The South Africa-founded hearing health company hearX, now operating in the United States (US), has merged with counterpart Eargo to form a new combined company called LXE Hearing.
Founded out of the University of Pretoria, hearX Group started trading in 2016 with the purpose of commercialising digital technologies to change the face of hearing care. It has since developed a suite of digital, clinically-validated, affordable and mobile technologies for hearing loss detection and diagnosis, for those who need it most.
Eargo, meanwhile, is a medical device company on a mission to improve hearing health. Backed by an additional US$100 million investment from Patient Square Capital, the merger between the two companies creates a new hearing health company – LXE Hearing – and is the first notable combination for the over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid market since the FDA established the regulatory category in 2022.
LXE Hearing will operate as one company with its two established consumer hearing aid brands, Eargo and Lexie Hearing. hearX CEO and co-founder Nic Klopper will serve as CEO for LXE Hearing, with Eargo’s COO and interim CEO Bill Brownie assuming the role of COO.
“The merger between Lexie and Eargo is founded on our shared mission to create hearing health solutions for everyone, everywhere,” said Klopper. “Eargo’s cutting-edge design, emphasis on clinical quality and customer-first approach to service perfectly complement hearX’s suite of Bose-powered products and its award-winning mobile app. Together, we are going to revolutionize hearing aids and hearing health.”
