The company will expand its team and product offerings, including direct-to-consumer operations, thanks to the FDA’s approval of over-the-counter sales of hearing aids.
Hearing technology and audiology care company Yes Hearing, which provides an online platform and at-home treatment for the hearing impaired, scored $10 million in Series A funding round led by Blue Heron Capital.
Other participants in the round include Ensemble Innovation Ventures, Primetime Partners, Maccabee Ventures and Gaingels.
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WHAT IT’S FOR
The new investment round will help the company scale its direct-to-consumer operations, speed up the development of its home care platform, and strengthen its market, service and product offerings.
New York-based Yes Hearing will also add Todd Walrath, CEO of HomeCare.com and ShiftMed, to its board of directors.
“The FDA’s recent decision to allow over-the-counter sales is amazing for hearing aid awareness and access. We are very excited for more people to get the hearing aids they need, but hearing care is so much more than that. Yes Hearing offers an in-home service that provides the knowledge and counseling required to increase the actual usage of hearing aids. This leads to long-term health benefits beyond just hearing, including communication, mobility, dementia prevention and more,” Sam Shear, CEO of Yes Hearing, told MobiHealthNews.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
The FDA established a new regulatory category that came into effect in October for over-the-counter hearing aids that don’t require a prescription, medical exam or fitting adjustment.
Other companies in the space include Eargo, which rolled out its sixth-generation hearing aid in January. The updated devices are equipped with “mask mode” to help mitigate the challenges one faces when speaking to someone wearing a mask.
AI-powered hearing aid maker Audibel offers automatic volume adjustment and fall detection capabilities, and audio equipment maker Bose allows users to fit, program and control its SoundControl hearing aids directly from a smartphone.
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