Deployment

Sandbar, a startup of about fifteen people co-founded by CEO Mina Fahmi and CTO Kirak Hong, both formerly of Meta through its CTRL-Labs acquisition with Fahmi also ex-Magic Leap, is building Stream, an AI conversation-capture smart ring. The aluminum ring has a touch-sensitive top panel and a microphone that is off by default and proximity-tuned, so a wearer lifts a hand toward the face and whispers to record, with the audio transcribed to a companion iOS app that also offers conversational AI chat and media controls; it has no display, no camera, and no health sensors, explicitly distinguishing it from an Oura-style health ring. It is priced at $249 in silver and $299 in gold on pre-order with a $10-per-month Pro subscription, and the company has raised about $36 million, including a $23 million Series A in March 2026 led by Adjacent and Kindred Ventures after a $13 million round in November 2025. The registry records it at pilot and pre-commercial maturity as a deliberate cap-flag: as of mid-2026 it is pre-order only with a summer-2026 ship target and a sold-out first batch, funded and productized but not yet across the shipping line, so it is not classified commercial until general delivery is confirmed. On AI substance the entire product is an AI conversation-capture and assistant device rather than veneer on an audio gadget, but real-world AI quality is unverifiable because there are no independent reviews of shipping units, so all current claims trace to the company and launch coverage.

Stream by Sandbar · Catalog entry · 1 source · not yet field-verified