected to reach $17.8B by 2021.

The surge in hearable devices is driven by strong brand names and advancements in wearables technology, including new "true wireless technology", smaller and more accurate biometric sensors, improved battery life, and the use case alignment of listening to music while desiring fitness feedback and training.   

"This year we saw the market for hearable devices take off, particularly in the sports and fitness market, where consumers are frustrated with the user experience and accuracy of low-performance wrist-worn devices and looking for high-performance wearables and hearables in form factors that better fit their lifestyles," said Dr. Steven LeBoeuf, president and co-founder of Valencell. "The marketplace has discovered how combining Valencell's accurate sensor technology with compelling audio experiences can drive consumer interest and engagement. Consumers use audio earbuds during exercise far more often than wrist-worn fitness trackers, and the combination of new wearable technologies has made the dream of seamless audio sport computers a reality."

The emerging market for mobile health/medical wearables has also been gravitating towards hearables.

"We have been a bit surprised that most of the market pull for mobile health wearables is coming from companies interested in ear-worn products," said LeBoeuf. "Because the ear location can be employed to measure more biometrics more accurately than for the wrist location, most of Valencell's medical collaborations have focused on small earpieces that can be worn 24/7."

Valencell's PerformTek sensor systems provide accurate, robust and flexible technology, powering more biometric hearables and wearables on the market than any other company, at the ear, arm, and wrist. The technology gives wearable devices the ability to continuously and accurately measure blood flow signals, even during extreme physical activity or when the optical signals are weak. These signals can be translated into biometric data, including continuous heart rate, VO₂ and VO₂ max, resting heart rate, heart rate response, heart rate recovery, continuous energy expenditure (calorie burn), cardiac efficiency and heart rate variability assessments.

Valencell provides its biometric sensor technology through it Benchmark sensor system, a turnkey biometric sensor system with the complete PerformTek technology package ready for immediate integration into wearable and hearable devices. Valencell also offers product licensing and patent licensing, to enable customers to create custom-designed biometric hearable and wearable devices.

The accuracy of Valencell's PerformTek technology has been independently validated by numerous research institutions, including Duke University, NC State University, and the American College of Sports Medicine.

Valencell's PerformTek technology is the choice of popular consumer electronics brands, including Bose, Sony, LG, Intel/SMS Audio, Jabra, and Scosche, among numerous others. To learn more about acquiring Valencell technology, visit valencell.com/access.

Valencell will be showcasing its highly accurate PerformTek biometric sensor technology in Tech West, Sands Expo, Level 2, booth #44330 at CES^® 2017, taking place in Las Vegas from January 5-8. To arrange a briefing, please contact: [email protected].

About Valencell
Valencell develops performance biometric sensor technology and provides this patent-protected technology to consumer electronics manufacturers, wearable and hearable device makers, sports and fitness brands, medical device makers, and gaming companies for integration into their products. Valencell's PerformTek^® biometric sensor technology employs active signal characterization, the process of segmenting raw signal data from biometric sensors into biological, motion, and environmental signals and noise. Valencell has invested years into the research and development of its PerformTek sensor technology, protected by dozens of granted patents and independently validated by the Duke Center for Living, North Carolina State University, the Human Performance Laboratory and a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.

SOURCE Valencell

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