Legato is entering the hearing tech market with a bet that many people may be more willing to wear hearing assistance if it looks like everyday eyewear. The startup is coming out of stealth with $12 million in funding and an early look at Legato Frames, AI hearing glasses designed for people with mild to moderate hearing loss.
Why Legato is starting with glasses
Hearing loss affects an estimated 5 0 million adults in the United States, but only around 20% of those with diagnosed hearing loss seek treatment. Legato is building around that gap, with a product that tries to address hearing care through a device people may already be used to wearing: glasses.
The company says Legato Frames integrate its patented hearing-assistance technology into the arms of eyewear frames. The product is expected to launch later this fall.
Legato’s focus is mild to moderate hearing loss, which the startup says represents the largest segment of the hearing-loss population. That audience matters because the product is not being positioned as a general audio gadget. It is being framed as a hearing care product meant to reduce barriers that keep people from seeking help.
Those barriers include cost, comfort, and stigma associated with traditional hearing aids. By building the technology into eyewear, Legato is trying to make hearing support feel less separate from daily life and less like a device that requires a person to announce a medical need.
The founders bring hearing and eyewear experience
Legato was founded by Mehul Trivedi and Steve Romine. Both previously worked at Bose, where Trivedi led the creation of Bose Frames and Romine ran the hearing aids division.
After Bose, Trivedi worked at EssilorLuxottica, where he led smart eyewear efforts and worked on the Meta Ray-Bans. Romine later served as COO of hearing care company Audicus.
That background helps explain Legato’s central idea. The company is not only trying to improve hearing technology. It is also trying to place that technology into a form factor that can fit into normal routines, with the comfort and appearance of regular glasses.
Trivedi founded Legato with Romine in late 2024 after taking time to explore the overlap between hearing technology and smart eyewear. During that period, Trivedi found technology he believed could connect the two areas, then contacted Romine to start the company.
How the AI hearing system differs
Traditional hearing aids often rely on directional microphones that focus on sound from a specific direction. That can be effective in quiet places, but it can be harder in noisy environments such as restaurants.
Legato is taking another route. Its AI-powered system is designed to distinguish voices from background noise, then amplify only the voices. The intended result is clearer conversation without the cognitively draining listening experience that can come with some traditional hearing aids.
The company developed a proprietary acoustic system, signal-processing stack, and mechanical architecture as part of an effort to make the frames small and lightweight. The design target is not only better sound, but a product that feels simple enough to use throughout the day.
The frames use an open-ear design, but Legato says the sound is not broadcast to nearby people. A dual-speaker system directs sound toward the wearer while canceling sound that escapes. The company says this reduces sound by 99% just a few inches away from the ear.
What Legato wants the product to change
Legato’s larger goal is to make hearing care feel more like vision care. Trivedi told TechCrunch, “Our goal is to make hearing as ubiquitous as vision.” He described a future where addressing hearing becomes routine, rather than something people delay or avoid.
That comparison matters because glasses are already a familiar daily object for many people. Legato is trying to apply that same normalcy to hearing support by making the product discreet, automatic, and low-friction.
Trivedi also described the company’s design goal in plain terms: “They’re meant to feel and look like regular glasses.” He said Legato wants a product that is effortless, easy to use, requires no controls to fiddle with, works across the day, and does not need heavy configuration.
The startup’s funding comes from Neotribe Ventures, Listen, and Village Global. The money has largely gone toward product development, along with marketing efforts.
Legato is also connecting hearing to broader quality-of-life concerns. Trivedi said hearing is not only about hearing the TV better, but about connection. He also said better hearing reduces dementia risk and depression risk, and pointed to “impactful hearing health factors associated with better hearing.”
Launch plans and access
When Legato Frames launch later this year, the company says they will be available through select eye-care providers nationwide. The startup also says the frames will “cost a fraction” of traditional hearing aids and may be eligible for vision insurance when purchased through an eye-care clinic.
That distribution choice fits the company’s broader strategy. If hearing assistance is built into eyewear and sold through eye-care settings, Legato can present the product closer to the way people already buy glasses.
The key test will be whether the company can deliver hearing assistance that feels natural enough for daily wear while still meeting the practical needs of people with mild to moderate hearing loss. Legato is making a clear argument: hearing care may reach more people when the device is familiar, discreet, and designed to fade into the background of ordinary life.