Earlens Valuation, Funding & Investors
Earlens is valued at $23M as of February 2025.
Last Earlens valuation
$23M
Series A · Feb 2025
Last Earlens funding round
$8M
Series A · Feb 2025
Cumulative funding Earlens raised
$315M
across 8 funding rounds
Key investors in Earlens
New Enterprise Associates
Lightstone Ventures
Aisling Capital
Vertex Ventures
Medtronic
Vertex Ventures HC
About Earlens
Earlens is a Hayward-headquartered medical device company offering the Earlens Contact Hearing Solution, FDA-cleared in 2019. The system places a light-driven lens on the eardrum to vibrate it directly, providing wide bandwidth sound reproduction superior to air-conduction hearing aids.
Founded
2005
HQ
San Francisco, CAWebsite
Status
Privately held
Customer focus
B2C
Revenue model
Product sales
Valuation
$23M (Feb 2025)
Sectors
Earlens Valuation
Earlens is currently valued at $23M, based on its Series A in February 2025.
Earlens valuation by funding round
| Date | Stage | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 2025 | Series A | $23M |
Earlens Funding History
Earlens has raised a total of $315M across 8 funding rounds.
Earlens' first fundraising round was a $40M Series B in April 2014. The most recent completed round was a $8M Series A in February 2025.
Earlens funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Valuation | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2025 | Series A | - | $8M | $23M | EarLens is a medical device company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, specializing in hearing aids and hearing solutions for hearing-impaired patients. The company has developed contact hearing systems designed to provide improved sound performance as an alternative to traditional hearing aid devices. EarLens was valued at $23.0 million as of late February 2025, having raised a total of $330.6 million in cumulative funding across its history. The company raised $8 million in a later-stage VC round announced in March 2025, with an initial offering target of $10 million. The hearing aids market in which EarLens competes is expected to reach $45.68 billion by 2031, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 6.9 percent, indicating significant market opportunity driven by rising geriatric populations. |
| Apr 2024 | Undisclosed stage | - | $19M | - | Earlens Corporation is a privately held medical device company developing innovative hearing aids, including the Earlens Contact Hearing Aid, the first non-surgical device to directly activate the eardrum for broad bandwidth and superior sound quality, FDA-cleared in late 2015. The company aims to improve outcomes for the 35 million Americans with significant hearing loss through next-generation transformative technology featuring a dynamic listening range twice as broad as market competitors. Earlens has raised substantial funding over multiple rounds, totaling approximately $330.6M to $375.04M across 18 rounds as of early 2025. A notable prior round was an $87M preferred stock financing led by KCK Ltd. (KCK Medical Technologies Group), with participation from Exor Seeds and existing investors like Lightstone Ventures, CRG Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Aisling Capital, and Cochlear, to support product development and the 2019 commercial rollout. The most recent round mentioned is a Series D-II raising $8M (initial filing from $10M offering) in February/March 2025, classified as Later Stage VC. The company is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, and continues operations in the healthcare technology sector. |
| Aug 2021 | Undisclosed stage | - | $21M | - | Earlens Corporation is a privately held medical device company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, developing contact hearing technology designed to improve sound performance for hearing-impaired patients. The company employs approximately 200 people and operates in the healthcare technology sector. The company has raised a total of approximately $330.6M to $375.04M over multiple funding rounds as of early 2025. Most recent information available shows a Series D-II funding round of $8M completed on February 28, 2025, with the company valued at $23M as of that date. |
| Jan 2021 | Undisclosed stage | - | $33M | - | Earlens Corporation is a privately held medical device company developing the Earlens Contact Hearing Aid, a non-surgical device that directly activates the eardrum using low-frequency radio and a small lens on the eardrum to deliver broad bandwidth and superior sound quality compared to traditional hearing aids. The company aims to improve hearing for the 35 million Americans with significant hearing loss by setting a new performance standard. In an $87 million preferred stock financing round announced around 2019, led by KCK Ltd. (a family investment fund referred to as KCK Medical Technologies Group), proceeds were allocated to product development and the 2019 commercial rollout of next-generation hearing aids. Additional investors included Exor Seeds, Lightstone Ventures, CRG Partners, and others such as New Enterprise Associates and Cochlear. |
