Wakez

Cover Block

Name	Wakez
Tagline	Digital health startup using wearables and AI for sleep-time interventions and mental-health signals.
Headquarters	Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Founded	2017
Stage	Seed
Business Model	B2C
Industry	Healthtech
Technology	AI / Machine Learning
Geography	Eastern Europe
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Co-Founders (3+) [Adevărul, 2019]
Funding Label	Seed (total disclosed ~$1,610,000) [ZF IT Generation, July 2025]

Links

• Website: https://wakez.ai/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wakez

What an Investor Needs First

Wakez is a Romanian digital health startup attempting to convert passive sleep data from wearables into a therapeutic platform for mental health [ZF IT Generation, July 2025]. Founded in 2017 by a group of medical students, the company has evolved from an app delivering subliminal vibrations for sleep improvement to a system that frames sleep-stage manipulation as a tool for antidepressant treatment [Adevărul, 2019] [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief]. Its core differentiation rests on a claimed ability to apply haptic interventions during sleep without waking the user, leveraging what it terms "REM pressure" for therapeutic effect [WakeZ Use Cases, retrieved 2026].

The founding team's clinical orientation is a key asset, with co-founder Zaki Milhem serving as a practicing psychiatrist and lecturer at a major Cluj-Napoca medical university [Zaki Milhem - WakeZ - hack your sleep | LinkedIn, retrieved 2026]. To fund this pivot, Wakez secured approximately €1.5 million in seed capital from regional development agency ADR Nord-Vest in mid-2025, with a business model targeting both a direct-to-consumer subscription (€7-10/month) and institutional sales to mental-health clinics [ZF IT Generation, July 2025]. Over the coming year, the critical watchpoints will be the company's progress toward its forecasted revenue and its stated goal of achieving medical device registration in the European Union.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core funding and team details are confirmed, but key product claims and revenue projections are sourced from a single regional outlet.

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis	Classification
Stage	Seed
Business Model	B2C
Industry / Vertical	Healthtech
Technology Type	AI / Machine Learning
Geography	Eastern Europe
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Co-Founders (3+)
Funding	Seed (total disclosed ~$1,610,000)

Inside the Company

Wakez operates as a digital health startup from Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The company was founded in 2017, originating from a project developed by a group of medical students aiming to apply clinical insights to consumer technology [Adevărul, 2019]. Its public narrative has evolved from a focus on general sleep improvement to a more targeted platform for mental health interventions, a shift reflected in its participation in the EIT Health InnoStars Grand Final in 2023 [EIT Health / YouTube, 2023].

A significant milestone was reached in July 2025, when the company secured €1.5 million (approximately $1.61 million) in a seed financing round led by the regional development agency ADR Nord-Vest [ZF IT Generation, July 2025]. This capital injection is intended to support product development and the pursuit of regulatory certification as a medical device within the European Union. The company's leadership includes co-founder Zaki Milhem, who holds a dual role as a practicing psychiatrist at a local hospital and a lecturer at the Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca [LinkedIn, retrieved 2026].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Founding details and funding are corroborated by regional press; key team member is confirmed via LinkedIn.

Under the Hood

Wakez's product is a digital health platform that uses consumer wearables, primarily the Apple Watch, to monitor sleep and deliver haptic interventions. The core proposition is to turn passive sleep data into a therapeutic tool, with a focus on improving sleep quality and, more recently, addressing mental health conditions like depression.

The platform operates through a smartphone application paired with a smartwatch. Its primary function is a smart alarm system that uses AI to analyze sleep stages and wake the user at an optimal time within a preset window. A more distinctive feature is its sleep-time intervention capability. The system applies subtle, subliminal vibration stimuli during specific sleep phases, such as REM sleep, with the stated goal of altering sleep architecture without waking the user [WakeZ Use Cases, retrieved 2026]. The company's later public framing positions this manipulation of "REM pressure" as a mechanism for antidepressant treatment [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief]. The technology stack is inferred to involve sensor fusion algorithms processing data from the watch's accelerometer and heart rate sensor, combined with machine learning models for sleep stage classification and intervention timing.

Public descriptions also mention a cognitive forecasting feature, which provides users with predictions about their next day based on sleep data. The go-to-market model is a direct-to-consumer subscription, priced between €7 and €10 per month [ZF IT Generation, July 2025]. While the company aims for certification as a medical device in the European Union, its current public materials and app store presence frame it as a wellness product.

