GeekWire | December 9, 2020
In a year rife with anxiety, a Seattle-area startup called Freespira has raised $10 million to support its efforts to develop and deploy a technology that eases panic attacks and PTSD.
The company was founded by Beth Siegelman after she participated in a Stanford University study exploring the physiological causes of panic disorder and the role played by carbon dioxide, which we exhale when breathing. The Stanford researchers discovered that if they could normalize a person’s CO2 levels, it would reduce their symptoms. The approach eliminated Siegelman’s panic attacks, changing her life.
Siegelman, who is married to venture capitalist and former Microsoft and Kleiner Perkins leader Russell Siegelman, launched a company in 2014 to create a marketable treatment based on the research. The 30-person company was originally called Palo Alto Health Sciences. Its headquarters are in Kirkland, Wash.
Freespira sells a product that includes software to coach people in better breathing techniques and a device for measuring their CO2 levels. Users typically see benefits from the approach within 28 days.
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