The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has heightened anxiety and stress for many, but, on the positive side, it has helped increase awareness of ways to help alleviate these issues.
One company that provides a novel method to help soothe stress and restlessness is Toronto-listed Hapbee Technologies Inc (TSX-V:HAPB, OTCQB:HAPBF), a wearable wellness technology company that aims to help people enhance their daily routines.
Powered by patented ultra-low radiofrequency energy (ulRFE), Hapbee’s wearable delivers low-power electromagnetic signals designed to produce sensations such as Alert, Focus, Relax, and others. The technology behind Hapbee’s wearable has been 15 years in development and boasts over 16 US and 47 international patents covering recording and stimulation capabilities.
The idea is that users pair a Hapbee wearable with their phone, place the neckband around their neck, and select a so-called Blend from the Hapbee app, which can initiate a sensation geared toward improving daily activities. The app contains over 25 Blends (which use ultra-low radio frequency technology), designed for specific uses such as working, reading, sleeping, relaxation.
Proactive caught up with Yona Shtern, CEO and chairman of Hapbee Technologies to find out more.
Proactive: Hapbee is a wellness wearable platform that replicates the magnetic signature of ingredients like caffeine, CBD, nicotine, melatonin, and others through safe, ultra-low magnetic frequencies. Can you explain how it works?
Yona Shtern: We are in a part of the wearable technology industry that we call bio-streaming. Most wearables in the wellness space are monitors — they read your biometrics, and they feed them back to you in a variety of different formats. We are the opposite side of the coin. Hapbee streams data so that your body can hear it.
What some scientists figured out was that most of the compounds that you put in your body have the specific aim of effecting a change in mood, a change in focus, a reduction in anxiety, an improvement in sleep, etc. Compounds that we know such as caffeine, or nicotine; adderall for focus; adenosine that makes you drowsy; melatonin that helps you sleep - all of these compounds can affect people in various ways.
But the mechanism by which that change is affected is not chemical … the way that these compounds work and interact with your body is actually magnetic. Which to most of us, when you really stop and think about it, is not a big surprise - that the mechanism which controls mood and feeling is magnetic. And if you go to the next level of understanding on the subject, the way it actually works is when those compounds are metabolized by your system, they actually release a magnetic resonance, a song, if you will.
So the scientists who created the technology we utilize asked themselves: “What if I could record that song, that magnetic resonance that was released by the metabolizing of substances by the body? What if I could record it and play it back so that the bioreceptors in the body could hear it in the same way that the metabolism does?” And what they found out was, yes, they could record it with very sophisticated technology. And when read and when ‘streamed’ into the body you can elicit a similar effect as ingesting, without putting the compounds in your body, - so you can feel drowsy or relaxed, similar benefits of all of these substances by simply pressing a button.
Hapbee effectively is a mechanism, like Spotify is for listening to music, that provides a library of streams that allow you to feel the way you want. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has seen billions around the globe struggling with anxiety and stress.
Has Hapbee accelerated its growth to address this?
When Hapbee first started, if we had to put a map on who our target consumer was, it was those suffering from sleep deprivation, either waking up in the night or not being able to fall asleep; and those looking to improve their overall wellbeing. Sleep is central to performance and recovery. And so I think what we have observed as a result of COVID is that certainly there are many more people who are suffering from a lack of sleep, in many cases probably due to the stress of uncertainty. This affects productivity, energy levels, moods etc. A lack of sleep, and in contrast a great night sleep, impacts virtually every aspect of our daily routine.
Roughy 60% of Hapbee users use the product specifically for sleep. It's a nighttime product, either allowing them to calm down and get into a state preparing for sleep, or get into a drowsy mode so the body is actually starting to fall asleep, or - and it's the reason I got involved with the company - staying asleep. My issue is not falling asleep, my issue was always remaining asleep through the night. And when I tried Hapbee on a deep sleep signal, it was the first time in four years that I slept through the night.
At the start of March, Hapbee entered into a product and marketing agreement with nutritional supplements provider BiOptimizers USA Inc. What will this bring to the company?
A number of things. We have an entire team based in Los Angeles that works on these types of collaborations and partnerships. BiOptimizers, for us, in particular, is really interesting. They have a real depth of understanding of the application of nutraceuticals and other substances to improve people’s physical and emotional state. We're certainly looking to provide a digital version of their products and services. Equally important is the ability for us to introduce some of their services to our customers and then, on the other side, for them to introduce Hapbee to their customers.
At the end of January this year, the company closed an upsized private placement for total gross proceeds of $7,685,057, how has this boosted the firm’s balance sheet?
It was mission critical. One of the things that we did last year was build out our team to really scale the company and expand our product line. We are expanding our hardware offerings later this year via our sleep mask and mattress topper, and have already radically expanded the number of blends and streams that we offer, with more to come.
By raising this capital, we're really able to double-down on all three of those things - making sure that we have the right team in place and are able to invest in the engineering talent to continue to build out our product. And obviously, from a marketing point of view, investing in both our B2C and our B2B marketing channels.
What do you think you bring to Habee as its CEO and chairman?
I think I bring two things: One is a professional experience over 25 years of scaling disruptive technologies. I was part of the founding team of the second-largest wireless company in Canada. I have started and scaled two-sided marketplaces, in eCommerce, and also in mobility services. So, I know what it takes to build a team and to scale a comparable business model to Hapbee’s.
I think the second part, which is equally important, is an intangible … When I was first approached about Hapbee as a consumer, I had a healthy degree of scepticism. I’m not blind to the fact that many people who look at Hapbee, at least initially, are sceptical. I was too. But I went through that journey from sceptic to curious, to investigator, to CEO for a reason. And I think with the benefit of my background, having scaled technology companies before, I can impart some of that to the journey we can offer our customers.
I think allowing people to explore and discover is important. A few of the things that we've launched recently are reflections of that, such as the fact we have moved from a 30-day guarantee to a full year. We offer consumers the opportunity to try the product before they buy it. Additionally, we offer customers video support, online support, and direct consumer support in terms of product guidance. These are important steps when dealing with something that is so novel. And we want to provide people with the opportunity to discover and experience it for themselves without a feeling of financial risk. The benefits are profound, and it’s our job to enable the public to experience them.
What should Hapbee investors expect in the near to medium-term?
A demonstration of our ability to continue to scale. As a team, we’ve focused a lot of our time and energy optimizing the economic model, so that we can scale in an economically efficient manner. I think we're now ready, and that will be reflected in our ongoing reporting of quarterly results. I also expect Hapbee will announce new partnerships in the near to medium-term.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com