Audien Hearing, the Scottsdale-based startup founded by 29-year-old CEO Ishan Patel, has quietly become one of the most disruptive forces in the hearing industry. With more than one million customers served, the company is meeting a massive, long-ignored need: affordable, accessible hearing care for everyday Americans.
Where traditional hearing aids are tangled in prescriptions, appointments and price tags upward of $4,000, Audien took a different approach, making the most affordable hearing aids on the market. Audien Hearing aids cut out expensive middlemen like audiologists and hearing centers, allowing them to sell hearing aids starting at just $98/pair.
In 2020, Patel and his co-founders launched Audien from a garage with just $500. Today, the company is the leading over-the-counter hearing aid brand in the world. Audien created the first $98 OTC hearing aid and launched in Walmart nationwide, with more retailers on the horizon. The company’s low price point didn’t just appeal to budget-conscious consumers but unlocked an entirely underserved segment of the market.
Audien’s growth is rooted in strategic timing and category awareness. Following the FDA’s 2022 ruling to allow OTC hearing aids, Audien was uniquely positioned to scale by streamlining the supply chain, cutting out unnecessary middlemen and delivering directly to the people who need it most. Now, consumers can order hearing aids online in minutes and get them shipped to their doorstep in days, rather than spending months and thousands of dollars to get a pair from traditional avenues.
In an industry slow to change, Audien is innovating at a lightning-fast pace. The company invented the first hearing aid selling for less than $100, was the first to launch an OTC hearing aid nationwide in retail, and has new products in the pipeline that will make hearing even more accessible.