| Oct 2018 | Series D | KCK (lead) | $87M | - | Earlens Corporation, a Menlo Park, California-based medical device company founded in 2005, develops the Earlens Contact Hearing Aid, a non-surgical, light-driven device that directly activates the eardrum for broader bandwidth and superior sound quality compared to traditional hearing aids. The company received FDA De Novo clearance in late 2015 and had been refining the technology for nearly a decade by 2018. In October 2018, Earlens completed an $87 million preferred stock financing round led by new investor KCK Ltd., a family investment fund, with participation from existing investors including Lightstone Ventures, CRG Partners, and others such as Exor Seets, Windham Life Sciences Partners, Arch Healthcare, New Enterprise Associates, Aisling Capital, and Cochlear. KCK Group managers Nael Kassar, Greg Garfield, and Mike Favet joined the board alongside Chairman Tom Prescott, Hank Plain of Lightstone Ventures, Founder and Chief Medical Officer Rodney Perkins, M.D., and CEO Bill Facteau. Proceeds from the round were allocated to continued product development and an enhanced commercial rollout planned for 2019, aiming to expand distribution and deliver improved clinical experiences to audiologists and patients. KCK highlighted the device's dynamic listening range as twice that of market competitors, positioning it as a game-changing advancement in hearing aid technology targeting the 35 million Americans with significant hearing loss. This brought total funding raised since 2010 to over $285 million, following a prior $118 million raise in June 2018 comprising $73 million in Series C equity and $45 million in debt from CRG. |
| Jun 2017 | Series C | Vertex Ventures HC (lead); Lightstone Ventures; Vertex Ventures; Cochlear; Medtronic; New Enterprise Associates; Windham Venture Partners; Richard King Mellon Foundation; SightLine Partners; CRG; Aisling Capital | $73M | - | Earlens Corporation, a Menlo Park, California-based medical technology company, develops the Earlens Light-Driven Hearing Aid, a novel device that uses focused light to transmit sound, bypassing traditional speaker amplification to reduce feedback whistling and improve speech understanding in noise. The company received FDA de novo clearance for the product in 2015 and was focused on commercialization, manufacturing scale-up, and R&D expansion. Earlens closed its Series C preferred stock financing on June 5-6, 2017, raising $73 million in equity led by Vertex Ventures HC (also referred to as Vertex Healthcare), with participation from new investors Cochlear Ltd, CRG, Richard King Mellon Foundation (RK Mellon), Windham Venture Partners, and Sightline Partners, plus existing backers New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Aisling Capital, Lightstone Ventures, and Medtronic. Separately, CRG provided a structured debt facility of up to $45 million, bringing total financing to $118 million. Prior to this, Earlens had raised approximately $51 million (pegged to a prior close in summer 2016 supporting product launch) and $40 million in a Series B round in 2014, with total funding reaching around $318.8M including this round per aggregated estimates. |
| Jun 2016 | Series C | Lightstone Ventures; Vertex Ventures; Cochlear; Medtronic; Vertex Ventures HC; New Enterprise Associates; Aisling Capital | $34M | - | Earlens Corporation is a California-based medical device company specializing in light-driven hearing aid technology. The company's proprietary device, the Earlens Light-Driven Hearing Aid, uses a focused laser diode attached to a behind-the-ear audio processor to transmit sound directly to the eardrum, claiming a greater frequency range than conventional hearing aids and eliminating feedback issues. In June 2016, Earlens closed an equity financing round raising $51 million in cash (with an additional $17 million from bridge financing conversion) led by new investor Vertex Healthcare, a subsidiary of Temasek. The syndicate included strategic investors Medtronic and Cochlear, plus existing backers New Enterprise Associates, Aisling Capital, and Lightstone Ventures. The company also secured a $45 million structured debt facility from CRG. The funding was designated for commercialization support, production facility expansion, and research and development activities. The device had previously received FDA 510(k) clearance in October 2015, and the company had raised approximately $51 million cumulatively in prior rounds dating back to its 2005 incorporation. |
| Apr 2014 | Series B | Aisling Capital (lead); Lightstone Ventures (lead); New Enterprise Associates (lead) | $40M | - | Earlens Corporation, based in Menlo Park, California, develops innovative hearing aid technology, specifically the Earlens Light Driven Hearing Aid, which uses focused light transmitted via a laser diode to a lens contacting the eardrum, eliminating feedback whistling common in traditional speaker-based hearing aids and improving sound quality in noisy environments. The device received FDA 510(k) clearance in 2014 and de novo clearance in 2015. In April 2014, Earlens closed a $40 million Series B financing round with investors including Aisling Capital, Lightstone Ventures, and New Enterprise Associates. Earlier, the company raised a $36 million equity round in March 2014. Following the 2014 rounds, Earlens continued fundraising with a $51 million round in 2016-2017 (split as $34 million new capital and $17 million bridge conversion), led by Vertex Healthcare with participation from Medtronic, Cochlear, and the same existing investors Aisling Capital, Lightstone Ventures, and New Enterprise Associates, to support commercialization, production scaling, and R&D. This was followed by a $73 million Series C final close in 2017, again led by Vertex with Medtronic, Cochlear, CRG, and the recurring investors, plus a $45 million debt facility from CRG. An $87 million preferred stock round in 2019 was led by KCK Ltd, with broad participation from prior backers including Lightstone Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Aisling Capital, and others like Cochlear and Vertex, allocated to product development and a 2019 commercial rollout. A final $118 million debt and equity financing closed later, expanding commercial operations. Earlens positioned its technology as superior in frequency range and dynamic listening range, targeting the underserved hearing-impaired market, with claims of addressing needs unmet by conventional aids. Leadership included CEO Bill Facteau, formerly of Acclarent and Abbott. Competitive context includes traditional hearing aid makers and strategic investors like Cochlear and Medtronic, indicating validation of Earlens' disruptive light-based approach. |
Who has invested in Earlens?
