Eyewear That Hears: Legato’s Take on the Stalled Hearing-Aid Industry
Key points
Key takeaways from Village Global podcast interview with Legato co-founder and CEO Mehul Trivedi (October.,.,2026):
The stalled hearing-aid market. Traditional aids cost $6,000-7,000 per device,were prescription-only until recently,and were controlled by roughly five companies,, four of them Danish,, leaving little incentive to innovate.
Stigma is the real barrier. Most of the 50 million US adults with hearing loss never seek treatment because the category feels medical,and aids are uncomfortable,,expensive,,and hard to use.
Glasses flip the script. Eyewear is something people are proud of,and glasses sit at the junction of the ears and the mouth,, where sound enters,and emerges,, making them a natural home for hearing technology.
Legato Frames. Hearing assistance sits in the arms of light,,stylish glasses that switch on automatically when opened — the aim is simply that you wear them,and hear better — designed to be forgotten like favourite eyewear while working in crowded restaurants,,noisy offices,,and at home in front of the TV.
Deep audio pedigree. Trivedi worked on the original iPhone audio at Apple,,co-founded NoiseToys,,acquired by Jawbone,,led Bose Frames,and later ran smart eyewear at EssilorLuxottica,,co-founder Steve Romine ran Bose's IP division for over a decade,and served as a US Air Force legal officer.
Values-first founding. The pair agreed from the start that ends do not justify means — an implicit no-jerks rule — and Trivedi hires people he admires as people,,building a company worth being proud of,,not just a product worth buying.
Consumer go-to-market. Legato launched Frames in October.,2026 after a $12M seed from Neotribe Ventures,, Listen Ventures,,and Village Global,,selling online,and via eyecare providers at a fraction of the cost of traditional aids — vision is the model.
Read more: Village Global
