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Former Apple chief executive backs Misfit Wearables, new health sensor start-up

Posted by Scott Kirsner December 12, 2011 08:33 AM

By Scott Kirsner, Globe Columnist

Sonny Vu is still tight-lipped about his new start-up, Misfit Wearables, but Vu has a track record that makes the company worth watching: his last venture, AgaMatrix, developed the first medical device that both Apple and the Food & Drug Administration approved for use with the iPhone. (It's a blood sugar meter for diabetics, marketed by the pharmaceutical giant Sanofi. It plugs into a port on the bottom of an iPhone or iPod touch.)

The new company, based in Salem, NH (with software development being done in Vietnam), is also working on a health-related sensor. Vu says that Misfit is designing both hardware and software, and while he won't say exactly what the sensor will measure, he did divulge that it will be more sophisticated than a Fitbit-style exercise monitor. Vu says it's for a chronic health condition, and he expects it will have a reimbursement code so that insurers will cover its cost.

Vu says the new product will ship by the end of 2012. Misfit Wearables has so far raised $750,000 from investors including Vu; Sridhar Iyengar, his co-founder at AgaMatrix; and John Sculley, the executive who replaced Steve Jobs as Apple's leader in the 1980s.

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Scott Kirsner was part of the team that launched Boston.com in 1995, and has been writing a column for the Globe since 2000. His work has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, and Variety. Scott is also the author of the books "Fans, Friends & Followers" and "Inventing the Movies," was the editor of "The Convergence Guide: Life Sciences in New England," and was a contributor to "The Good City: Writers Explore 21st Century Boston." Scott also helps organize several local events on entrepreneurship, including the Nantucket Conference and Future Forward. Here's some background on how Scott decides what to cover, and how to pitch him a story idea.