About Sandbar

Sandbar is an interface company in New York City. We aim to expand human thinking. Our team has built software, ML, hardware, and consumer products across Meta, CTRL-labs, Apple, Peloton, and Equinox.

Our first product is Stream, is private voice ring that extends your thinking. Stream has been featured in WSJ, Bloomberg, Wired, and Time's Best Inventions of the Year.

Join us in creating technology that extends human thinking.

About

We’re looking for an experienced infrastructure engineer to help build Stream, a new conversational interface. You will be responsible for developing a highly scalable real-time production service with various steps of ML and data processing. You’ll work closely with other mobile and firmware engineers to deliver the foundations for new human-computer interactions.

Responsibilities

Architect a high-uptime, low-maintenance, and reliable distributed inference system
Lead observability and oncall
Achieve very low latency & jitter with attention to P99 performance
Develop a safe rollout to production process in partnership with ML, SW, and mobile engineers
Implement data pipelines for user-facing features and internal tooling

Qualifications

Proficient in Python and Javascript
Experience in shipping consumer facing interactive real-time services
2+ years owning a live production system in a small team, for large N of users
2+ years working in a big infra teams (Google / Meta / etc)
Technical leadership for building a robust process with the team
Strong ownership on healthy live service

FTE Benefits

Health, vision, and dental benefits
Company-sponsored 401(k)
Unlimited PTO and sick time
Early stage equity

About the company

Sandbar makes Stream, a finger ring that acts as a private voice interface for taking notes, chatting with an AI, and dictating text. To use it, you press the ring’s glass touchpad and speak; the built-in microphone listens only while pressed, with gestures to control notes, reminders, music, and more, and it can work with or without earbuds. It emphasizes privacy by avoiding wake words or always-on mics, uses a private mic and haptic feedback, and sells hardware direct to consumers rather than relying on personal data. Its goal is to be a private, hands-free extension of the mind that helps capture thoughts, memory, and ideas across iOS and Mac.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Series A

Total Funding

$36M

Headquarters

New York City, New York

Founded

2023

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

Sandbar raised $23 million on March 10, 2026, bringing total funding to $36 million.
September 2026 preorder updates added MCP support, web search, reminders, and dictation.
Preorders remain open at $249-$299, with Batch 3 shipping September 2026 and Batch 4 later.

What critics are saying

Batch 1 and Batch 2 sold out, but shipping slipped from summer to fall 2026.
Plaud, Omi, and transcribing earbuds already crowd Sandbar's note-capture niche.
If Stream misses mainstream adoption, Sandbar becomes a capital-intensive gadget company with no platform lock-in.

What makes Sandbar unique

Stream uses push-to-talk hardware, not always-on microphones, reducing privacy friction.
Mina Fahmi and Kirak Hong bring Meta CTRL-Labs human-interface experience.
Sandbar ships a custom ring with haptics, touch gestures, and iOS dictation.

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Benefits

Health Insurance
Vision Insurance
Dental Insurance
Unlimited Paid Time Off
Company Equity

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

1 year growth

10%

2 year growth

39%

TechCrunch

Aug 12th, 2026

Why Stream ring-maker Sandbar says the future of AI wearables is voice | TechCrunch

Watch as Sandbar CEO Mina Fahmi joins Equity to discuss the future of AI wearables and what other AI hardware companies got wrong.

Upstarts Media

Mar 10th, 2026

AI ring startup Sandbar raises $23M to launch Stream note-taking device

Sandbar, an AI hardware startup, has raised $23 million in a Series A round co-led by Adjacent and Kindred Ventures to launch Stream, an AI note-taking ring. The company previously raised $13 million from True Ventures, Upfront and Betaworks. Founded in 2023 by Mina Fahmi and Kirak Hong, who previously worked on Meta's neural wristband project, Sandbar's Stream ring allows users to capture notes and ideas through voice commands with a simple hand-to-mouth gesture. The device, priced between $249 and $299, combines hardware including a haptic motor with customised AI models to process audio inputs and resurface relevant past notes. The startup's 15-person team plans to release Stream this summer, initially focusing on note-taking and brainstorming capabilities. Sandbar envisions the ring serving as an interface for apps like Notion and potentially managing autonomous AI agents.

Tech Funding News

Nov 7th, 2025

Sandbar raises $13M for Stream ring

Sandbar, founded by former Meta engineers, has raised $13M to launch Stream, a voice-controlled smart ring. Stream, described as "a mouse for voice," is worn on the index finger and features built-in microphones and a touchpad. It allows users to capture notes, interact with assistants, and control media through gestures. The ring activates only when pressed, ensuring privacy, and transcribes even whispers into its companion iOS app with high accuracy.

True Ventures

Nov 5th, 2025

Celebrating Sandbar’s Stream Launch

Some physical products can feel like they become part of us, like a watch that you wear every day or a favorite pair of earrings. I believe that Sandbar’s Stream Ring has the potential to be one of them.

Sandbar

Senior Software Engineer - Infrastructure

About the job