AACHEN, GERMANY — Elevear, a DeepTech startup, has successfully secured seed investment from the TechVision Fund, a leading early-stage venture capital investor. Specializing in the development, integration, and licensing of audio technologies for hearables, Elevear is poised to capitalize on one of the fastest-growing markets in recent times.
The company’s products are designed with a focus on improving listening comfort, wearability, and facilitating natural communication, ultimately elevating the user experience. These products cater to a wide range of customers, including manufacturers of headphones and hearing aids.
Accelerating Market Entry
With this new injection of capital, the Elevear team is set to accelerate the market entry of its innovative and patented audio technologies, furthering the company’s growth and impact.
“The hearables market is witnessing steady growth, with increasing demand for distinctive features. Elevear’s technologies offer manufacturers a swift and efficient integration of innovative capabilities into their products, without the need for extensive in-house development efforts.”
–Dr. Ansgar Schleicher, Managing Director of TVF
Stefan Liebich, CEO of Elevear, emphasized the significance of this collaboration, saying, “We are thrilled that TVF shares our vision for the technology and its market potential. With this support, we are well-positioned to enhance our ongoing customer projects, support their upcoming product launches, and expand our team and technology portfolio.”
Innovation in a Dynamic Market
Elevear adopts a licensing model to sell its technologies and software algorithms to international headphone and hearing aid manufacturers. Through this approach, manufacturers can leverage innovative differentiating features with faster time-to-market, thus reducing in-house development costs for new products.
The market entry for Elevear is focused on hearables, which have shown remarkable growth of 36 percent year on year in 2021, with a market size of USD 35 billion. The term “hearable” refers to intelligent headphones that blend basic functions like music playback and telecommunications with audio-based information services and other pioneering features.
Enhancing the Audio Experience
Elevear currently offers three products, initially designed for hearables and later adaptable for hearing aids. These products are seamlessly integrated into manufacturers’ devices as software, enhancing the overall audio experience.
- Occlear™ Technology: Addresses the “occlusion effect,” which alters the perception of one’s own voice and surroundings when wearing devices in or over the ears. Occlear™ enhances comfort and acceptance of hearables.
- Idle Noise Reduction: Minimizes perceivable and constant noise from hearables in quiet environments, significantly improving audio quality while reducing hardware costs.
- Steadyhead Technology: Compensates for head rotation in all audio content, delivering a 3D audio experience that instantly adjusts to the user’s head movements, creating an immersive audio scene.
From Research to Product
Founded in 2021, Elevear is a DeepTech spin-off from RWTH Aachen University, backed by a management team of seasoned developers and industry experts. The founders, Dr.-Ing. Stefan Liebich, Johannes Fabry, and Raphael Brandis, have extensive experience in audio signal processing from their work at the Institute of Communication Systems (IKS) at RWTH Aachen University.
The team is complemented by industry expert Elfed Howells, boasting over 30 years of experience in the audio and consumer electronics sector. Together, the team has already received numerous awards for their innovations.
The founding team of Elevear GmbH (from left to right): Elfed Howells, Raphael Brandis, Dr.-Ing. Stefan Liebich, Johannes Fabry. Image credit: Elevear
About Tech Vision Fund
TechVision Fund (TVF) is the leading early-stage VC fund in the Rhineland region, managed by the experienced S-UBG Group team. With a fund volume of 55 million euros, TVF invests regionally in technology start-ups, providing vital support, proximity, and network to pave the way for them to become industry leaders. TVF offers unique access to potential customers through its association with the S-UBG Group, with a network of over 150 successful portfolio companies from 30 years of investment experience.
About Elevear
Elevear, an Aachen-based startup, develops revolutionary audio technologies for hearables, offering them to manufacturers through a licensing model. Their Occlear™ software addresses the occlusion effect, ensuring natural voice perception. Combined with Idle Noise Reduction, it eliminates distracting self-noise from hearable microphones. Additionally, Elevear’s Steadyhead provides low-latency head tracking for spatial audio.
Source: Elevear
