Eargo

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Eargo
TypePublic
Nasdaq: EAR
Founded2010; 12 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]
ProductsHearing aids
RevenueIncrease $45 million (2020)[2]
Number of employees
184 (2020)
WebsiteEargo.com

Eargo is an American hearing aid manufacturer based in San Jose, California.[3][4] The company's hearing aids were inspired in their design by a fishing fly.[5] Each unit is also rechargeable.[6]

History[]

Eargo was founded in 2010 by Florent Michel,[7] his son Raphael Michel, and Daniel Shen.[8] Florent—an ear, nose, and throat surgeon—serves as the designer and inventor[9] while Raphael served as the company's first CEO and Shen as the company's Chief Science & Clinical Officer.[citation needed] Soon after founding the company, they were joined by CTO Bret Hirscher and SVP Engineering Mike Perry, who had worked with Raphael Michel nearly a decade earlier, and Chief Business Officer Matthew Welch. They received seed funding in 2013 from a range of seed funds and angels as well as 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][10]

Eargo announced $25m in Series B funding led by New Enterprise Associatesin December 2015,[11] and in October 2017 closed the first tranche of Series C funding intended to raise $45m.[12] There were other subsequent rounds of funding including a $52M series-D in 2019 and a $71M series-E in mid 2020.[citation needed]

Eargo filed for IPO on September 25, 2020[13] and officially listed on NASDAQ on October 16, 2020.[14]

The first hearing devices were made available for order in June 2015.[9] The Eargo Plus was introduced in 2017[15][16] and in 2018, the Eargo Max was introduced.[17] The Eargo Neo launched in 2019, and in 2020 the Eargo Neo HiFi was launched .[18]

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][19] the fibers allow natural bass sounds to flow more freely into the ear canal,[10][20] so that only treble ranges require amplification.[12]

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][10]

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][15][21][22][23] 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".[15]

References[]

  1. ^ "Leadership | Eargo, Inc".
  2. ^ https://www.thestreet.com/ipo/news/eargo-ipo-launch
  3. ^ a b c Magee, Christine (25 June 2015). "With $13 Million From Maveron, Eargo Is The Hearing Aid Of The Future". TechCrunch. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Eargo Secures $13,000,000 Series A Financing Round". www.Xconomy.com. Xconomy. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  5. ^ Lee, Tyler (26 June 2015). "Eargo Could Be The Hearing Aid Of The Future". UberGizmo. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  6. ^ a b Sarrell, Matthew D. (4 August 2015). "Eargo Hearing Aids". PC Magazine. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d Parvez, Husain (26 June 2015). "Eargo Is The Heading Aid Of The Future: Backed By $13 Million From Maveron". TechVoize. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Innovative hearing aid Eargo available for order". Yahoo. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d e Sherman, Michael (25 June 2015). "Maveron-backed Eargo looks to reinvent the hearing aid with rechargeable devices modeled on a fishing fly". GeekWire. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  10. ^ a b c Perenson, Melissa (25 June 2015). "Hands-on with Eargo, a New Approach to Hearing Aids". Wearables Insider. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  11. ^ "Eargo Raises $25M in Series B Funding From New Enterprise Associates". Reuters. 2015-12-09. Archived from the original on 2015-12-11. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  12. ^ a b Al Idrus, Amirah (2017-10-20). "Eargo pulls in first tranche of series C round worth up to $45M". FierceBiotech.
  13. ^ Nasdaq. "Hearing aid manufacturer Eargo files for a $100 million IPO". Nasdaq.com.
  14. ^ "Eargo, Inc. Announces Upsized Pricing of Initial Public Offering". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  15. ^ a b c Budds, Diana (2017-10-13). "Ammunition Designs Slick Hearing Aids For People Who Don't Want Hearing Aids". FastCo.Design.
  16. ^ "Eargo Plus Hearing Aid Review". www.hearreview.com. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  17. ^ "A Hearing Aid Meant for the Masses: The 50 Best Inventions of 2018". Time. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  18. ^ Kim, Stefani. "Eargo Launches Neo HiFi - Hearing Review". Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  19. ^ Huang, Ruochen (30 July 2015). "Investments For Hearables Surge". TechCrunch. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  20. ^ "Eargo is all about that bass… and that mid-range, and the treble". Medical Plastic News. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  21. ^ Dunhaime-Ross, Arielle (24 August 2015). "Can technology make a hearing-centric world more accessible?". The Verge. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  22. ^ "Eargo Hearing Device". Hearing Tracker. 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  23. ^ Kim, Jiwon (2017-10-18). "Hearing Aids Reinvented To Make Them More Wearable For All". PSFK.

External links[]

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