How sensor maker ​Qualtré could help both Parkinson's patients and farmers

Dec 23, 2014, 7:24am EST

Qualtré Inc., a Marlborough-based maker of motion sensors, said last week that it raised $9 million in funding from two strategic partners, including Tokyo-based Alps Electric, along with current investors, Matrix Partners and Pilot House Ventures.

Qualtré, which has raised $45 million in total funding, said it would use the new funding to expand its sales and marketing team, scale operations, and extend product development as the company supports new customers and additional applications.

The company specializes in sensors for industrial and high-end consumer applications that are more precise and more affordable than ones from competitors, according to Qualtre CEO Edgar Masri. Masri said Qualtré currently has a dozen beta customers right now who are testing its product. The final product will be released in January, Masri said.

The industrial side of the company focuses on the agriculture industry, for example providing sensors for tractors to help farmers better harvest crops.

Masri said the high-end consumer part of the business would be focused on incorporating the sensors into wearables in the medical and sports fields. In the medical field, for example, Masri said there is "a great need for sensors that can detect Parkinson's patients' tremors, measure them and administer medication accordingly."

In the sports field, the technology could be used to accurately measure the throw of a baseball player. Other applications including incorporating the technology into motorcycles to help adjust headlights depending on the angle of the motorcycle and working it into cameras to help with image stabilization.

Founded in 2008 by CTO Farrokh Ayazi, Qualtré's technology is built on years of research conducted at Georgia Institute of Technology's Integrated MEMS Laboratory, the same school where Ayazi, an author of more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications and who holds 12 issued patents, was professor at the Georgia Tech's, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The company currently has 30 employees and has plans to add another 10 workers in the next year, Masri said.

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