Wearable tech company Thalmic Labs raises $120 million from Intel, Amazon, and others – VentureBeat.

Thalmic Labs, the Canada-based wearable technology company, has announced a substantial $120 million (USD) Series B funding round led by Intel Capital, the Amazon Alexa Fund, and Fidelity Investments Canada.

Founded out of Ontario in 2012, Thalmic is best known for the Myo, a gesture- and motion-guided armband that taps the electrical activity in your muscles to control a range of devices such as drones, computers, smartphones, and other contraptions with built-in wireless connectivity.

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Wow, that’s a big round – what’s interesting (to us) is the investors and what this device does. The investor, specifically, Amazon Alexa fund – perhaps they’re planning a wearable “Alexa” or “Echo” on the go, as in a wearable portable version, Amazon’s upcoming VR gear, we think they’re going to announce something soon. There does seem to be a potential move away from stand-alone, fitness trackers for wearables – the story that came out yesterday touches on that “Not All Who Wear Fitness Trackers Are Lost” (Effect of Wearable Technology Combined With a Lifestyle Intervention on Long-term Weight Loss). Here’s our previous mentions of Thalmic and Myo (including a take-apart video).