Legato, a hearing-technology startup, emerged from stealth on Wednesday with $12 million in funding and revealed initial details about its AI-assisted eyewear, Legato Frames. According to the company’s exclusive briefing to TechCrunch, the funds — provided by Neotribe Ventures, Listen, and Village Global — have largely been directed toward product development and marketing.
Founders and origins
Legato was founded by Mehul Trivedi and Steve Romine, who both have extensive backgrounds in wearables and hearing care. Trivedi led the creation of Bose Frames at Bose and later worked on smart eyewear projects at EssilorLuxottica, including involvement with the Meta Ray‑Bans. Romine ran Bose’s hearing aids division and later served as COO at hearing care company Audicus. The pair founded Legato in late 2024 after Trivedi encountered a technology he believed could merge hearing assistance with smart eyewear.
What Legato Frames do
Legato Frames integrate the company’s patented hearing-assistance technology into the arms of eyewear frames. The product targets people with mild to moderate hearing loss, which Legato says is the largest segment of the hearing-loss population. The company aims to address common barriers to hearing care — cost, comfort, and stigma — by producing a small, lightweight eyewear form factor built around a proprietary acoustic system, signal-processing stack, and mechanical architecture.
Although the frames use an open-ear design, sound is not broadcast to people nearby. A dual‑speaker system directs audio toward the wearer while canceling escaped sound; the company says the design reduces audible leakage by 99% a few inches from the ear.
AI-based noise separation and speech focus
Rather than relying on directional microphones typical of many hearing aids, Legato uses an AI-powered approach to distinguish background noise from voices and amplify primarily the voices. The objective is to make conversations clearer without creating the cognitively fatiguing listening experience that some traditional hearing aids can produce.
Mehul Trivedi described the company’s ambition as making hearing “as ubiquitous as vision”: delivering a discreet, everyday eyewear product that requires minimal controls or configuration and works across situations throughout the day.
Availability and price positioning
Legato expects the frames to launch later this fall and says they will be sold through select eye‑care providers nationwide. The company states the frames will “cost a fraction” of traditional hearing aids and may be eligible for vision insurance coverage when purchased through an eye‑care clinic.
Why it matters
Hearing loss affects an estimated 50 million adults in the United States, but only about 20% of those with diagnosed hearing loss seek treatment. Legato’s approach aims to expand access to hearing care by offering an integrated, everyday wearable that addresses comfort and stigma while focusing on speech clarity. The company also points to broader health and social benefits of improved hearing, including stronger social connection and potential reductions in dementia and depression risks.
The new funding is intended to support continued product development and go‑to‑market efforts as Legato prepares for the public launch of its AI-enabled Frames.
