Mave Health aims to improve attention and mood with its brain-stimulating headset

Mave Health, a San Francisco-based startup founded in 2023, has developed a $495 neuromodulation headset designed to improve attention, mood, and stress regulation while also measuring mental health metrics. The device uses transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), delivering a low 1-2 mA current to the brain, and is intended for daily 20-minute sessions. Accompanied by an app, the headset tracks long-term trends in mood, focus, and stress, integrating with other health data like Heart Rate Variability (HRV). The founders, motivated by personal experiences and gaps in mental health progress measurement, positioned the headset as a lifestyle device rather than a medical one, allowing broader market access without FDA clearance. Although Mave Health has not yet conducted formal clinical trials or published peer-reviewed studies, it has engaged over 500 users in private beta testing during 2024-2025, reporting that 80% experienced a 60% increase in productivity