Bragi sells its wireless Dash headphones business
German-based Bragi, a company known for its hands-free, wireless Dash headphones, has said it is exiting the consumer market for wearables.
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The outfit launched the first iteration of its headphones on Kickstarter back in 2014. It raised some $3.4 million in the process. The buds allow users to stream music from a Bluetooth device or load songs directly onto its on-board music player. The integrated sensor technology also tracks workouts.
In 2017 Bragi joined forces with Starkey, one of the biggest names in the hearing aid business, to bring two products to market. This includes the Dash Pro tailored by Starkey and the lower cost standard Dash Pro.
Both the high-end version and plain Dash Pro models share many of the same powerful features that had made the original Bragi headphones a successful Kickstarter name. But they also brought some new features such as real-time translation, a bigger battery, better bluetooth, a new operating system and more.
But now the German outfit says it has sold its wearables business to a third-party buyer. Bragi will continue to license its IP and artificial intelligence, but will no longer be making new hardware.
“Bragi’s technology suite is applied beyond our own products to partners and headphone brands,” the company’s CEO Nikolaj Hviid said.
“The Dash Pro featured groundbreaking ultra efficient AI and software that could be updated with new features such as Amazon Alexa, language translation and personalised hearing. With the sale of our product business, Bragi has completed its transformation into a software, AI and IP licensing company.”
The company’s product range was out of stock in January which raised suspicions something was afoot. It’s now clear that Bragi was looking beyond hardware at that stage, towards other opportunities. The deal to rights to its headphones products went through in March. The buyer’s name has not been disclosed yet.
Bragi added that users of existing devices need not worry. They will continue to be supported through existing and new channels.
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