Legato, a hearing tech startup, has emerged from stealth with $12 million in funding and revealed its first product, Legato Frames — glasses that embed AI-powered hearing-assistance technology into their arms. The company aims to make hearing correction as normalised and stigma-free as wearing prescription glasses, targeting the roughly 50 million American adults with hearing loss, only about 20% of whom currently seek treatment.

The glasses, due to launch this autumn, were developed by co-founders Mehul Trivedi and Steve Romine, both veterans of Bose's wearables and hearing aid divisions who went on to work at EssilorLuxottica and Audicus respectively. Unlike traditional hearing aids, which use directional microphones and can struggle in noisy settings, Legato Frames use AI to distinguish voices from background noise and amplify only speech. The open-ear design uses a dual-speaker system that directs sound to the wearer while cutting escaping sound by 99% just inches away, aiming to deliver a discreet, low-maintenance product that looks and feels like ordinary eyewear.