Matthew de Jonge spent six years building Fortell after asking why his grandparents had to be coaxed into wearing hearing aids while nobody ever had to remind him to put on glasses. His company raised $163M from Founders Fund, Thrive Capital and Valor Equity Partners’ Antonio Gracias to build hearing aids that sort important sound from noise in real time rather than simply turning everything up. The episode covers a market where five companies make 97% of products, and why insurance rarely pays for them.
An AI hearing aid startup takes on a five-firm cartel
Fortell founder Matthew de Jonge explains how his company raised $163M to rebuild hearing aids around AI instead of amplification.
