Sandbar CEO: Voice is key to winning in AI wearables

Sandbar, the company behind the Stream voice ring, is betting that voice will define the next phase of AI wearables. The startup has raised $36 million to date, including a $23 million Series A led by Adjacent and Kindred Ventures.

CEO and co-founder Mina Fahmi said many existing AI notetaking devices — from credit-card-sized recorders to pendants, pins and transcribing earbuds — have struggled to break through. His argument: voice hardware needs to keep the user firmly in control.

Stream is designed as a private voice ring for capturing ideas on the fly, turning them into summaries and action items. The company sees this as an extension of the notetaking category, which has grown rapidly in recent years.

Fahmi believes the ring approach differs from earlier attempts by focusing on spontaneous voice capture as the killer use case for wearable AI, rather than trying to automate every interaction.

With the new funding, Sandbar is positioning itself among a wave of wearable startups centered on rings and other discreet form factors.