How Ozlo, maker of sleep headphones, is building a sleep data platform

Ozlomaker of comfortable and easy-to-use “sleep headphones.” Drowns out external noise So that you can have better comfort, it turns its product into a platform.

The company’s plan began taking shape last month with the announcement of A A partnership between Ozlo and the meditation app Calm. But it kicked into high gear at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, where the company met with potential partners to expand its reach.

These new partners can help Ozlo reach new audiences and build a revenue model beyond consumer-focused hardware and into the high-margin world of software and healthcare subscriptions. For example, software features that use artificial intelligence or are designed to provide relief to users with tinnitus may be offered as premium subscriptions. The recent acquisition of a neurotech startup should help Ozlo expand beyond being a consumer product to enter the medical device market as well.

How to start Oslo platform ambitions

Founded by former Bose employees, Ozlo has always aimed to build an ecosystem, Ozlo co-founder and CEO NB Patel explained on the sidelines of CES.

“The way we’ve done it from the beginning is that we’ve built iOS and Android SDKs — so our first-party app actually runs on that SDK. This means that everything you see in our app can be made available to anyone,” Patel said.

For example, mental health company Calm uses a software development kit (SDK) to see if its sleep and meditation content actually resonates with its customers. While Calm can’t tell if customers have fallen asleep through its own app, Ozlo’s sensors can. The device detects how body movements and breathing rates change, and that data is sent to the Ozlo charging case. There, a machine learning algorithm determines whether a person is asleep or resting.

The Ozlo Smart Bag has other sensors as well, including a temperature sensor and a light sensor that can add more data.

Now, this information can be shared with apps like Calm and others.

For example, if a user starts doing a breathing exercise, Ozlo can see if their breathing rate has decreased and share that data with their partner. If the exercise doesn’t work, the partner will know they need to change the pattern or do something different.

“So there are two parts,” Patel notes. “Taking action in real time when a customer reaches a desired state (which is what Ozlo does with their feature that can turn off sounds after the user goes to sleep) and the other part, which is very important, actually — and which creators don’t quite think about — is, are they investing in the right content?”

Patel explains that content creators for these types of meditation and sleep aid apps tend to invest in volume without measuring whether their content is effective.

“They don’t actually understand how this field works on the ground, because there’s no data,” he says.

This relationship could also add another revenue stream to Ozlo’s business beyond selling hardware. For example, if a customer is asked to upgrade their subscription to a partner’s product, Ozlo could get a cut of that transaction.

Patel told TechCrunch that the company is already in discussions with other sleep and meditation apps, but this closed-feedback system could be used with any type of content, including therapy or even audiobooks.

Ozlo is also developing tinnitus therapy tools to address the problem of tinnitus, which affects 15% of its customer base. The company teamed up with Walter Reed Hospital last year to launch a clinical study of the problem, and found that playing the correct masking frequency all night for several weeks can trick the brain into stopping the annoying signals that produce the ringing sounds.

The tinnitus treatments will be available via subscription and will be rolled out in the second quarter of 2026, Patel says.

Artificial intelligence to help you sleep better

Ozlo is also expanding the insights it offers its clients, and AI is an increasingly important piece. Company It launched Sleep Patterns within its app in November To help clients understand the duration and quality of their sleep, their sleep patterns over the past weeks, and what factors may be disturbing their rest.

This year, Ozlo plans to introduce an AI agent that customers can text with and use as a “sleep buddy.” (The company revealed the name “Buddy” of its AI agent as an Easter egg within the app. The app features an animated character — “Buddy” — that runs across the top of the screen when you open and close the case five times in a row.)

Through integration with other wearable devices and Apple’s HealthKit, Ozlo will be able to better understand user patterns and what they need to sleep better. It also wants to be able to connect to IoT devices, such as smart thermostats, to set the right sleeping temperature for users once they open the box at night.

AI features are expected to debut in the second quarter.

New devices and EEG insights are on the way

Ozlo’s next-generation case will address the issue of earbuds sometimes not being placed properly in the charger.

“We changed the features inside the box – when you put (the sleep bud) on, it’s perfect. And then we’ll have a Bluetooth button to do the pairing,” Patel says.

Additionally, the new device will include a redesigned antenna and extender for improved range, and will add an amplifier to boost how loud the headphones sound to eliminate plane and train noise, when needed. This updated device will also arrive in the second quarter.

In terms of products, Ozlo will launch a bedside speaker in the second quarter of the year that will offer similar functionality to the Sleepbuds, but won’t need to go into the ear. The 4×6-inch speaker will also have its own sensor, allowing it to do things like track how many times you’ve gotten up during bathroom breaks, or alert others if you’ve fallen.

The speaker will allow the company to market to families with children under 13, where children are not recommended to wear headphones at night. This might also make sense for elderly individuals who are not as tech-savvy and don’t want to mess around with in-ear devices.

like The famous Hatch alarm clockOzlo is working on adding a light to a product in the future to gently wake you up. (The launch timeframe is still being determined.)

Takeover play

Acquisitions are also part of Ozlo’s growth strategy.

The 60-person Boston-based company just acquired Segotia, It is a neurotechnology company focused on EEG from Irelandon which technologies that “can be heard” are built. Ozlo believes this will allow it to provide brain-level insights to its consumer device and later develop tools to do sleep intervention in real time.

“Basically, we designed a custom ear tip that will measure electrical signals from your ear. And from that, actually, you can extract delta signals from the brain, and you should be able to say what your brain is doing when it comes to sleep, or when it comes to consciousness, and all of that,” Patel explained.

A product incorporating EEG technology will be launched in 2027, allowing the company to move into the medical products space as well.

With a busy year ahead, Ozlo will need to execute well on each new feature and product in order to maintain its current pace and grow its customer base. You will also need additional capital. Patel told TechCrunch that the company is in the process of closing its Series B round now, with more details coming next month.