BERKELEY, Calif./Vancouver, BC -- July 28, 2020 -- Singular Hearing was crowned winner among a field of six final contenders in the What's Next Innovation Challenge sponsored by AARP Innovation Labs held June 25 during the 17th Annual What's Next Longevity Venture Summit.  Since the event went virtual this year, expert judges watched pitches from each finalist and chose Singular Hearing as the most innovative solution to drive adoption and usage of hearing aids for the millions over age 50 who have hearing impairment in the U.S. Register for the virtual Summit and watch the Innovation Challenge here. 

"Every dissonance of aging is a market opportunity," said Mary Furlong, successful serial entrepreneur, author and producer of the What's Next Longevity Summits. "Hearing loss impacts one in three Americans between ages 65-74. We are so pleased with the important work of our winner and our finalists in this competition. We are also grateful to AARP Innovation Labs for collaborating with us to sponsor this effort. We are now in our 17th year of collaboration." 

Singular Hearing's smartphone app, HeardThat, addresses hearing loss in environments where background noise impacts interpersonal conversations, often known as "hidden hearing loss" as it can be overlooked by regular audiology tests. HeardThat uses the latest machine learning techniques to turn a smartphone into a powerful hearing assistive device.

"This competition really brought out some of the best technology solutions for hearing loss, the level of innovation showcased by the finalists impressed our expert judging panel," said Jacqueline M. Baker, vice president of Startup Programming for AARP Innovation Labs. "We congratulate Singular Hearing on their win and look forward to having them proceed to our AARP Innovation Labs Grand Pitch Finale in the fall."

"Our first product, HeardThat, provides a new kind of hearing assistance to help the millions who suffer from hearing loss get back in the conversation," said Bruce Sharpe, CEO of Singular Hearing. "Winning the competition is particularly gratifying for Singular Hearing. It is validation from experts, thought leaders, and investors in hearing technology that gives additional credibility to our story as we enter the market."

David Lindeman, director of Health Care at the Center for Information Technology and Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), moderated the competition. The expert judging panel consisted of longevity experts and investors in aging: Dave Blanchard of Hamilton CapTel, Jeannee Parker Martin of LeadingAge California and Abby Levy of Primetime Partners.

"The impressive group of founders who presented their unique approaches to improving quality of hearing care all shared a common trait of compassion," said Abby Levy, one of the Innovation Challenge judges. "Each startup approached the user with thoughtful and user-centric solutions. Everyone was a winner: both the startups and the consumers who will benefit from these innovations."

The What's Next Longevity Venture Summit event began on June 24 with the release of the What's Next Longevity Academy Sessions and several panel discussions followed by keynotes, competitions and additional panels on June 25 and will continue to release new sessions through July 21. The robust learning and networking event includes longevity experts featuring more than 70 speakers, thought leader panel discussions, analyst research presentations, best practice and investor case studies, competitions and networking possibilities with leading investors, businesses, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, authors, analysts and media. Virtual attendees have access to all the content through August 31.

See the event agenda and full list of speakers and sponsors and to register for the event visit: https://www.boomerventuresummit.com/

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