We are USound

USound is a fast-growing company that enables customers to bring new revolutionary audio products to the market. We provide innovative audio system solutions based on highly scalable MEMS technology. Our revolutionary products include advanced MEMS speakers, audio modules and amplifiers.

We are USound

We dared to design the first MEMS speaker on the market.

USound is disrupting the audio industry, setting new standards in audio experience, and maximizing the degrees of freedom in manufacturing wearables and hearables.

We are leaders in acoustic solutions based on MEMS speakers. Since 2018, we have been enabling our customers to bring new revolutionary audio products to the market. USound achieves this through radical miniaturization, power reduction, and increased production efficiency.

Discover our vision and mission

300+
Patents

4
Offices

70+
Employees

15+
Nationalities

Leadership

CEO & Co-founder

Ferruccio Bottoni

Ferruccio Bottoni is Co-Founder and CEO of USound with the vision to dominate the future audio market by replacing existing technologies. His mission is to enable customers to bring new revolutionary audio products to the market. After attending the University of Milan and joining the UN “Restore Hope” operation in Somalia Ferruccio started his career at STMicroelectronics in 1995 working on developing flash memories. Subsequently, he joined Robert Bosch in 1999 where he was responsible for high-volume production ramp-ups of automotive MEMS products. He finally joined SensorDynamics in 2009 as VP Operations until 2013. During his career, Ferruccio covered several positions including Quality and Reliability Engineer, Process Manufacturing Manager, Technical Purchasing Manager and VP Operations. Ferruccio co-founded USound together with Andrea Rusconi and Jörg Schönbacher and with the support of Herbert Gartner.

CTO & Co-founder

Andrea Rusconi

Andrea Rusconi Clerici has 20+ years of technical experience in the MEMS industry, covering several engineering and management positions in R&D, product development, manufacturing engineering, and operations. He has experience in research (Fraunhofer Institute), large companies (STMicroelectronics, Maxim Integrated) and start-up (Sensordynamics). At STMicroelectronics, he was a key player in realizing the impressive MEMS business growth from scratch to 250M$/Y in 5 years; achievements ranged from new technologies IP and development to product families mass production.

CFO & Chairman

Herbert Gartner

Herbert Gartner is Co-Founder, Chairman, and acting CFO of USound GmbH. In addition to being a serial entrepreneur, Herbert is an investor in disruptive deep tech companies. In 2014 Herbert co-founded USound and eQventure, Austria’s major venture capital investor with a portfolio of more than 30 companies. In 2003 Herbert co-founded the MEMS and semiconductor company SensorDynamics and held positions as CFO and CEO. SensorDynamics was then successfully sold to Maxim Integrated / Analog Devices in 2011, which is still today the largest semiconductor exit deal in Austria. Prior to that, he held management positions at ams AG and Siemens. Herbert is a graduate engineer in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration from the Graz University of Technology and ETH Zurich.

Advisory board

Board Member

Hermann Hauser

As a science-based innovator, venture capitalist, and serial entrepreneur, Hermann has successfully developed and financed over 100 high-tech companies. He is best known for setting up Acorn Computers in 1978 and its spin-out ARM, which was valued at $140 billion by March 2024 after a blockbuster IPO in 2023. He went on to co-found Amadeus Capital Partners in 1997. In 2001, Hermann received an honorary CBE for his innovative service to the UK enterprise sector and an honorary KBE in 2015. Hermann is a Fellow of the UK Institute of Physics and of the Royal Academy of Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge. He is an EIC board member, EIC Fund Board of Directors member, and the EIC pilot advisory Board Vice-Chair.

Board Member

Greg Galvin

Greg Galvin is a pioneer in the field of semiconductors and MEMS technology. As the founder of Kionix, he developed semiconductor-based MEMS sensors in the early 1990s, including a highly successful accelerometer for smartphones. Dr. Galvin holds 58 patents, has published over 20 technical papers and is a member of several scientific societies. He is a member of the Advisory Councils of the Cornell Engineering College, Entrepreneurship at Cornell, and the Cornell Materials Science Department. Greg Galvin has served as a member of the Cornell Board of Trustees. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the California Institute of Technology in electrical engineering, a Ph.D. in materials science, and an MBA from Cornell University.