Metric	Value
Digital Therapeutics (Global) 2022	$5.1B
Digital Therapeutics (Global) 2027	$17.7B
Consumer Sleep Tech (Global) 2023	$15B

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing relies on analogous, third-party reports; specific TAM for the company's niche is not confirmed.

Competition and Substitutes

Wakez enters a crowded digital health arena by focusing on a specific, under-addressed intersection: using passive sleep-time interventions to generate mental-health signals.

Company	Positioning	Stage / Funding	Notable Differentiator
Wakez	Wearable-first sleep intervention & mental-health signal detection via haptics/AI.	Seed (~€1.5M).	Targets REM pressure for antidepressant treatment; low-burden, sleep-time delivery.
WHOOP	Performance optimization via 24/7 physiological monitoring & recovery coaching.	Venture-backed; >$400M raised.	Strong brand in athletic/elite performance; subscription model with high user engagement.
Flow Neuroscience	Prescription home treatment for depression using brain stimulation (tDCS) & therapy app.	Venture-backed.	CE-marked medical device for MDD; clinical evidence base for its primary modality.
Ultrahuman	Metabolic health platform using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) & wearables.	Venture-backed.	Focus on real-time metabolic data (blood glucose) as primary health signal.
Alphabeats	Mental fitness training using heart-rate coherence biofeedback via audio.	Early-stage.	Uses real-time heart-rate variability (HRV) feedback through headphones for stress reduction.
Neurable	Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology for cognitive state monitoring & control.	Venture-backed.	Enterprise-focused BCI for attention measurement; direct neural signal acquisition.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor data drawn from secondary aggregators; Wakez's differentiation claims are from its own materials and one regional press interview.

Opportunity

The prize for Wakez is a position at the intersection of two large, underserved markets: consumer sleep technology and digital therapeutics for mental health, where a validated, non-invasive intervention could command significant recurring revenue from both individuals and healthcare systems.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core product mechanism is confirmed by company source; growth scenarios and market comparables are supported by cited reports, but clinical and commercial traction remain unverified.

Sources

1. [Adevărul, 2019] Aplicaţia de smartphone menită să manipuleze creierul pentru un somn profund. Doi tineri români au lucrat la proiect | https://adevarul.ro/lifestyle/viata-sanatoasa/aplicatia-smartphone-menita-manipuleze-creierul-somn-profund-doi-tineri-romani-lucrat-proiect-1_5c9f3c8cdf52022f758f7b5c/index.html
2. [EIT Health / YouTube, 2023] Meet WakeZ - the 2023 EIT Health InnoStars Grand Final winner | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example
3. [Failory] WHOOP | https://www.failory.com/startups/wearables
4. [LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] Zaki Milhem - WakeZ - hack your sleep | LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/zaki-milhem-747815100/
5. [MarketsandMarkets, 2022] Digital Therapeutics Market | https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/digital-therapeutics-market-51646724.html
6. [McKinsey, 2023] The future of sleep health | https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/life-sciences/our-insights/the-future-of-sleep-health-a-waking-opportunity-for-patient-centric-care
7. [Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2021] Sleep and mental health | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41583-021-00532-x
8. [Seedtable] Flow Neuroscience | https://www.seedtable.com/best-sleep-tracking-startups
9. [WakeZ Use Cases, retrieved 2026] Use cases - WakeZ | https://wakez.ai/use-cases/
10. [WHO, 2022] World mental health report | https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240049338
11. [ZF IT Generation, July 2025] Start-up pitch, Start-up-ul deep tech WakeZ a atras 1,5 mil. euro pentru a dezvolta o tehnologie de monitorizare a somnului în timp real | https://www.zf.ro/zf-it-generation/zf-it-generation-start-up-pitch-start-up-ul-deep-tech-wakez-atras-1-23021613
12. [ZF IT Generation, retrieved 2026] Start-up pitch, Start-up-ul deep tech WakeZ a atras 1,5 mil. euro pentru a dezvolta o tehnologie de monitorizare a somnului în timp real | https://www.zf.ro/zf-it-generation/zf-it-generation-start-up-pitch-start-up-ul-deep-tech-wakez-atras-1-23021613