12 investors have backed Earlens across its funding rounds, including New Enterprise Associates, Lightstone Ventures, Aisling Capital, Vertex Ventures, Medtronic and Vertex Ventures HC.
Lead investors include KCK, Vertex Ventures HC, Aisling Capital, Lightstone Ventures and New Enterprise Associates.
Earlens Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | 3 | Lead | Apr 2014 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 3 | Lead | Apr 2014 | |
| New York City, NY | 3 | Lead | Apr 2014 | |
 Singapore | 2 | Participant | Jun 2016 | |
 Australia | 2 | Participant | Jun 2016 | |
| Minneapolis, MN | 2 | Participant | Jun 2016 | |
| San Francisco, CA | 2 | Lead | Jun 2016 | |
![](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20"><rect fill="%23e5e7eb" width="20" height="20" rx="4"/></svg>){kind=small} KCK | New York City, NY | 1 | Lead | Oct 2018 |
| United States | 1 | Participant | Jun 2017 | |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 1 | Participant | Jun 2017 | |
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Start Free TrialEarlens Competitors
Earlens competitors include listed companies like Genematrix and Cheelcare, and private ones like MobileODT, Novaerus, Koite Health and EMA Aesthetics.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tel Aviv | Private | - | - | $23M | |
| Chicago, IL | Private | - | - | $23M | |
 South Korea | Publicly listed | $8M | ($1M) | $23M | |
 Canada | Publicly listed | $1M | ($3M) | $23M | |
 Espoo | Private | - | - | $23M | |
 Dublin | Private | - | - | $23M |
Earlens Public Comps
Earlens is still privately-owned, but its public comps include CleanSpace Holdings, Genematrix, Control Bionics, Cheelcare, HeartBeam, Integrum, Vivos, Finemedix, European Medical Solutions and Bionano Genomics.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $14M | ($256K) | 1.2x | 1.1x | (66.1x) | (1825.8x) | |||
| $8M | ($1M) | 1.8x | - | (12.4x) | - | |||
| $4M | ($4M) | 5.2x | - | (6.2x) | - | |||
| $1M | ($3M) | 18.1x | - | (8.2x) | - | |||
| - | ($21M) | - | 49.5x | (0.7x) | - | |||
| $9M | ($4M) | 2.4x | - | (6.3x) | - | |||
| $68K | ($3M) | 318.6x | - | (6.9x) | - | |||
| $7M | ($1M) | 3.2x | 2.4x | (18.9x) | - | |||
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Common questions about Earlens
| When was Earlens founded? | Earlens was founded in 2005. |
| Where is Earlens headquartered? | Earlens is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, United States. |
| Is Earlens publicly listed? | No, Earlens is a private, VC-backed company. |
| What is Earlens' valuation? | Earlens was last valued at $23M in its Series A in February 2025. |
| How much funding has Earlens raised? | Earlens has raised $315M across 8 funding rounds. |
| What was Earlens' last funding round? | Earlens' last funding round was a $8M Series A in February 2025. |
| Who are Earlens' investors? | Earlens' investors include Lightstone Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Aisling Capital, Vertex Ventures, Cochlear, Medtronic, Vertex Ventures HC, KCK, Windham Venture Partners, Richard King Mellon Foundation and 2 others. |
| Which companies are comparable to Earlens? | Companies comparable to Earlens include MobileODT, Novaerus, Genematrix, Cheelcare, Koite Health and EMA Aesthetics. |
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