Choose your mood. Image: Thync Instagram.
Silicon Valley based startup Thync, which creates wearable devices for controlling the mood opened an R&D office in Dnipro (Dnepr), where Ukrainian software developers build Thync mobile application.
The company was founded in 2011 by Isy Goldwasser and Jamie Tyler with the headquarters in Los Gatos, California. They created a device that can change person’s mood by calming or energizing him or her.
Thync kit is made up of three components: module, strips and app. The module is attached to the user’s forehead while the strips are placed on the back of his neck. Thync generates electricity impulses that target nerves on the face and neck. The nerves modulate some hormones which produce two effects - or “vibes” - of calm or energy. The user can select and control Thync vibes via a mobile application. Sessions last up to 20 minutes.
Hardships Thync went through
In 2014 Thync raised $13M from Khosla Ventures and Velos Partners and was about to go for an IPO, but failed to attract a new financing round in 2015 and nearly went bankrupt. The board laid off almost three-quarters of the team from about 50 employees.
Thync was saved by Noosphere Ventures, the venture fund that belongs to the Ukrainian Maksim Poliakov, who also recently bought the Q&A social platform ASK.fm. In January 2016 Noosphere and Thync closed the financing deal together with the investors of the previous round, including Khosla Ventures.
The device is sold for $199 per kit. This month the sales increased to up to 80 kits a day.
Image: Thync Instagram
Engineering team in Ukraine
At first, Noosphere didn’t consider the establishment of an R&D center in Ukraine as they wanted to concentrate efforts in the Ukrainian and American marketing offices, work out a marketing strategy and devote a hefty budget on buying traffic. But then the team started to actively work on the second generation of the Thync device, the need for software developers raised, so they set up an R&D center in Ukraine.
The investors don’t reveal how many members there are in the Ukrainian engineering team or how many they are planning to hire, but for sure, they will be an attractive employer for local IT guys.
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