Nirva Raises $33M for AI Pendant That Filters Out Everyone But the Wearer

Nirva, a startup building an ambient AI pendant, announced in October 2026 that it has raised a $25 million pre-Series A round, bringing its total funding to $33 million. The company plans to begin taking orders in November 2026 and ship devices to early customers by year’s end.

The pendant — which can also be worn as a bracelet — weighs around eight grams, lasts up to three days on a single charge, and will retail for $249 in silver, brushed silver, black, and gold. Nirva was founded in 2025 by Wei Lyu and Jason Chen, both former Meta Reality Labs employees, along with Hanying Hu, who previously founded a fashion and jewelry brand. Earlier funding came from investors including Lightspeed and South Park Commons.

The device’s defining feature is its approach to privacy. Rather than recording everyone in a room, Nirva uses voice samples collected during onboarding to build a model of the wearer’s voice, then filters out audio from anyone else. By default, the company does not retain audio data or transcripts after processing. The device does, however, track tone, pitch, volume, and speed before discarding audio, which it uses to surface emotion-related insights in its companion app.

“This is a piece of jewelry that only focuses on listening to your own speech,” CEO Lyu said. “It keeps modeling the user and modeling your mind.”

Nirva positions itself as a personal insights tool rather than a productivity app. The companion app surfaces patterns in communication style, emotional trends, the people and places in a user’s life, and reminders — such as nudging a user who forgot to thank someone. Lyu said the goal is to improve users’ self-understanding and self-awareness.

The company operates in a growing field that includes AI wearable startups such as Taya, Friend, and Bee, as well as ambient AI features from larger players like Amazon and Apple.