Bose Ventures leads $8.3M funding round into hearX Group

We are very excited to share the news that Bose Ventures, who invests in, and collaborates with, start-ups focused on technologies to help people live and feel better; recognized the value that hearX’s suite of smart hearing technologies bring to the world by investing in hearX®, at the end of 2019.

Co-investors HAVAÍC contributed $1.3m to the round. Futuregrowth, a fixed-interest asset manager backed by Old Mutual Investment Group in South Africa contributed $3m through its Futuregrowth Development Equity Fund (DEF), and Sphere Holdings, a high-performing investment holding company contributed $1m in this round, closing out the round in 2020.

Supplying disruptive, innovative digital technologies that support audiologists is central to our global hearing care strategy. To expand our reach, we are applying our audiological expertise to also offer a solution to a consumer market segment.

This investment has boosted the launch of our premium, direct-to-consumer hearing aid solution, in the United States called Lexie Hearing. Using smart technology, Lexie offers a comprehensive and affordable US developed hearing aid solution from as little as $39 over 24 months without compromising on quality. Consumers can enjoy the convenience of purchasing quality hearing aids online, program them from the comfort of their homes, and have access to hearing experts on-demand. Our award-winning solution includes the world’s first behavior-change financing model within the hearing space, with the Lexie RewardsTM program, landing it the MTN App of the Year award at the end of 2020 for the Best Health Solution. Since launching in the United States, Lexie Hearing has collaborated with Walgreens, the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the country, to sell the Lexie Lumen hearing aids online across 38 States.

Founded out of the University of Pretoria in South Africa, hearX® started trading in 2016 with the purpose of commercializing digital technologies to change the face of hearing care. We initially focused on clinical digital audiometers, later branching out into lead generation tools for audiologists and retailers. Our latest offering includes an end-to-end hearing care solution that allows role-players in the hearing aid industry to compete in the direct-to-consumer and over-the-counter markets through the groundbreaking Lexie Hearing platform. We have, quite literally, grown at the speed of sound.

Says Amrish Narrandes, Head of Unlisted Equity Transactions at Futuregrowth, {% img 23-02-2020-Quote1.svg %}

According to Memory Denalane, Director at Sphere Holdings, {% img 23-02-2020-Quote2.svg %}

In the last 4 years hearX® has grown into a scale-up with global impact across 68 countries touching over one and a half million lives and boasts a client list that includes 23andme and The World Health Organisation. We have received further industry attention at TechCrunch in San Francisco, where we were invited to the Startup Alley, eventually winning a “Top Pick” award, as well as being noted by Forbes as “one to watch”. hearX® has amassed an impressive list of dozens of awards across the world in our short lifespan, a testament to our dynamic team. When we were asked about working with Bose and how it will impact our mission, CEO, Nic Klopper said, {% img 23-02-2020-Quote3.svg %}

More than 466 million people worldwide suffer from disabling hearing loss and access to hearing care is severely limited, especially in developing countries. Hearing test equipment is prohibitively expensive and hearing aids unaffordable to most. As such, this latest round of funding helps support our suite of technologies to lead the way towards our vision of healthy hearing for everyone, everywhere.