Eargo

Last updated

Eargo
Company type Private (2010-20, since 2024); Public (2020-24)
Nasdaq: EAR (2020-24)
Founded2010;14 years ago (2010)
FoundersFlorent Michel (inventor)
Raphael Michel
Daniel Shen
Headquarters
San Jose, California
,
U.S.
Area served
United States
Key people
Christian Gormsen (president, CEO, and director) [1]
Products Hearing aids
RevenueIncrease2.svg $45 million (as of 2020) [2]
Number of employees
184 (2020)
Website www.eargo.com

Eargo is an American hearing aid manufacturer based in San Jose, California. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

History

Eargo was founded in 2010 by Florent Michel, [7] his son Raphael Michel, and Daniel Shen. [8] Florent was an ear, nose, and throat surgeon serving as the designer and inventor [9] whilst Raphael served as the company's first CEO and Shen the company's chief science & clinical officer. [10] In 2013, they received seed funding from a range of funds and angels as well including Maveron. [9] In June 2015, they received $13.6 million in Series A funding from a group of 9 investors, including Maveron, Crosslink Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, and Birchmere Ventures. [3] [11]

Eargo announced $25 million in Series B funding led by New Enterprise Associates in December 2015, [12] and in October 2017 closed the first tranche of Series C funding intended to raise $45m. [13] There were other subsequent rounds of funding including a $52M series-D in 2019 and a $71M series-E in mid 2020. [14]

Eargo filed for IPO on September 25, 2020 [15] and officially listed on NASDAQ on October 16, 2020. [16] It was taken private by Patient Square Capital in January 2024 with its stock being delisted from NASDAQ.

In June 2015, Eargo launched the first hearing devices available for order. [9] The Eargo Plus was introduced in 2017 [17] [18] and, in 2018, the Eargo Max was introduced. [19] The Eargo Neo launched in 2019, and in 2020 the Eargo Neo HiFi was launched. [20]

Products

Eargo hearing aids are certified Class 2 medical devices. Their design is modeled after the standard fishing fly, [7] with a small speaker surrounded by medical-grade silicone fibers (for which the company uses the trademark Flexi Fibers); [7] [21] the fibers allow natural bass sounds to flow more freely into the ear canal, [11] [22] so that only treble ranges require amplification. [13]

The devices come in two sizes and are pre-programmed with four standard profiles. [3] To change the setting, wearers double-tap their ear, and an acoustic switch changes the sound profile. The settings for the devices in each ear can be changed independently. [7] Users can also send their personal audiograms to licensed hearing professionals at Eargo who will custom-calibrate the device for that individual's specific needs. [9] The hearing aids can be charged using a portable charging device that is sold with them, and are designed to hold a charge for up to 16 hours. The charging device itself is designed to last up to a week on a single charge. [9] [6] [11]


The company's founders have stated that these devices are designed with younger people in mind to overcome the stigma surrounding standard, bulky hearing aids. [8] [17] [23] [24] [25] The product designer is Ammunition Design Group, which modeled the shape of the charger on a river rock and designed it for ease of use and high visibility of the hearing aids within; the company logo is based on a visualization of a digital recording of Florent Michel saying "Eargo". [17]

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References

  1. ↑ "Leadership | Eargo, Inc".
  2. ↑ "IPO Launch: Eargo Proposes Terms for $100 Million IPO". Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Magee, Christine (June 25, 2015). "With $13 Million From Maveron, Eargo Is The Hearing Aid Of The Future". TechCrunch . Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Eargo Secures $13,000,000 Series A Financing Round". www.Xconomy.com. Xconomy. June 26, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  5. ↑ Lee, Tyler (June 26, 2015). "Eargo Could Be The Hearing Aid Of The Future". UberGizmo. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  6. 1 2 Sarrell, Matthew D. (August 4, 2015). "Eargo Hearing Aids". PC Magazine . Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Parvez, Husain (June 26, 2015). "Eargo Is The Heading Aid Of The Future: Backed By $13 Million From Maveron". TechVoize. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Innovative hearing aid Eargo available for order". Yahoo. June 25, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Sherman, Michael (June 25, 2015). "Maveron-backed Eargo looks to reinvent the hearing aid with rechargeable devices modeled on a fishing fly". GeekWire . Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  10. ↑ "The Eargo 6 is a virtually invisible hearing aid with new Sound Adjust technology". March 11, 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 Perenson, Melissa (June 25, 2015). "Hands-on with Eargo, a New Approach to Hearing Aids". Wearables Insider. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Eargo Raises $25M in Series B Funding From New Enterprise Associates". Reuters. December 9, 2015. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  13. 1 2 Al Idrus, Amirah (October 20, 2017). "Eargo pulls in first tranche of series C round worth up to $45M". FierceBiotech.
  14. ↑ "Eargo Receives Notification from Nasdaq Related to Delayed Annual Report on Form 10-K".
  15. ↑ Nasdaq. "Hearing aid manufacturer Eargo files for a $100 million IPO". Nasdaq.com.
  16. ↑ "Eargo, Inc. Announces Upsized Pricing of Initial Public Offering". Seekingalpha. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  17. 1 2 3 Budds, Diana (October 13, 2017). "Ammunition Designs Slick Hearing Aids For People Who Don't Want Hearing Aids". FastCo.Design.
  18. ↑ "Eargo Plus Hearing Aid Review". www.hearreview.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  19. ↑ "A Hearing Aid Meant for the Masses: The 50 Best Inventions of 2018". Time . Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  20. ↑ Kim, Stefani (January 7, 2020). "Eargo Launches Neo HiFi - Hearing Review" . Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  21. ↑ Huang, Ruochen (July 30, 2015). "Investments For Hearables Surge". TechCrunch . Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Eargo is all about that bass ... and that mid-range, and the treble". Medical Plastic News. June 30, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  23. ↑ Dunhaime-Ross, Arielle (August 24, 2015). "Can technology make a hearing-centric world more accessible?". The Verge . Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Eargo Hearing Device". Hearing Tracker. 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  25. ↑ Kim, Jiwon (October 18, 2017). "Hearing Aids Reinvented To Make Them More Wearable For All". PSFK.
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