The past few years have seen a surge of startups developing wearable devices to tackle health issues such as depression, period pain, PMS, anxiety, and insomnia. These gadgets use electrical, magnetic, or ultrasonic signals to stimulate the brain. The latest entrant into this sphere is San Francisco-based Mave Health, which has launched a neuromodulation headset.
Mave Health’s Neuromodulation Headset
Mave Health’s $495 neuromodulation headset is designed to improve attention and mood, regulate stress, and even measure mental health. The startup has positioned its product as a non-medical device, which means it does not require approval from regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be sold in the United States.
Mave Health was founded in 2023 by Dhawal Jain, Jai Sharma, and Aman Kumar. The inspiration for the device came from a personal tragedy: the suicide of Jain’s roommate’s fiancée during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. This incident led the founders to recognize the need for tangible ways to measure progress in mental health.
The Founders’ Journey
Founders Aman Kumar, Jai Sharma and Dhawal JainImage credits:Stomach health
In their quest to understand mental health better, the founders engaged with several psychologists and realized that the field lacked a concrete way of measuring progress. They believed that for those battling depression and spending significant time in therapy, tracking progress was crucial. This lack of measurable indicators in mental health support was the problem Mave Health set out to solve.
The team delved into neuroscience, interacting with experts and learning about advances in neuromodulation. They realized that while significant progress had been made in the lab, consumers had not yet benefited from these advances. This led to Mave Health working with medical device and mental health experts to conduct trials of their technology, which ultimately took the form of a lifestyle device.
About the Device and Its Technology
The device developed by Mave Health uses transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive technique that delivers low-intensity currents to the brain to activate neurons. This technique, often used in psychology, is considered safe, with mild and temporary side effects like itching or discomfort.
The headset delivers a low current of 1 to 2 mA to stimulate the brain. Weighing around 100 grams, the device can be used at any time, with the startup recommending daily 20-minute sessions for the first few weeks of use. An accompanying app can measure long-term trends in mood, concentration, and stress levels, and can integrate with other health data to track metrics like heart rate variability (HRV).
Evidence of Effectiveness
While Mave Health has not yet conducted any clinical trials or published any studies, the startup claims that its technology has shown promising results. During a private beta in 2024 and 2025 involving over 500 users, eight out of 10 users reported a 60% increase in productivity, and 75% reported a reduction in stress compared to their baseline within two months of use. The company has also completed four observational studies with 200 participants, which are currently under academic review.
The device is currently available for pre-order, with the first batch set to be shipped to customers in the United States and India in April 2026. Mave Health recently raised $2.1 million in a seed funding round led by Blume Ventures, bringing its total funding to just under $3 million.
As the mental health crisis continues to mount, innovative solutions like Mave Health’s neuromodulation headset could help provide much-needed support. The startup’s work aligns with the increasing recognition of the need for tangible, measurable progress in mental health care.
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