# Legato raises $12M to turn ordinary glasses into OTC hearing aids > Source: > Published: 2026-08-26 12:22:21+00:00 # Legato raises $12M to turn ordinary glasses into OTC hearing aids **Bose veterans Mehul Trivedi and Steve Romine plan a fall launch through selected eye-care providers, betting eyewear can normalize hearing support.** By [RuntimeWire Staff](/author/runtimewire-staff) ยท Published Primary source: [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/26/hearing-tech-startup-legato-emerges-from-stealth-with-12m-and-a-peek-at-its-ai-hearing-glasses/) ## Why it matters Legato's founders helped build the audio-glasses and OTC hearing categories. Their new bet is that optical clinics can distribute hearing aids more effectively than hearing clinics or online stores. Mehul Trivedi and Steve Romine brought [Legato](https://www.legatohearing.com/?ref=runtimewire) out of stealth on Wednesday with $12 million in funding and glasses designed to serve as an over-the-counter hearing aid. Legato Frames place microphones, speakers and hearing-assistance electronics inside the arms of eyewear, with a commercial launch planned for later in fall 2026, according to [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/26/hearing-tech-startup-legato-emerges-from-stealth-with-12m-and-a-peek-at-its-ai-hearing-glasses/?ref=runtimewire). The founders have spent much of their careers working toward this product from opposite sides of the hearing market. Trivedi worked on Core Audio and OpenAL at Apple, co-founded music startup NoiseToys, worked at Jawbone and led the creation of Bose Frames. [Bose](https://www.bose.com/?ref=runtimewire) identified him as director of Bose Frames, while [TechCrunch reported his Apple and NoiseToys background](https://techcrunch.com/2010/05/25/noisetoys/?ref=runtimewire). He later ran smart-eyewear work at EssilorLuxottica, including work on the Ray-Ban Meta program. Romine spent roughly 17 years at Bose, eventually overseeing its hearing business, before becoming chief operating officer at direct-to-consumer hearing provider [Audicus](https://www.theorg.com/org/audicus/org-chart/steve-romine?ref=runtimewire). That pairing gives Legato a useful division of experience. Trivedi knows the engineering compromises involved in squeezing open-ear audio into eyewear people will wear in public. Romine has run hearing products, clinical functions and commercialization, and is a registered patent attorney. Legato is taking a medical device through the optical channel, where hardware, regulation, fitting and fashion all matter at once. FCC-related records place Legato Audio in Falmouth, Massachusetts. ### The founders are moving hearing care into the optical shop Trivedi started exploring the overlap between smart eyewear and hearing technology after leaving larger businesses. He found an approach he believed could combine the categories, contacted Romine, and the pair founded Legato in late 2024. Their thesis is straightforward: hearing support may reach more people if it looks, feels and is purchased like ordinary eyewear, according to [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/26/hearing-tech-startup-legato-emerges-from-stealth-with-12m-and-a-peek-at-its-ai-hearing-glasses/?ref=runtimewire). "Our goal is to make hearing as ubiquitous as vision," Trivedi told TechCrunch. The line explains Legato's distribution strategy as much as its industrial design. Legato plans to sell Frames through selected eye-care providers nationwide, placing the product beside an established examination, fitting and insurance workflow instead of asking consumers to begin with a hearing clinic or an unfamiliar online medical-device purchase. The potential market is large and undertreated. Hearing loss affects an [estimated 50 million U.S. adults](https://www.hearingloss.org/understanding-hearing-loss/hearing-loss-101/hearing-loss-by-the-numbers/?ref=runtimewire), while [around 20% of people with diagnosed hearing loss seek treatment](https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2018/06/the-coming-tsunami-of-age-related-hearing-loss.html?ref=runtimewire). Legato is targeting adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss, the group covered by the federal OTC category. Legato says Frames may qualify for vision insurance when purchased through an eye-care clinic, though eligibility will depend on the plan and purchase. Legato has not announced a price, saying only that Frames will cost "a fraction" of traditional hearing aids. Those details will determine whether the optical-channel strategy improves access or merely moves the purchase to a different counter. The regulatory opening is already in place. The [FDA's OTC hearing-aid category](https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/hearing-aids/otc-hearing-aids-what-you-should-know?ref=runtimewire), effective since October 17, 2022, allows adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss to buy qualifying devices without an examination, prescription or audiologist. Legato is targeting that population. ### Legato's hardware is past the rendering stage Legato describes Frames as an open-ear system that uses microphones, a proprietary acoustic architecture, signal processing