A former touring musician who performed at Glastonbury is now building an AI-powered startup designed to transform how people experience music.
Ben Etches, founder of Sineco, has swapped life on stage for entrepreneurship, developing a platform that creates real-time adaptive audio shaped by a user’s biometric data – including heart rate, movement and activity.
Based in Greater Manchester, Sineco is aiming to become a global leader in adaptive audio for fitness, wellbeing and performance, turning music into a responsive, personalised experience.
“A year ago, I was playing Glastonbury and touring with my best mates. Today, I’m building a startup,” said Ben.
“I saw an opportunity to create something music has never been before – reactive, personalised, and shaped by your real-time data.”
Sineco’s technology moves beyond traditional playlists by generating music that evolves in sync with the listener’s body and environment.
By integrating with wearable devices, the platform can respond instantly to biometric signals, helping users focus, train, relax or recover more effectively.
The concept builds on Ben’s background as a producer and songwriter, with credits spanning more than 30 million streams, now applied to a new kind of music-tech venture.
Sineco began with early prototype funding from the University of Manchester, but scaling the idea into a usable product required more advanced technical development.
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The business has since worked with specialists to build the AI systems, data pipelines and app infrastructure needed to deliver real-time adaptive audio at scale.
Two phases of grant-funded innovation support, totalling £40,000, have enabled the startup to move from proof of concept to a production-ready platform, including early app development and integration with wearable technology.
This has positioned the business for pilot activity, investor engagement and further product refinement.
Sineco is now targeting 50,000 users by 2027, with ambitions that extend beyond a single product.
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Its technology could be deployed across fitness platforms, wellbeing apps and gaming environments, as well as integrated directly into wearable devices as a scalable adaptive audio layer.
The company also plans to create eight new jobs as it continues to build its technical capability and commercial presence.
“We’re building something that can sit at the intersection of music, health and technology,” Ben added.
“When music adapts to your body in real time, it becomes more immersive and effective. That’s what we want to bring to people at scale.”
Yvonne Grady, Director of Innovation and Digitisation at GM Business Growth Hub, said: “Sineco is a brilliant example of how creative talent and technology can come together to create entirely new markets.
“By combining a strong founding vision with the right technical expertise and partnerships, the business is turning an ambitious idea into a scalable product with global potential.”