UMBO
Hear freely, Live fully
Introduction
Current cochlear implants(CIs) are bulky and visible, limiting adoption to under 10% despite a $41B market potential. UmboMic, an implantable microphone built on patented MIT technology, enables natural and discreet hearing and is key to making fully implantable CIs a reality. By supplying UmboMic to leading CI manufacturers, Umbo will drive adoption, expand the market, and most importantly, restore hearing for more individuals.
Problem
For 60 million people worldwide with severe-to-profound hearing loss, cochlear implants (CIs) are the only way to restore hearing. But existing CIs require a bulky, external device that is fragile, uncomfortable, and difficult to use. For the past 20 years, CI companies have worked towards fully invisible CIs, successfully implanting the processor and the battery. But they have one remaining roadblock - the microphone.
They run into mainly two problems, placement and performance. Identifying the right location to place the microphone to minimize picking up body noise like chewing and breathing and having the right sensor technology to detect subtle motions to detect sound clearly. That's where UMBO comes in.
Opportunity
UMBO's implantable microphone technology, UmboMic, is placed in the middle ear to minimize picking up body noise and to use the anatomy of the ear to naturally amplify and localize sounds. It also uses patented sensor technology from MIT to detect motion of the eardrum in nanometers, allowing the microphone to capture the subtlest of sounds like leaves rustling and whispering.
Our B2B sales strategy centers on selling UmboMic as a critical implantable component to major CI manufacturers. They can integrate it into existing cochlear implants or use it to develop next-generation FICI systems.
With maximum CI utilization, the global cochlear implant components market is estimated at $11B. By accelerating the adoption of fully implantable cochlear implants (FICIs), we anticipate a 3x-5x increase in CI utilization, initially driven by early adopters—including adults with late-onset hearing loss and active individuals. Subsequent adoption is expected to grow among parents of children using CIs. As a critical component enabling natural and discreet hearing, Umbo is positioned to capture an estimated $400M in market value.