We started AudioCardio with the mission to develop and provide an easily accessible and affordable solution for people with hearing loss and tinnitus.
During the summer of 2016, our CEO (Chris) wanted to take his grandfather on one last trip where he would be physically able to walk, fish and get around all on his own. They spent 5 full days and nights together during this trip and his grandfather couldn’t hide or “laugh off” declining mental condition. Chris realized that his grandfather’s signs of aging and memory loss were much worse than he and his family had previously thought. He realized his grandfather’s condition was much more than simple forgetfulness. He was showing serious signs of cognitive decline and it was clearly accelerating.
Whitefish Lake, Montana
Upon returning home, Chris went online and started educating himself on cognitive decline, dementia and Alzheimer’s. During this self education, he came across a Johns Hopkins study that showed an association between untreated hearing loss and isolation, depression, cognitive decline and dementia. The study showed that individuals with untreated hearing loss are up to five times more likely to have dementia. Chris’s grandfather suffered from severe hearing loss and attributed it to his service as a hydraulics engineer and specialist in the Air Force and at a major airline. Chris remembered how in previous years, his grandfather slowly began disengaging as he got older and as his hearing worsened. His grandfather became frustrated, then isolated, then depressed before having dementia.
Although his grandfather knew he had hearing loss and tinnitus, he refused to purchase hearing aids. The lack of access and convenience to visit a specialist, expense of each hearing aid and negative social stigma all contributed to his distaste for the options on the market.
During his final years, Chris was a caretaker for his grandfather, flying from Los Angeles to San Francisco each Sunday morning to Monday night to help relieve his family of the 24/7 care that they were providing him. During this time, Chris watched the devastating decline of his grandfather and knew he wanted to help others avoid this fate. Chris knew he wanted to do something to help his grandfather and many others suffering.
Serendipitously, Chris met his co-founder Sam, a scientist and inventor from South Korea around the same time this was all happening. Sam, now his cofounder, was working on a technology in hopes of helping people with hearing loss and tinnitus. After many conversations and meetings, Chris and Sam decided to cofound AudioCardio in hopes of providing an easily accessible and affordable hearing loss and tinnitus solution.
Our mission is to provide an easily accessible and affordable solution for hearing loss and tinnitus without the negative social stigma.
Supporting those in need.
Chris Ellis
CEO
