Hearing loss affects an estimated 50 million adults in the United States, yet only about 20% of those with diagnosed hearing loss seek treatment. Legato, a new hearing technology company, aims to close this gap by making hearing care more accessible.
On Wednesday, the startup emerged from stealth mode with $12 million in funding and revealed its first look at AI-powered hearing glasses, the Legato Frames. These glasses integrate the company’s patented hearing-assistance technology directly into the arms of eyewear frames, with a launch expected later this fall.
Co-founded by Mehul Trivedi and Steve Romine, Legato brings extensive experience from Bose, where Trivedi led the creation of Bose Frames and Romine ran the hearing aids division. Trivedi previously worked at EssilorLuxottica on smart eyewear, including the Meta Ray-Bans, while Romine served as COO of Audicus.
After leaving larger companies, Trivedi took time to explore the intersection of hearing technology and smart eyewear. He discovered technology that could bridge these two worlds and contacted Romine, founding Legato in late 2024. “Our goal is to make hearing as ubiquitous as vision,” Trivedi stated. “It’s kind of a no-brainer that you go to an eye exam, you get your glasses, you wear your glasses, and you’re happy, and you do that for the rest of your life — and the idea of it being blurry again where you would just stop wearing them is not a consideration. I think that’s what we want to do with hearing: just make it something that people address and almost forget about.”
Legato is targeting individuals with mild to moderate hearing loss, which represents the largest segment of the hearing-loss population.
The company set out to address the cost, comfort, and stigma of traditional hearing aids by creating the smallest and lightest possible frames. They developed a proprietary acoustic system, signal-processing stack, and mechanical architecture to achieve this discreet design.
Unlike traditional hearing aids that use directional microphones, Legato uses an AI-powered system to differentiate between background noise and voices, amplifying only the speech. The goal is to clarify conversations without causing the cognitive strain often associated with standard hearing aids.
“We wanted to deliver an experience that was unique,” Trivedi explained. “So a form factor that’s really discreet and looks normal. They’re meant to feel and look like regular glasses. And so, we want it to be a product that’s effortless, easy to use, with kind of no controls that you need to fiddle with, works everywhere, works throughout your day, doesn’t need a ton of configuration, and just delivers you better hearing.”
Featuring an open-ear design, the frames prevent sound from broadcasting to others. The dual-speaker system directs sound toward the wearer while canceling sound that escapes, reducing surrounding noise by 99% just a few inches away from the ear.
Funding from Neotribe Ventures, Listen, and Village Global has primarily supported product development and marketing efforts. “We have an opportunity to address a population with this product and build something that delivers without all the compromises of traditional hearing aids,” Trivedi noted. “Hearing, at first glance, it’s not so much just like ‘I want to hear the TV better.’ It’s really about connection. When you hear better, you connect to the world. It reduces dementia risk and depression risk,” he continued.
Legato plans to launch the frames later this year through select eye-care providers nationwide. The glasses will cost a fraction of traditional hearing aids and may be eligible for vision insurance when purchased through an eye-care clinic.
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