The Violet story started 3 years ago when we both met while working for Biotronik, A biomedical company specializing in pacemakers and implanted cardiac defibrillators. Nattapon has been playing with hardware projects as a hobby while Nabyl has been developing on iOS and Android during his spare time. We quickly decided to work together and started focusing on mobile health. After a couple of experimental projects including a phone jack connected Breathalyzer and a Bluetooth thermometer, we decided to explore a new UV sensor we just received. Nabyl’s sister has Lupus which makes her skin photosensitive. Having a device that warns her before the ultraviolet rays worsen her symptoms can be very helpful. And Nabyl had an episode of severe vitamin D deficiency that was misdiagnosed and lead to several months of sickness. So the idea to work on UV exposure and sun generated vitamin D tracking was born.
In April 2013, after developing a prototype and a syncing iOS app, we entered our project in Portland Startup Weekend. The experience was priceless. Our project was selected as a finalist and got enough feedback to improve our technology and very encouraging advice to start a company. We began assembling a team of engineers, designers, mechanical engineers, and scientists to move toward production. We also established the roadmap of the company to develop mobile health solutions to protect from the harmful effect of the environment. We focus on personalizing our products to give the correct notifications. Violet, for example, can take into account the age, weight, height, gender, and skin type of the user.
Fast forward to December 2013. We partnered with Amplify United, a local incubator to work on the business and marketing sides of our project, and in February 2014, Ultra Inc. was born.
We ran a Kickstarter campaign in July of 2014 and received constructive feedback from our backers. We gained some exposure and have plans for production and delivery. Violet is in pre-order on our website and we can’t wait to have it delivered to you.
This project had us wondering if mobile health could prevent diseases before they start, instead of waiting until it’s too late for the patients. What if a new generation of personal environment wearable sensors could protect us from the harmful effects of the environment and motivate us to take more advantage of nature? What if personalized sensors knew the user’s personal physiology and vitals and adapted their algorithms to provide a unique custom protection depending on each one’s sensitivity and natural defense?
Ultra Inc. has been developing the first UV and Vitamin D wearable monitoring device for the past year and a half. We developed our own patented algorithms and went through several prototypes to design our first product. More environment wearables are in the pipeline.
Nattapon Chaimanonart, CEO and founder
Nabyl Bennouri, CTO and founder