Nirva, a startup building an ambient AI wearable, has secured a $25 million pre-Series A round, bringing its total funding to $33 million after an earlier $8 million from investors including Lightspeed and South Park Commons. The company was founded in 2025 by former Meta Reality Labs employees Wei Lyu and Jason Chen, alongside Hanying Hu, founder of a fashion and jewelry brand.
Its first device is an eight-gram pendant, also wearable as a bracelet, with up to three days of battery life. CEO Lyu said the aim was a wearable that blends with fashion while delivering real value. She explained that unlike recorders, note takers or rivals such as Taya, Nirva is always on but listens only to the wearer, continuously modeling the user.
To address privacy concerns, Nirva builds a voice model during onboarding and filters out other people’s speech. By default, it keeps no audio or transcripts after processing, though it analyzes tone, pitch, volume and speed to infer emotional patterns.
The companion app surfaces insights on emotions, communication style, habits and reminders. Lyu said the goal is to help users build self-understanding and show up better for others. Orders open in November, with the $249 device shipping by year end.
