After 37 years serving in the U.S. Army, Wilmington resident Rob Cooley has trouble sleeping at night—and he said he’s tried every remedy there is, to no avail.
But retiring from the army gave Cooley plenty of time to build neuro data science startup Nuream, where he is working toward a sleep improvement product that collects brain waves to generate sleep data.
“I can’t sleep. More than half of Americans say they can’t sleep. Two-thirds of our war fighters and first responders can’t sleep. And so we’ve got to do something different,” Cooley said.
The current “gold standard” for tracking sleep data is a device called an electroencephalogram, which sits on a patient’s head and tracks brain waves via sensors glued to the head—an impractical solution for gathering night-to-night sleep data. As an alternative, Nuream will offer “fabric-as-a-sensor” technology, whereby sensors to detect brain waves are embedded inside the fabric of pillowcases, t-shirts, and wristbands.
Cooley said this type of technology enables Nuream to “meet the human where they are,” incorporating sensors into items most people are already using.
Fabric-as-a-sensor explained
Each night, the sensors will collect brain wave data to categorize sleep stages and document sleep disturbances. The information will be computed in the cloud and returned to the user’s device by the time they wake up.
Each user accesses their data with their “neural fingerprint”—a pattern of brain activity that is unique to an individual. This identification is then removed for Nuream to track and share the data. Users can choose who has access to their sleep data (such as a spouse or doctor).
Cooley said that although the t-shirt is further from the head, it covers more surface area on the body and collects electrical stimuli with a compression fit. Similarly, the wristband collects data from not only the back of the accessory—as is the case with a Fitbit or Garmin watch—but from the actual band material that goes around the wrist.
“We’re really a movement,” Cooley said. “We want to use information to fundamentally change lives, and we’re going to fundamentally change lives first by improving sleep. And if you improve sleep, the downstream effects of more restorative sleep are amazing.”
Nuream moving forward
In addition to analyzing the data to improve sleep habits, the data can also be used to flag concerns of potential neurological disease—such as epilepsy or Alzheimer’s—or the onset of mental health disorders. Nuream partners with Elpis Alliance for Veterans, an organization working to stop veteran suicide, as Nuream will use neuro data to identify suicidal ideations.
Nuream has also partnered with UNC-Wilmington, where researchers are conducting data analysis studies for the first prototypes. Cooley has lived in and out of the area since about 1996, and as another entrepreneurial endeavor, he currently owns a beer and wine store in Wilmington.
To date, Nuream has fundraised $790K with a ceiling of $2M. Cooley said he is actively looking for investors in this pre-seed stage.
QUICK BITS
Startup: Nuream
Co-Founders: Rob Cooley (CEO), Nathan Munton, Lauren Munton
Founded: 2023
Team size: 3
Location: Wilmington, NC
Website: www.nuream.com
Funding: seeking pre-seed investors
Nuream’s revenue model includes physical product sales in addition to a SaaS model. The startup will also sell users’ data to academic entities, marketing firms and other customers who can utilize the sleep data for their own research. Ultimately, Cooley said he hopes to expand to health insurance companies, where eventually doctors can prescribe the device to patients.
Currently, Nuream sells mattresses, bed bases, pillows and bed linens. These are not the “fabric-as-a-sensor” products, but Cooley said they are of the “highest quality” and “scientifically engineered” to improve sleep quality.
“Everybody’s involved on the Nuream team to really change lives for the better,” Cooley said.
