IRIS, the London based tech start-up revolutionising the way we experience sound has announced it has secured a new investment round totalling £2.5 million to drive the growth of its unique technology which has grabbed the attention of the audio and wellness industries.
Founded by Jacobi Anstruther in 2018, IRIS’s unique technology promotes Active Listening, enabling users to Listen Well in two game changing ways.
Firstly through its unique ability to dramatically improve audio quality on even low quality formats such as MP3 by unlocking the ‘live’ dimension that is lost in digital recordings, IRIS brings back ‘high definition’ to all recorded audio without the need for bandwidth hungry file formats.
Secondly and most relevant in the current global climate is the ability for IRIS to enable a unique neurological activation for users whilst listening to their favourite music, podcast or meditation soundscape.
This is achieved through a proprietary algorithm which splits out and increases the phase information sent to the brain. The listener’s brain then reassembles this vast increase in information and becomes far more active in the listening process.
IRIS Founder & CEO, Jacobi Anstruther said; “This new wave of funding for IRIS illustrates that the appetite to support British business and innovative start-ups is still present despite the current climate.”
Alongside existing plans to utilising the £2.5 million capital to further develop their technology and conduct scientific research on the effects of Active Listening on the brain, IRIS has pivoted to launch exclusive playlists and wellness soundscapes to its audience for free.
IRIS is a venture funded by a circle of high-profile investors from the worlds of music and technology. The first round of investment was raised from names including Mansour Ojjeh, President and CEO of TAG Group, Roger Taylor, the drummer from legendary band Queen, and the world’s largest truly independent music and theatrical rights company, Concord.e
“We were immediately inspired by the significance of what Jacobi and the IRIS team have accomplished,” said Jim Selby, COO of Concord. “Our diverse catalogue of recordings, new and old, from classical to metal, will be given a new life because of this technology”.