SEATTLE, WASHINGTON — Hearvana AI, a startup redefining sound perception for both humans and machines, announced it has closed a $6 million oversubscribed pre-seed funding round. Led by Point72 Ventures and SCB 10X, the round saw participation from the AI2 Incubator, Amazon Alexa Fund, and several other venture investors.
Founded by Shyam Gollakota (University of Washington) alongside audio-AI and embedded-systems experts Malek Itani and Tuochao Chen, Hearvana is developing an on-device “acoustic layer” that allows earbuds, smart glasses, hearing aids, and other products to identify, interpret, and act on sound in complex environments — a leap beyond traditional hearing or voice technologies.
“We believe Hearvana is approaching an exciting area in AI, focusing on how devices listen. Our view is that their work has the potential to unlock a new layer of intelligence for voice interfaces, smart devices, and hearing applications, and we’re thrilled to support the team as they bring this capability to market.”
–Jeffrey Lu, Investor at Point72 Ventures
Hearvana’s platform, designed for real-time, low-latency on-device audio processing, integrates breakthroughs such as Sound Bubble and Target Speech Hearing to enable devices that not only hear but prioritize, filter, and act on the right sounds in noisy settings. According to the company, this work holds the promise of embedding advanced auditory intelligence in billions of devices — including smartphone earbuds and hearing instruments.
“Led by a highly technical, domain-expert team, Hearvana sits at the intersection of AI, audio, and embedded hardware, creating a next-generation acoustic layer that advances edge AI and human-machine interfaces, powering superhuman hearing for personalized AI agents,” said Pailin (Pie) Vichakul, Chief Investment Officer at SCB 10X.
Backing from major investors underscores the startup’s positioning in both hearing care and broader audio tech markets. “We were interested in Hearvana’s technology making interactions between people and AI services more natural,” said Paul Bernard, director of the Alexa Fund. “The team’s cost-efficient approach to making advanced hearing capabilities more accessible by bringing its audio technologies to everyday devices aligns with our focus on customer obsession.”
“The founders’ technical depth and vision stood out from day one,” said Oren Etzioni, AI2 Incubator. “Hearvana is translating groundbreaking audio AI research into scalable products that make AI more human-aware and responsive.”
With this funding, Hearvana plans to expand its engineering and go-to-market teams and initiate commercial pilots with consumer-electronics and AI ecosystem partners. “At Hearvana, we’re scaling technology that creates superhuman listening,” said Shyam Gollakota.
“Spanning AI assistants that run on commodity devices like laptops and smartphones to more constrained wearables like earbuds and smart glasses, we see a future where devices don’t just hear — they understand and help humans communicate better with each other and with AI. This funding allows us to move faster from innovation to deployment.”
–Shyam Gollakota, PhD
*reader’s may be interested in this discussion on AI powered ‘sound bubbles’ with Dr. Gollakota last year:
About Hearvana
Hearvana is developing auditory intelligence technology to enhance how humans and machines listen. Its solutions aim to create more natural, perceptive, and emotionally aware audio experiences for AI assistants, communication systems, and hearing-related devices. Founded by experts in auditory computing and AI, Hearvana’s mission is to make sound the smartest interface between people and technology.
Source: Hearvana
