HEARIN.AI: The 'Tesla of Hearing Aids' Founded by Alibaba Alumnus Submits IPO Prospectus

At first, no one paid much attention—it was just that the volume seemed a bit low when listening to music or watching TV; it was merelyThe initial noise and discomfort felt amidst the deafening music in a KTV; it is merely the tinnitus echoing in your mind during late-night insomnia; it is simply the muffled sensation in your ears when you have a cold... Until one day, we suddenly realize that all sounds in the world have become indistinct.

What is even more cruel is that hearing undergoes irreversible, progressive decline with age. Once hearing deteriorates to the point where one can no longer clearly understand others’ speech, anxiety sets in; this not only exacerbates hearing loss but also erodes our quality of life. When hearing impairment becomes severe enough to prevent normal communication and interaction with others, loneliness, social isolation, and Alzheimer’s disease will, over time, inexorably take hold.

The songs once played on repeat while driving, riding the subway, or late at night; the gentle murmurs of family and friends whispering in your ear; the rhythmic rustling of wind through pine forests; even the incessant, annoying buzz of mosquitoes… All of these sounds can no longer be heard. According to the latest epidemiological statistics on hearing impairment in China, the total number of individuals with hearing loss exceeds 200 million.

Fortunately, throughout the long course of human evolution, we have never abandoned technological efforts to restore hearing. From primitive acoustic hearing aids and carbon-element hearing aids to vacuum-tube, transistor, and integrated-circuit hearing aids, and now to today’s digital hearing aids... Although hearing loss is irreversible, the advent of hearing aids has helped countless individuals who would otherwise have been consigned to a world of silence to return to vibrant, authentic lives.

VCBeat noted that at the Jinji Lake Young Talent Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition in November 2022, Shenzhen Xi Yin Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Xi Yin Technology”), an AI-powered hearing aid company, stood out among numerous innovative projects and won the first prize.

Xiyin Technology, founded in October 2022, is located at the Software Industry Base in Yuehai Subdistrict, Shenzhen, in close proximity to Tencent and ZTE. Just one month after its establishment, the company secured investment from senior executives affiliated with the Ping An group.Millions of yuan in seed fundingFinancing.

The core founding team all possess experience in building businesses from scratch and executing comprehensive implementation.

Zhu Yi, Founder of the CompanyFormer Voice Algorithm Product Expert at Alibaba’s Tmall Genie, with over 10 years of experience in innovative consumer electronics products spanning hardware, software, and algorithms, and inventor of more than 100 patents.

Co-founder Zhang Maolei,Served as a founding core member of Gionee Mobile and head of its R&D technical team, overseeing the development of over 100 million mobile phones. By collaborating with offline distribution channels to ensure market implementation, the brand once ranked first among domestic brands in China’s offline market.

Co-founder Xiang Changqing,Formerly served as General Manager of OPPO’s E-commerce Division, with extensive experience in managing global e-commerce channel sales, and built OPPO’s e-commerce business from the ground up.

Core team members possess extensive industry experience and specialized expertise in product innovation, algorithm development, acoustic design, audio hardware, and clinical audiology. Furthermore, XiYin Technology boasts a global, world-class team of experts in audio processing, chip technology, hearing aid algorithms, and auditory science, accelerating technological advancement and product iteration.

Zhu Yi, Founder of Xi Yin Technology

Algorithms directly determine whether a digital hearing aid can output high-quality acoustic signals, making them the most critical component of such devices. It is understood that China’s hearing aid manufacturers must import major components from abroad; the key difference in core technologies among domestic manufacturers lies in the algorithms embedded within their Digital Signal Processors (DSPs).

According to Zhu Yi, mainstream hearing aids currently on the market rely on a single set of handcrafted rules to classify sounds into speech and noise, prioritizing the preservation of speech based on the relationship between the two. However, in real-life scenarios, we pay attention not only to speech but also to other ambient sounds.

To address the aforementioned pain points, HEARIN.AI hasIntroduce the concept of complete sound scene technology to create a natural auditory system.

The HEARIN team’s early user scenario insights revealed that speech clarity is paramount, with performance in both quiet and noisy environments being equally critical. User preferences vary: older adults and female users prioritize ease of operation, while younger users place greater emphasis on speech clarity in noisy settings. Additionally, sound quality is a key area of user concern. HEARIN has continuously invested in enhancing its capabilities for both quiet and noisy environments to improve the overall user experience.

Especially in the most challenging noisy environments,Zhu Yi stated that HEARIN.AI fully understands the core issues: first, noise also originates from speech; second, such noise is typically loud; and third, users require speech signals from various angles and directions. However, current mainstream technologies fail to distinguish between important and unimportant sounds. To address this challenge,HEARIN uses unique technology; the HEARIN algorithm can determine which sounds are important and which are not.

Hearing Aid Technology Designed and Developed by HEARIN.AI Enables People to Hear the Most Important Sounds, Even in Noisy Environments.

At the outset of algorithm training, Xi Yin Technology utilized sound data from real-world scenarios. By collecting authentic audio from diverse environments and processing it with deep neural networks, the company ensures clarity and precise balance, enabling users with hearing loss to achieve effective auditory compensation and an enhanced listening experience in complex, dynamic acoustic environments.

Traditional Hearing Aids VS HEARIN Hearing Aids

Relevant data indicate that only 17% of the global population who could benefit from hearing aids actually use them. Among these, the hearing aid penetration rate exceeds 40% in both the United Kingdom and France, stands at approximately 27% in the United States, and is only around 5% in China.

Regarding the Causes of the Significant Market Gap, Zhu Yi Believes It Can Be Summarized in Six Words: “Valuable and Affordable.” Low-end products suffer from high noise levels, excessive interference, and poor auditory experience. High-end products are largely monopolized by imported manufacturers; although they offer a comfortable listening experience, their prohibitive prices, often reaching tens of thousands of yuan, hinder market penetration and adoption rates.

“Centered on the Chinese population with hearing loss, we are building a natural auditory system to help them hear the voices of their loved ones and friends, thereby enhancing their well-being.” Guided by this original aspiration, Xi Yin Technology has designed its product portfolio with three tiers—high-end, mid-range, and entry-level—to meet the needs of different consumer segments. The high-end line features high-performance hearing aids suitable for any scenario; the mid-range line offers balanced hearing aids that meet specific performance requirements; and the entry-level line provides simple, easy-to-use basic hearing aids.

To ensure an optimal auditory experience for users with hearing loss, Xi Yin Technology has made significant efforts by reconstructing the value curve to substantially enhance perceived audio quality. In terms of chips, power consumption, and user experience,HEARIN.AI features unique thinking and combinatorial innovation, offering significant advantages over traditional approaches.

In terms of distribution channels, Zhu Yi acknowledged that offline retail still dominates in China. The channel landscape is more fragmented than the brand landscape, showing a trend toward vertical integration of brand and retail. Although many large domestic offline chains were acquired by foreign giants last year, new channels and innovative models continue to emerge, allowing HEARIN.AI to pursue differentiated competition. While online channels have seen significant overall growth, they remain dominated by low-end products. Centered on users, HEARIN.AI adopts an omnichannel strategy.

In terms of commercialization, in addition to achieving hardware profitability through value innovation, HEARIN.AI will alsoCreate more profit drivers through iterative software upgrades.“Actually, just like Tesla, we will first roll out the hardware and then integrate updated functional services later to charge fees.”

HEARIN.AI hearing aids have already completed the core algorithm framework and audio engine integration. Next, the company will carry out engineering migration across different product lines, with mass production expected by the end of this year.