Legato emerges from stealth with $12M for AI hearing glasses
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- Legato emerged from stealth with $12 million in funding from Neotribe Ventures, Listen, and Village Global to bring AI hearing glasses called Legato Frames to market later this fall.
- Co-founders Mehul Trivedi and Steve Romine launched the company in late 2024; Trivedi previously led Bose Frames and later ran smart eyewear at EssilorLuxottica (Meta Ray-Bans), while Romine headed Bose's hearing aids division before serving as COO of Audicus.
- The Legato Frames use an AI-powered system to separate voices from background noise and amplify only speech, a different approach from traditional hearing aids' directional microphones that Trivedi says falter in noisy settings like restaurants.
- The frames feature an open-ear dual-speaker design that cancels escaping sound, reducing leakage by 99% just a few inches from the ear while keeping the form factor discreet.
- Legato is targeting adults with mild to moderate hearing loss—the largest segment of the roughly 50 million Americans with hearing loss, of whom only about 20% seek treatment.
- The glasses will be sold through select eye-care providers nationwide, will cost a fraction of traditional hearing aids, and may be eligible for vision insurance when purchased through an eye-care clinic.
Why it matters: With only ~20% of the 50 million Americans with hearing loss currently seeking treatment, Legato's strategy—pairing AI-driven voice isolation with a glasses form factor sold through eye-care channels—attacks the largest underserved segment and could route around the cost and stigma barriers that have kept traditional hearing aids out of reach.
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