Background
It started with a simple question: why can't a radio link automatically appear on a listener's phone? This sparked an exploration into using sound as a data transmission medium — not Bluetooth, NFC, or Wi-Fi, but sound itself.
The realization: more speakers exist globally than people — embedded in phones, TVs, laptops, and kiosks. This led to founding Trillbit, a Techstars-backed, venture-funded startup that developed a patented ultrasonic Data-over-Sound SDK.
Create a new, invisible protocol layer that allows machines to talk to each other — through sound.
The Problem
Onboarding "headless" devices (smart bulbs, sensors, kiosks, wearables) has always been painful:
- Bluetooth pairing — Manual steps, RF environment failures
- QR/barcode scanning — Requires alignment and lighting
- Wi-Fi provisioning — Password entry, network selection challenges
There is no lightweight, universal, offline method to pass small, secure payloads between nearby devices. Radio-based solutions require RF availability, pairing handshakes, or extra radios — yet every device has sound capabilities.
Devices could hear — they just didn't know how to listen.
The Solution
Trillbit created a software-only ultrasonic SDK transmitting encrypted data via inaudible sound waves:
- Any speaker becomes a transmitter; any microphone, a receiver
- Cross-platform — iOS, Android, embedded, web
- Encrypted ultrasonic bursts detectable in under one second
- No pairing or touch required
- Two-way communication with one-to-many broadcast
- Range: from sub-1 meter to 10+ meters
My Role
As founding product leader, I wore many hats:
- Product & Technical Strategy — Roadmap across authentication, IoT onboarding, and payments
- UX & Demo Design — Interfaces demonstrating the technology's potential
- Developer Experience — Integration docs and sandbox tools, reducing SDK integration time by 60%
- Team Leadership — Hired and led 12 engineers and 6 designers across India and the U.S., improving shipping velocity by 20%
- Go-to-Market — 100+ live demos, marketing materials, enterprise pilots reducing sales cycles by 40%
- IP & Standards — Co-authored 2 U.S. patents; FIDO-aligned encryption and tokenization
Results & Impact
- Trusted by Bose, Samsung, and Bosch
- Use cases: authentication, payments, IoT onboarding, access & check-in
- Featured in The Economic Times, Times of India, and Business Standard
- Awarded Best IoT India Startups and Top 5 Emerging Startups (TiE, 2019)
- Strategic partner to Knowles (SmartMic product lines)