The Melbourne, Australia-based hearing start-up Hearables3D announced that it has raised A$1M (USD $734,335) of funding to accelerate its expansion into European and US markets. The investment was led by Significant Early Venture Capital, and Starfish Ventures, alongside ~$200K in grant funding from the Australian Government’s Accelerating Commercialisation program

To steer its growth, Hearables3D has announced the appointment of Iain Mcleod as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer. With over 11 years of industry experience leading 3Shape’s audio business, and more recently, at Formlabs introducing 3D printers and novel materials into audiology, Mcleod will be driving the company’s growth in scanning and automation. 

Iain Mcleod

“Hearables3D already automates the production of thousands of hearing aids every week, working with Minerva Hearing, Amplifon, UniversalDB, and others across the audiology industry to enable manufacturers to zero their CAD lead times, remove CAD labor and software costs, and even reduce remake rates for hearing aids,” said Mcleod. “Combining this benefit with the innovation of scanning using the latest smartphone technology, audiologists can now offer a true next-generation patient experience supported by an automated digital production workflow. These are truly exciting times for those interested in improving the patient experience.”

Anthony Shilton, who has guided the company as interim CEO since January 2020, moves into the role of Executive Chair and will be supporting Mcleod by taking on finance, operations, and investor relations.

Fiona Hindmarsh of Significant said that she was particularly impressed with the caliber of the team and its technology. “Hearables is an excellent illustration of how Australia’s research excellence can underpin the creation of truly competitive globally businesses,” she said.

Anthony Shilton

Having its origins in the research of Dr Phil Kinsella (CTO) during his PhD work at Swinburne, Hindmarsh notes that Hearables had gone on to benefit from the Skalata program and was exceptionally well prepared for this next stage of investment and growth.

“It takes many hands to support the early and rapid development of our next generation of innovators and we are delighted to be working with the team to drive this next exciting phase,” she said.

About Hearables3D

Hearables3D is a Swinburne University spinout whose mission is to democratize custom-fit hearing devices. According to the company, Hearables3D does this by providing B2B tools – its smartphone scanning and automated design technologies – that help simplify the making of custom-fit hearing devices. Since launching in 2018, Hearables3D has partnered with companies such as Sennheiser, Formlabs, and others. 

Source: Hearables3D

Images: Hearables3D