OmniBuds' stepwise GTM

NASHVILLE-based OmniBuds Inc. has filed for a roughly $14.6MM capital raise to advance its "ear worn research platform for continuous, multimodal sensing of cardiovascular-related signals" delivered through an earbud.

OmniBuds CEO and Cofounder Benedict "Ben" Carter's filing told the SEC on Oct. 21 that the company had recruited just under $3MM from a total two investors.

The OmniBuds mission is described as focused on building "clinically validated earable biosensing technology that makes cardiovascular insight more accessible, continuous and meaningful in daily life," thereby providing individual wearers "continuous insight into cardiovascular signals, transforming the ear into an intuitive gateway to the heart."

Even more succinctly, Omnibuds is described as "An earable platform exploring cardiovascular sensing alongside premium audio." 

Access to the company's research platform is on-offer and sample devices may be requested for evaluation, although VNC understands planned offerings of clinical systems, solutions and services await FDA clearance. 

OmniBud's formation traces back to 2024, when British accelerator Cambridge Future Tech (CFT) entered a relationship with Nokia Bell Labs and Nokia Ventures & Partnerships that led to establishing OmniBuds LTD, a joint venture focused on on commercializing Nokia Bell Labs' OmniBuds platform. Cambridge remains the early-stage company's R&D headquarters.

In a March 2025 SEC filing (p.16), Nokia described OmniBuds as "the world's first ear-worn AI/ML platform to track your health in real time."

OmniBuds team L-R: Stefansic, Montanari, Kawsar, Carter

CEO Ben Carter previously co-founded B-Secur, a Belfast company that is characterized as a "deep-tech company specializing in advanced ECG technologies" and AI-driven biosensing software for consumer wearables. Earlier, Carter was with Sony Mobile Communications (Vodafone Group), Pace, and Phones4u. His LinkedIn.

Cambridge-based Fahim Kawsar PhD is OmniBuds' cofounder and CTO, as well as a professor of mobile systems at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. He is also editor-in-chief of the IEEE Computer Society's IEEE Pervasive Computing. Among his extensive experiences were his nearly 15 years within Nokia Bell Labs, where he became founding director for device research.

OmniBud's cofounder and chief scientific officer is Cambridge-based Alessandro Montanari PhD, who was until this year Nokia Bell Labs' principal research scientist and technology lead.

OmniBuds' Nashville-based staff include Chief Operating Officer Jim Stefansic PhD, one of Nashville most ubiquitous life-science entrepreneurs; and, Program Director Katerina Smith, whose operational experience includes service as a U.S. Army officer, and an internship in Vanderbilt University's Brock Family Center for Applied Innovation.

Also in the Nashville area, according to LinkedIn, are Sr. Director Thomas Golden, who handles regulatory matters; and, Margaret Rox PhD, who is senior clinical trials and platform engineer.

The company's website says it is backed by American Frontiers Fund (AAF), Koucar Management, Cambridge Future Tech, Nokia Ventures and by "Select Medtech and AI Angels".

Clinical partners currently listed by OmniBuds are Sydänsairaala (Finland), Texas Medical Center (Houston) and Intersystems Corp. (Boston).

OmniBuds's SEC filing listed--in addition to above-mentioned Carter, Kawsar and Stefansic--the following individuals, who are tagged as directors and may all represent investors:  Joseph Caradonna, Jeff Karras, James Hayward, and Chris Jones.

NOTES

As this story is published, the OmniBuds Careers page lists openings in both Nashville and Cambridge.

Omnibuds Inc. was registered as a business in Delaware in August 2025 and in Tennessee three months later. The company's trademark was registered in November 2025, in the UK.

The company recently announced it had been included in both MedTech Innovator's 2026 Accelerator Cohort and its MTI Index, which MTI describes as "the Definitive Recognition Platform for MedTech Innovation." MTI's 2026 Strategist Innovation Summit is Nov. 3-5. 

The event that might have been the first international workshop on earable computing was held in 2019, convened by eSense.io.

eSense.io's web presence has apparently been maintained as a community service by volunteer members of the Pervasive Systems team at Nokia Bell Labs Cambridge.

The eSense.io site credits such work to the aforementioned Fahim Kawsar, among others. Kawsar emphasized the role of numerous professionals in advancing eSense and OmniBuds, in his 2023 post.

The eSense team also supported EARCOM international workshops on earable computing, 2019-2025, but the fate of that project seems uncertain, at a remove. 

FWIW: Based on a quick check at USPTO, it seems few efforts have been made to trademark the word "earable" and no filer has been successful. VNC

. last edited 1630 23 October 2026