Edge Sound Research raised $2.75 million in new funding, increasing the Audio Innovation Startup total backing to $5.5 million. The latest round, which Edge co-founder and CEO Valtteri Salomaki described as being extended to SBJ last year, was described as an extension of last year’s seed promotion, featuring USTA Ventures, Devos family, Lead VC, Cartan Capital, potential capital, amongst the angels of audio and entertainment.
“It’s all commercialisation (to which is),” Saromaki said of the new capital. “It gives you the manufacturing of contracts… and the momentum of your team, so you can do it with contracts and commercial transactions right in front of you.”
Edge began manufacturing a contract unit that could be embedded in a sports venue seat, as an example of one use case attempted by NBA Pacers and Kings.
Edge is also partnering with Audio Equipment Distributor’s Sweetwater integration to expand its sound development embodied in sports venues and themed attractions.
“You can treat it like a GoPro (now),” Salomaki said of the embodied sound unit. “The idea is that the form factor is consistent, but you can change the attachment mechanism regardless of the wall, seating, etc.”
Edge currently has a core team of 11 full-time staff. This includes major recent operations head Guido Voltolina (former GM of Dolby) and lead broadcast engineer Dave Grundtvig (who has been an audio engineer for over 40 years and has worked with the NBA, NHL, NFL and Masters Broadcasts).
Salomaki said the company plans to source Series A next year.