Board Member

Longzhong Yang

Longzhong Yang is one of the co-founders of BYD and successively served as Deputy General Manager, Vice President, Senior Vice President, and General Manager of the Marketing Department in BYD. He is currently the chairman of Hui Capital, acting as an angel investor in various startups. He graduated from the Central South University of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in physical metallurgical chemistry and holds an EMBA from China Europe International Business School. He has gathered 26 years of marketing and management experience in the manufacturing industry and more than 10 years of successful industrial investment experience.

Board Member

Ignazio Rusconi Clerici

Ignazio Rusconi-Clerici has been acting as board member at USound GmbH since the beginning. He graduated in Civil Engineering and holds a master’s degree from MIT. He has been active in software development since then, founding several software companies both in Italy and US, specializing in financial software and process management and control. Ignazio co-founded IMRS Inc. in 1978 in Stamford (CT), later known as Hyperion Solutions Corporation, acquired by Oracle for $3.3 billion in 2007.

Investors

AWS

Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH (aws) provides financial aid for the formation and location of high-tech companies in Austria on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy, with particular emphasis on the provision of financial aid to technology sectors exhibiting high potential for growth and great innovative strength, such as life sciences, information and communication technology, and physical sciences.

eQventure

eQventure eQventure is one of Austria’s leading venture capital firms with hubs in Austria, Germany, the UK, Israel, the USA, and China. In addition to growth capital, eQventure provides young Austrian high-tech companies with a strong global network and operational support to accelerate their growth. Behind eQventure are several successful entrepreneurs who invest their own money and expertise and take a hands-on role with their portfolio companies.

FFG

The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) is the national funding agency for industrial research and development in Austria. As a “one-stop shop” offering a diversified and targeted program portfolio, the FFG gives Austrian businesses and research facilities quick and uncomplicated access to research funding.

Hermann Hauser

Entrepreneur and venture capital investor Hermann Hauser has been active in the global tech industry for over four decades. One of his biggest successes is the British chip developer ARM, whose chip design is nowadays found in every smartphone. Chipmaker ARM was valued at $140 billion by March 2024 after a blockbuster IPO, which was by far the biggest IPO worldwide in 2023.

Partners

AT&S

Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik Aktiengesellschaft (AT&S AG) is the European market leader and one of the world’s leading producers of high-end printed circuit boards. AT&S is especially well positioned worldwide in the highest tech market segment for HDI microvia printed circuit boards, which are chiefly used in mobile devices. The Group is also highly successful in the automotive printed circuit board market and in the industrial and medical technology sectors. In 2013 AT&S took the next step in implementing its high-tech strategy by entering the IC substrate business as part of a joint venture with a leading global semiconductor manufacturer. As an international growth enterprise, AT&S has a global presence, with three production facilities in Austria (Leoben, Fehring) and one each in India (Nanjangud), China and Korea (Ansan, near Seoul). It currently employs some 7,100 people.

Fraunhofer Institute ISIT

At the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology ISIT, 160 scientists develop and produce power electronics and microsystems according to customers’ specifications. Important areas of application include energy technology, automotive and transport engineering, the consumer goods industry, medical technology, communications technology, and automation. Modern technologies and equipment based on 200 mm Silicon wafer technology plus the expertise built up over decades put Fraunhofer ISIT and its customers at the forefront of the field worldwide. Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft currently employs more than 25,000 engineers all over the world.

STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics is one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies, providing solutions that positively contribute to people’s everyday lives. STMicroelectronics delivers key elements to smart driving and the internet of things. With its corporate headquarters in Geneva, the company employs more than 45,000 people worldwide at 11 main manufacturing sites.

Elemaster

Since 1978 Elemaster Group is an ODM-EMS European leader in the design and supply of electronic boards, complete products, and system solutions for OEM Customers. Present with its EMS facilities in all the continents (Europe, America, Africa, and Asia), Elemaster covers a wide range of sectors, from Railways and Medical to Industrial, Automotive, and Avionics, not to mention, most recently, high-tech niches such as MEMS manufacturing.

Elemaster manages the whole life cycle of Electronics products, from development, co-development, and concept feasibility to fast prototyping, from pre-serial to mass production, creating real turnkey solutions, highly engineered.