Nirva raises $33M for a pendant that only listens to you
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Disrupt doors open Oct. 13. Get your pass and bring someone with you at 50% off. REGISTER NOW. Ambient AI is having a moment. Amazon launched a new wrist-worn device with Bee; a former Plaud exec launched ambient apps through a startup called Ambi, which aims to also build its own hardware; and Apple launched Voice Intelligence features during its iPhone launch in September. Now, a company called Nirva is betting on a jewelry-like pendant and its ability to listen only to the wearer. The startup today announced a new $25 million pre-Series A round, adding to the $8 million it raised earlier in the year from investors like Lightspeed and South Park Commons, bringing its total raise to $33 million. Nirva was founded in 2025 by two former Meta Reality Labs employees, Wei Lyu and Jason Chen, along with Hanying Hu, who founded a fashion and jewelry brand. The company’s first device is a pendant, which can also be worn as a bracelet. The device weighs only around eight grams, making it easy to wear all day. Its battery lasts up to three days on a single charge. In a call with TechCrunch, Nirva CEO Lyu said that the company wanted to build a wearable that blends in with fashion, but also provides value to users. “This is a piece of jewelry that only focuses on listening to your own speech. We are not like a voice recorder or like a meeting note taker.
