Why Thrive, Founders Fund, and Antonio Gracias are betting on hearing aids
$163M. That's what Founders Fund, Thrive, and Valor just bet on AI hearing aids—and why the category might be the next consumer AI breakout.
Why it matters
A well-funded startup (Fortell) is using AI to solve a decades-old adoption problem in hearing aids—positioning this as a consumer AI category with real venture backing and institutional confidence. The funding and investor lineup signal a shift in how VCs view AI + healthcare hardware.
The key facts
10 to know$163M funding round for Fortell
Investors: Founders Fund, Thrive Capital, Valor Equity Partners
Founder: Matthew de Jonge
6 years in development
Category: AI-powered hearing aids
Problem framing: adoption friction vs. glasses (analogy to user behavior)
Fortell raised $163M
Investors: Founders Fund, Thrive Capital, Valor Equity
Company spent 6 years in development
Use case: AI-driven hearing aid adoption, addressing low user adoption rates in category
Go to the source
TechCrunch Startupstechcrunch.com
Publisher excerpt: “Why do I have to beg my grandparents to put on their hearing aids, but no one has ever needed to ask me to put on my glasses?” That’s the question that drove Matthew de Jonge to spend six years building Fortell, an AI hearing aid startup that recently raised $163 million from the likes of Founders…