Nura gets $4.6 million in seed funding for its customizable headphones

We tried out a prototype of Nura’s custom headphones over the summer and liked what we heard. Apparently we weren’t alone in that, as the Australian startup scored a massive $1.8 million on Kickstarter soon after – doubly impressive when you consider that, for those who didn’t get a chance to try the things on, backing the project was a bit of a crapshoot.

Apparently the company has impressed some folks with even deeper pockets, announcing this morning that it has secured $4.6 million in funding, led by fellow Sydneysiders, Blackbird Ventures, along with UK music industry types Ric Salmon and Brian Message of ATC Management

“The people who believe in Nura are those who genuinely care about sound,” CEO Slater told TechCrunch ahead of the announcement. “Unlike subjective hearing tests, our automatic diagnostic technology objectively maps an individual’s hearing profile without the influence of noise and cognitive processes, meaning Nuraphones are the only product that can create an objectively personalized sound experience for the listener. 

The Nuraphones are designed to offer a custom equalization based on the wearer’s ear shape, through a combination of software and a specially designed headphone that utilizes both ear cups and buds. It’s a claim that plenty of headphone makers big and small have made for their product, but competition apparently wasn’t enough to deter backers.

The headphones are still on track to arrive before year’s end, priced at $399 (or $299 for early birds).