Bose Ventures was joined by co-investors HAVAÍC who 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.

According to hearX Group CEO, Nic Klopper, “Support from Bose Ventures will enable hearX to more aggressively tackle hearing loss and advance hearing care solutions. Our team has worked tirelessly to touch over 1.5 million lives globally, so an investment of this magnitude in hearX is tremendously rewarding and motivating for us all.”

With the investment hearX has launched its 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. The solution includes the world’s first behavior-change financing model within the hearing space, with the Lexie Rewards^TM 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. The startup initially focused on clinical digital audiometers, later branching out into lead generation tools for audiologists and retailers. It’s 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.

Amrish Narrandes, Head of Unlisted Equity Transactions at Futuregrowth said:

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. 

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.

According to Memory Denalane, Director at Sphere Holdings,

 

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