Sonera

Neurotech · Wearables · Health Tech

Acquisition

Apple quietly acquired brain-sensing startup Sonera, EU filing reveals

The startup's magnetic sensors could let devices respond to muscle and brain signals without invasive implants.

• Apple bought Berkeley-based Sonera (Sonera Magnetics) in a deal that closed in May 2026 but only surfaced September 8 via an EU Digital Markets Act disclosure; deal terms were not made public.
• Sonera builds chip-based magnetic sensors that read biomagnetic signals from the brain and muscles; it was founded in 2018 by UC Berkeley engineers Nishita Deka and Dominic Labanowski and emerged from stealth in 2023 with an $11M seed round.
• Its method, acoustically-driven ferromagnetic resonance, detects weak biomagnetic fields at room temperature, unlike traditional brain-imaging systems that need liquid-helium cooling and multi-million-dollar shielded rooms.
• Sonera's first product, the S1 chip, was designed for muscle sensing and can already control prosthetics, pointing to possible future Apple Watch health features or implant-free Vision Pro thought control.
• Sonera had raised about $20M total, including its $11M 2023 seed backed by Founders Fund, Benchmark, IVP, Craft Ventures and 8VC, and employed roughly 10 people at the time of acquisition.
• Neither company announced the deal; it only became visible because the EU's Digital Markets Act requires gatekeepers like Apple to disclose acquisitions, and Sonera's website has since been taken offline.
• The purchase gives Apple an early foothold in non-invasive neural sensing, a technology several tech firms are betting will move from research labs into everyday wearables.