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Eargo, Inc.
Company typePrivate
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]
ProductsHearing aids
RevenueIncrease $45 million (as of 2020)[2]
Number of employees
184 (2020)
Websitewww.eargo.com

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

History

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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

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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]

References

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  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. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b Sarrell, Matthew D. (August 4, 2015). "Eargo Hearing Aids". PC Magazine. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b "Innovative hearing aid Eargo available for order". Yahoo. June 25, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c 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.
[edit]
  • Official website
  • Business data for Eargo:
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