15% of American adults aged 18 and over indicate that they have some sort of hearing loss. 28.8M of these adults could benefit from using a hearing aid but only 16% of this segment has ever used one. Tuned is a holistic hearing wellness platform that makes audiology consultations and treatments accessible. The company offers hearing care as an employer-sponsored workplace benefit starting with a comprehensive virtual screening. One of the 200+ leading audiologists on the platform works with employees through screening, consultations, development of treatment plans, and securing devices. For employers offering this specialized benefit, Tuned’s plan offers 95% savings as compared to other programs. Launched in 2020, Tuned already covers over 1.4M employees across the country with plans to move into pediatric audiology. The Food and Drug Administration has recently taken steps to open the market for hearing devices by bringing them over-the-counter; Tuned, as the largest online audiology platform, is positioned to cater to this new burgeoning market.
AlleyWatch caught up with Tuned CEO and Cofounder Danny Aronson to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, which brings the total funding raised to $6M, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Tuned raised $3.5M in a seed extension series funding round led by Distributed Ventures with participation from Idealab NY, and Elements Health Ventures.
Tell us about the product or service that Tuned offers.
Tuned provides the world’s most clinically validated hearing screener to understand your hearing profile, coupled with a full audiology consultation, all via an easy-to-use clinically validated digital platform. The platform offers an affordable, convenient, and accessible solutions via the “Tuned 360 Hearing Assessment”, which is the most advanced hearing screening available online. Tuned also developed a hearing care impact calculator, which is a tool that allows you to model the benefits of offering holistic hearing care to your employees.
What inspired the start of Tuned?
I’m a serial entrepreneur, with 5 patents in the assisted hearing category. I have moderate hearing loss and Tinnitus from my stint in the army as a tank commander and I’ve been frustrated with my personal experience with the hearing care industry. In collaboration with my cofounders Kate McGinley and Ofer Raz, we created a platform that aims to make hearing care affordable and accessible to all.
How is Tuned different?
Tuned is the largest audiology online platform in the U.S and the first platform that is designed to make hearing care offered as a specialty health benefit. Tuned’s platform allows audiologists to accurately screen patients’ hearing online and from anywhere around the world. Tuned is the first company to offer hearing care benefits that leverage a key macro policy development initiated by The FDA to establish a new regulatory category for over-the-counter hearing aids. Tuned offers comprehensive hearing care, not discounted hearing aid sales, which is the typical industry model. Tuned’s basic economic units are the screenings and consultations – not products. Tuned does not offer audiologists commission on the sales of devices.
What market does Tuned target and how big is it?
Driven by the mission to make hearing health a key employee benefit, Tuned targets the audiology, healthcare, and benefits markets, which are individually large. Tuned is focused on providing hearing care for all, but employers also have an important role to play in bringing hearing care mainstream as a standard healthcare benefit. The platform is dedicated to bridging the gap between audiologists and the general public.
What’s your business model?
Tuned is a B2B health benefit hearing solution. The company works with employers to bring hearing care to their employees as a standard benefit, just like vision and dental. Tuned offers a comprehensive hearing care program that includes screenings, consultations, and devices– all the way up to hearing aids. The company offers a PMPM/PEPM (per employee per month) or FFS (Fee-for-Service ) models at a 95% lower price point than any other program in the market.
How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown?
As we brace for a potential economic downturn, Tuned is trying to be judicious about our spending and remain focused on revenue and sales.
What was the funding process like?
Our investors are aware of the importance of hearing care, so this only took 6 months to close. They immediately understood the impact our technology can have on individuals suffering in silence from undiagnosed hearing loss and improper hearing devices. We were connected to our current investors by other investors in our network – some of whom we’ve known for years.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
While most VC’s (venture capital) loved our team and thought our idea was solid, many of them often asked, “show me the money, show me contracts, show me traction,” these are some of the biggest hurdles we had to overcome in the early stage. Traction, awards, industry recognition, and early revenue doesn’t come easy, we had to be humble in our valuations – that goes a long way.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
The main factor of our business that stood out to our investors is our mission and passion to make an equivalent standard of care exist in hearing health. Since hearing care and technology is not typically covered by insurance across the U.S, this makes audiology fall into a rare gap in the healthcare space and it is our goal to bridge this gap and provide access to benefits, support, and care for patients of all ages who have hearing conditions.
The main factor of our business that stood out to our investors is our mission and passion to make an equivalent standard of care exist in hearing health. Since hearing care and technology is not typically covered by insurance across the U.S, this makes audiology fall into a rare gap in the healthcare space and it is our goal to bridge this gap and provide access to benefits, support, and care for patients of all ages who have hearing conditions.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We hope to achieve our annual recurring revenue (ARR) goal and add two new features to the platform within the next six months
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Remove everything that’s superfluous (and I mean, everything) and focus on the one, absolutely must-have metric that will allow you to sustain the company. The rest is noise. Don’t get disheartened by doom and gloom. Do your thing.
What’s your favorite winter destination in and around the city?
My favorite winter destination is Prospect Park in Brooklyn.