and AI to separate voices from background sound. The system then amplifies speech through two speakers aimed toward the wearer's ears. Trivedi told TechCrunch that Frames are intended to work throughout the day without extensive controls or configuration. Legato claims up to 16 hours of use. Legato also claims its speaker-cancellation design reduces leaked sound by 99% a few inches from the ear. Legato has not published independent testing with Wednesday's announcement, so the figure remains a manufacturer claim. Open-ear audio has long offered comfort and environmental awareness while struggling with privacy and speech clarity in loud settings. Those two performance questions will decide whether Frames function as a hearing aid in daily use instead of audio glasses with medical positioning. Public records show Legato has progressed beyond a prototype reveal, though they do not establish a clean commercial timeline. An [FCC authorization dated December 2, 2025](https://fccid.io/2BSN4LGFRAME1?ref=runtimewire) identifies Legato's device as "hearing glasses with Bluetooth Low Energy," and the filing includes an owner guide for a Legato Frames OTC hearing aid. An [FDA device listing](https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfrl/TextResults.cfm?ref=runtimewire) names Legato configurations under the Symphony, Harmony and Aria names. [FDA-linked records](https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfrl/TextResults.cfm?ref=runtimewire) for those devices were published March 25, 2026 and marked "In Commercial Distribution." FDA records appear to place a Legato device in commercial distribution by March 2026, while [Legato says Frames will launch later in fall 2026](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/26/hearing-tech-startup-legato-emerges-from-stealth-with-12m-and-a-peek-at-its-ai-hearing-glasses/?ref=runtimewire). The available records do not explain whether those entries refer to an earlier limited distribution or a different configuration. A [U.S. patent issued on February 10, 2026](https://patentsgazette.uspto.gov/week06/OG/html/1543-2/US12549909-20260210.html?ref=runtimewire) covers an open-ear system using AI-driven audio signal processing. The patent was assigned to and filed by Legato Audio, Inc. The patent supports Legato's assertion that it has proprietary technology, though a patent grant does not establish how well the system performs outside controlled testing. ### A familiar rival already owns the shelves Legato enters a category that Trivedi's former employer has already commercialized. EssilorLuxottica's Nuance Audio sells OTC hearing glasses for mild to moderate hearing loss, with [current U.S. pricing starting at $699](https://www.nuanceaudio.com/en-us/c/hearing-glasses?ref=runtimewire). Nuance combines open-ear speakers, directional amplification and app-based personalization, backed by [an optical group with a large retail and provider network](https://www.essilorluxottica.com/cap/content/244832/?ref=runtimewire). New York-based Altina emerged from stealth in May 2026 with hearing-enhancing glasses that use beamforming microphones, an AI chip and open-ear speakers. [Altina founder Tal Bar-Or previously led product development for Amazon's Echo Frames](https://www.aop.org.uk/ot/news/2026/05/13/cubitts-collaborates-with-hearing-eyewear-developer-altina?ref=runtimewire). The category is forming around a shared bet that people who resist conventional hearing aids may accept the same electronics inside an accessory they already wear. Legato's planned eye-care distribution puts it into direct competition with Nuance's strongest advantage. Trivedi's time at EssilorLuxottica gives him firsthand knowledge of smart-eyewear development and optical sales, while Romine brings hearing-care operations and regulatory experience. The founders still have to show that a smaller entrant can recruit providers, manage lenses and frame options, and support a medical device after the sale. ### The $12 million pays for the difficult part [Neotribe Ventures](https://www.neotribe.vc/?ref=runtimewire), [Listen](https://www.listen.co/?ref=runtimewire) and [Village Global](https://www.villageglobal.com/?ref=runtimewire) supplied Legato's disclosed $12 million. Legato told TechCrunch that the capital has largely funded product development and marketing. Legato did not disclose a valuation, lead investor, financing structure, closing date or prior funding total, and the available reporting does not establish whether the $12 million represents one round or cumulative financing. Legato has not disclosed revenue, customer, usage or headcount figures. Commercialization depends on the hardware performing in noisy rooms, fitting a range of faces, accommodating prescription lenses, surviving daily wear and remaining comfortable for hours. Legato will also need optical partners willing to explain and support a product that spans two established categories. Trivedi and Romine have built inside both of those categories. Legato is their attempt to combine the work under one brand and make hearing care feel like an ordinary eyewear purchase. The fall launch will test whether that familiarity is enough to change what people are willing to wear.