2017
Trillbit Inc
Trillbit Inc
Background
It started with a voice on the radio.
I was listening to an NPR segment — a trusted host mentioned a web link. I loved the show, but I knew the drill: remember the link, forget it five minutes later.
Why can’t that link just appear on my phone?
That tiny question spiraled into a bigger idea: what if we could use sound itself to transmit data?
Not Bluetooth. Not NFC. Not Wi-Fi.
Just sound.
The hunch deepened. I realized there were more speakers in the world than people — embedded in phones, TVs, laptops, even kiosks. Could we create a new protocol that turned sound into a connectivity layer?
That was the beginning of Trillbit -a Techstars-backed, venture-funded startup that developed a patented ultrasonic Data-over-Sound SDK. Our mission was simple but radical:
Create a new, invisible protocol layer that allows machines to talk to each other — through sound.
Core problem
The world is filling up with “headless” devices—smart bulbs, sensors, kiosks, wearables—yet onboarding them still feels like solving a Rubik’s Cube blind-folded.
Common onboarding path | Core friction | Result |
|---|---|---|
Bluetooth pairing | Requires manual pairing flow, fails in noisy RF environments | Drop-offs, repeated attempts |
QR / bar-code scan | Needs camera alignment & lighting, forces 2-device dance | User frustration, higher returns |
Wi-Fi provisioning | Password entry, network selection, captive portals | Long setup, many support tickets |
Those frictions cascade into real costs: higher return rates, abandoned carts, and endless “Why won’t it connect?” support threads.
But beneath the UX pain lies a deeper, infrastructure-level gap:
There is no lightweight, universal, offline method to pass small, secure payloads between nearby devices.
Radio-based solutions (Bluetooth, NFC, Wi-Fi) all assume RF availability, pairing handshakes, or extra radios. Yet every phone, speaker, and kiosk already carries a far more ubiquitous interface: sound.
Devices could hear—they just didn’t know how to listen.
This was the gap Trillbit set out to close.
Solution
Trillbit developed a software-only ultrasonic SDK that transmits encrypted data using inaudible sound waves — enabling devices to communicate without internet, Bluetooth, or NFC.
Any speaker becomes a transmitter. Any microphone, a receiver.
The SDK works cross-platform (iOS, Android, embedded, web), and broadcasts short bursts of encrypted ultrasonic sound that nearby devices can detect and decode — in under a second, without pairing or touch.
Feature | Trillbit | QR | NFC | BLE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Two- way Communication | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
One-to-many broadcast | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Zero setup / pairing | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Range >10 meters | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Can limit range to <1 meter | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Contactless
No scanning, tapping, or typing
Offline
Works without any network dependency
Device-Agnostic
Compatible with any mic/speaker device
Secure
AES/RSA encryption with TOTP
Low-Power
More efficient than BLE — ideal for embedded systems
My Role
As Trillbit’s founding product leader, I wore multiple hats — and built the rack they hung on. My role spanned product strategy, UX design, developer experience, go-to-market, and deep technical collaboration.
The core challenge? Turning ultrasonic signal processing — a complex, niche technology — into a developer-friendly, secure, cross-platform SDK that could be used by startups and enterprises alike.
Key contributions:
Product & Technical Strategy: Defined the roadmap across multiple use cases (authentication, IoT onboarding, payments), working closely with engineering to shape the SDK architecture.
UX & Demo Design: Designed and built web/mobile interfaces and demos that made the “invisible” feel magical — showcasing Trillbit’s potential to clients, investors, and partners.
Developer Experience: Authored integration docs, sandbox tools, and onboarding flows that cut SDK integration time by 60%.
Team Leadership: Hired and led a global team (12 engineers, 6 designers) across India and the U.S., implementing agile systems that improved shipping velocity by 20%.
Go-to-Market Enablement: Drove 100+ live demos, built marketing collaterals, and supported enterprise pilots that helped shorten sales cycles by 40%.
IP & Standards: Co-authored 2 U.S. patents and implemented encryption/tokenization workflows that aligned with FIDO standards.
Demos
Results and Impact
From idea to industry recognition — here’s what we achieved.
Trillbit’s Data-over-Sound technology evolved from a bold thesis into a production-grade platform, backed by $2.5M in venture funding (Techstars, strategic angels), adopted across industries, and validated by global security bodies.
Trusted and tested by companies like Bose, Samsung, and Bosch, Trillbit’s SDK powered diverse use cases across:
Authentication (passkey login, multi-factor flows)
Payments (offline ticketing, PoS tokens)
IoT Onboarding (headless device setup)
Access & Check-in (smart lock and venue authentication)
Recognition & Press:
📰 Featured in The Economic Times, Times of India, and Business Standard
🚀 Awarded as Best startups (IOT India ) and Top 5 emerging startups (TIE,2019 )
🤝 Strategic partner to Knowles, embedding Trillbit into SmartMic product lines
💡 2 granted U.S. patents on ultrasonic data transfer
Beyond metrics, Trillbit proved that sound can be more than audio — it can be a protocol. A quiet, invisible bridge between physical devices and digital identity.
At its core, Trillbit wasn't just a workaround for pairing problems or a shortcut to reduce setup time.
It was a reimagination of how machines communicate in the physical world — using sound as a universal, ambient, and inherently human medium.
We envisioned a world where:
Authentication happens without effort — no passwords, no pairing, just presence.
Devices onboard themselves — instantly, even in offline or edge environments.
Communication is invisible and ephemeral — no wires, no clicks, no UI.
By using ultrasonic sound as a connectivity layer, we made it possible for machines to collaborate without infrastructure, interact without friction, and operate securely without the internet.
Sound is local. Secure. Temporal.
It's the most ambient interface in existence — and we turned it into a protocol.
In a future shaped by agents, edge devices, and voice-first interfaces, Trillbit’s approach offers a foundational primitive:
communication without APIs, pairing, or cloud. Just air.