North
Winter 2013AcquiredWearable computing hardware: biosignal gesture recognition
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Turn this teardown into a decision-ready prompt for ChatGPT, Claude, or your agent.
Wearable computing hardware: biosignal gesture recognition
Turn this teardown into a decision-ready prompt for ChatGPT, Claude, or your agent.
If you only have a few minutes to spare, here’s what investors, operators, and founders should know about North (W13).
North pursued one wearable-computing vision through two different products. Founded in 2012 as Thalmic Labs by University of Waterloo mechatronics graduates Stephen Lake, Matthew Bailey, and Aaron Grant, the Winter 2013 YC company first built the Myo gesture armband, then renamed itself North and launched Focals smart glasses.[1]
Google acquired North on June 30, 2020 for undisclosed terms, kept the team in Kitchener-Waterloo, and cited its value for hardware and ambient computing.[2] The acquisition was strategic; the consumer product still shut down. Focals 2.0 was cancelled, the first-generation backend stopped July 31, and buyers were offered refunds.[3] North's mechanism was stack ownership before platform readiness: Focals combined optics, hardware, input, fitting, retail, integrations, and cloud services before demand and distribution were proven.
Lake, Bailey, and Grant founded Thalmic after studying mechatronics at Waterloo.[1] Their long-term aim was wearable computing that helped people stay present rather than pulling attention toward a phone.
The founders later said their products became “radically different” while the vision remained.[4] Myo addressed input. It read electrical muscle signals and motion from an armband, translating arm and hand gestures into computer controls.[1]
Thalmic raised $14.5 million in 2013 while Myo was in preorder.[5] A $120 million financing in 2016 funded additional wearable products.[6]
In 2018, Thalmic renamed itself North and pivoted to Focals. The company moved from supplying an input peripheral to owning the glasses, display, controller, software, fit, and retail encounter. In 2019 it sold Myo technology to CTRL-labs.[7]
Myo used electrical muscle signals and motion sensing to turn gestures into computer input. It assumed a future in which wearables needed a natural control layer.[1]
Focals internalized more of that future. Prescription-style frames projected a private display into one lens. A Loop ring controlled notifications, navigation, messages, and assistant interactions.[10] The goal was glanceable information without looking down at a phone.
The initial U.S. price was $999. Buyers needed an in-person face scan and fitting.[10] Limited locations, incomplete prescription coverage, fit and weight constraints, and restricted iMessage behavior added friction.[11]
North therefore operated more than a hardware company. It carried custom optics, retail fitting, device software, mobile integrations, cloud accounts, support, and the Loop controller. When the backend ended, purchased glasses lost core functionality, demonstrating how much of the experience depended on continuing service.
Myo targeted developers and early adopters seeking gesture input. Focals targeted consumers willing to pay for discreet notifications and navigation in prescription-style glasses.
No audited Myo or Focals sales, revenue, gross margin, returns, or retention were found. North reported just under 500 employees in 2018, evidence of operating scale rather than customer traction.[4]
YC reports more than $140 million raised. Later press estimates around $200 million include equity and debt but lack a complete primary financing record.[1]
North competed with phones, watches, earlier smart glasses, and conventional prescription eyewear. Its discreet display distinguished it from bulkier headsets, but the phone retained better distribution, messaging integration, battery capacity, and user familiarity.
Read the complete post-mortem, the rebuild playbook, and the exact reasons North is still worth studying now.