Legato Raises $12M for AI Hearing Glasses That Filter Voices From Noise

For people with mild to moderate hearing loss, Legato is proposing a different purchase decision: choose eyewear that also amplifies conversation. The company has emerged from stealth with $12 million and Legato Frames, glasses that place hearing-assistance hardware inside their arms and use AI to separate voices from background noise.

The company is targeting the largest segment of the hearing-loss population, according to Legato: people with mild to moderate loss. Its founders are positioning the frames against cost, discomfort and stigma associated with traditional hearing aids, rather than presenting them as conventional smart glasses with an added audio feature.

Legato says its system distinguishes voices from ambient noise, then amplifies the voices. That differs from the directional microphones often used in traditional hearing aids, which focus on sound from a particular direction and can be difficult to use in noisy places such as restaurants.

The Frames use an open-ear design. Legato says a dual-speaker system directs sound toward the wearer while canceling escaping sound, a design intended to avoid broadcasting audio to people nearby. The 99% sound-reduction figure is a company claim; the launch materials do not provide an independent product test.

Legato Frames are expected later in fall 2026 through the company’s website and select eye-care providers. That channel is central to the pitch: Legato says the frames will cost a fraction of traditional hearing aids and may qualify for vision insurance when bought through an eye-care clinic.

Mehul Trivedi and Steve Romine founded Legato in late 2024 after careers spanning Bose; Trivedi also worked on smart eyewear efforts at EssilorLuxottica, while Romine later served as COO of Audicus. The company says much of its new funding has gone to product development and marketing, indicating that it still has to turn its form-factor and signal-processing claims into a retail product people will wear.