LAS VEGAS: Ray IoT is creating a non-contact wellness and sleep tracker for babies for which it has received support by Johnson & Johnson and HAX. Ray IoT will be introducing its product at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas 5-8 January. This is the first time a startup from India has been given the support of J&J to create a baby product.

Ray IoT’s maiden product is a device to monitor sleeping babies. It lets parents know on their cell phones if their baby is sleeping well, if it’s breathing normally or it has rolled over. Unlike other baby monitors, Raybaby, as it’s called, doesn’t touch the baby, so it’s non-intrusive.

Bangalore-based Ray IoT, creators of the first non-contact sleep and wellness tracker for babies, announced the support extended by Johnson & Johnson and HAX as part of the Joint Consumer Health Device Accelerator Program. Ray IoT is the first Indian company to be supported by Johnson & Johnson Innovation as part of this initiative.

Famous for its baby products, J&J invests US$8 billion annually on research and development and is now keen to look to outside sources to keep its technology fresh.

According to Ray IoT VP for External Innovation and New Business Models John Bell: “What we are learning is that doing everything on your own is no longer possible. We have found out the hard way every now and then that if you try to do everything, it doesn’t work.” Announcing the program launch, Bell added “We are really focused on working together with the external world to co-create new products.”

Ray IoT co-founder and CEO Ranjana Nair said, “Johnson & Johnson is a household name in India. The first gift you think of buying for a new born baby in India is the Johnson & Johnson baby hamper. We at Ray are excited to be the first Indian company to be a part of this initiative."

Ray IoT will also participate in the demo day by HAX in San Francisco on 10 January, and launch its campaign on Kickstarter on 31 January to collect pre-orders.

Ray IoT has also benefitted from being in China’s Silicon Valley of hardware, Shenzhen.