Legato leaves stealth with $12M and hearing aids built into frames

Legato came out of stealth on 26 August 2026 with $12 million from Neotribe Ventures, Listen and Village Global, and showed its first product: Legato Frames, eyeglasses with hearing assistance built into the temple arms. The company was founded in late 2024 by Mehul Trivedi, who led the creation of Bose Frames and later worked on smart eyewear at EssilorLuxottica and on Meta Ray-Bans, and Steve Romine, who ran Bose’s hearing aids division and was later chief operating officer at the hearing-care company Audicus.

The technical claim is about separation and leakage. An onboard system distinguishes voices from background noise and amplifies speech; a dual-speaker arrangement aims sound at the wearer while cancelling about 99 percent of what would otherwise escape, so the design stays open-ear rather than sealing the canal. It targets mild to moderate hearing loss.

The reasoning behind the form factor is uptake, not acoustics. Hearing loss affects an estimated 50 million adults in the United States and only about 20 percent of those diagnosed seek treatment. Legato says Frames will cost a fraction of conventional hearing aids and may be billable through vision insurance at eye-care clinics. Launch is set for autumn 2026.