Vital Audio

Market position

Positioned as an alternative to wearable- and app-based remote monitoring, using devices patients already own to lower adoption barriers, particularly for older patients less comfortable with new technology [2]. The founder has framed the addressable opportunity as the roughly 4 billion calls requesting care worldwide and an ambition to lead in digital vocal biomarkers [0].

Requires no wearable, app download, or clinic visit — measurement occurs during an ordinary phone call — and reported accuracy of 96% against gold-standard ECG in studies with NYU Langone's cardiology department and ZipCare Clinic covering more than 500 participants in the New York metropolitan area [0][2].

Technology

A two-layer voice-analysis stack: digital signal processing isolates and visualizes cardiopulmonary frequencies within a short speech or sustained-vowel sample captured over a normal phone call, and an AI layer flags anomalies and classifies disease. Outputs include heart rate, heart-rate variability, rhythm, lung capacity and respiratory rate, with development underway on a single-lead ECG derived from voice frequencies. Two patents have been submitted, and the company received a non-significant risk designation and an FDA exemption following a self-prepared presubmission [0][2].

Go-to-market

Institutional sales and clinical partnerships with health systems and care-delivery organizations, including NYU Langone, ZipCare, Tele911 and GoHealth, supported by work on market-access memoranda and identification of insurance payers [2]. As of the September 2024 pitch, the technology was described as ready to go live with five initial partners covering six states and more than four million lives in the US [0].

Healthcare providers and institutions, particularly specialty cardiac and pulmonary care; after early customer discovery the company pivoted from primary care and from individual physicians to entire healthcare systems as its ideal customer profile [2].

Geography

Operations and clinical studies centered on the New York metropolitan area, with launch partners described as covering six US states; participation in the Techstars Los Angeles Accelerator [0][2].

History

Vital Audio was incorporated in 2022 by NYU Tandon graduates Nyamitse-Calvin Mahinda and Harsh Sonthalia and progressed through the NYU entrepreneurship pipeline, beginning with the Tech Venture Workshop for problem-statement and customer-discovery work. It joined the 2023 NSF I-Corps cohort, where interviews with healthcare professionals prompted a pivot from primary care to specialty cardiac and pulmonary care and from physicians to health-system buyers. The company was then selected for the inaugural cohort of the NYU Tech Venture Accelerator, the final phase of the Tech Venture Program, and for the fall 2023 Techstars Los Angeles Accelerator. It appears in the NYU Technology Opportunities & Ventures startup portfolio with a 2023 entry date and Active status. In September 2024 Mahinda pitched the company on The Pitch podcast, seeking $3 million [0][1][2].

Risks & controversies

The technology operates in a regulated medical context; the company holds an FDA exemption and a non-significant risk designation rather than a clearance, and additional biomarkers beyond heart rate and heart-rate variability were still in development at the time of the 2024 pitch. In a live demonstration, heart rate was returned while systolic pressure, lung capacity and respiratory rate were reported as unobtained [0].