develop premium versions of the Owaves app that would incorporate celebrity workout routines and training schedules developed by prominent athletes and trainers. He also set out to develop wearable devices that use a native Owaves app, which would enable users to monitor their schedule “so it’s personalized and centered around your health and wellness goals,” Kamyar says.
Using off-the-shelf components, Owaves worked with the Carlsbad, CA-based industrial design firm DD Studios to develop a prototype smartwatch as a proof-of-concept device. But in meetings with Qualcomm Ventures (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]), Sony mobile (NYSE: [[ticker:SNE]]) and Samsung, Kamyar says he came to understand that a better strategy would be to advance Owaves’ software as a native app, and to establish strategic partnerships with hardware manufacturers. By adopting a model like Boston-based RunKeeper, Kamyar says Owaves could develop Owaves apps for a variety of iOS and Android devices. Kamyar says the prospects in the burgeoning wireless health sector are compelling, and he’s adjusting Owaves’ strategic priorities accordingly.
The long-term goal, in other words, is to use wireless health devices to help users monitor a new set of measurements for health and wellness—including sleep, exercise, and meditation—and perhaps even the food we eat.
As part of that quest, Kamyar has enrolled in the beta class of San Diego’s HardTech Labs, a new accelerator program that’s intended to provide hardware startups with access to low-cost manufacturers across the border in Tijuana, Mexico. HardTech Labs’ Derek Footer hopes to provide some financing for participating startups, although that is far from certain. In any case, Kamyar says he’s just beginning now to raise seed funding for the company.
