Fortell Raises $163 Million as AI Hearing Aid Push Targets Noisy Conversations

Fortell, the AI hearing-aid startup founded by Matthew de Jonge, has raised $163 million from investors including Founders Fund, Thrive Capital and Valor Equity Partners CEO Antonio Gracias, putting fresh capital behind a device that tries to make hearing aids selective rather than merely louder. The company is building prescription Fortell AI Hearing Aids that identify voices and suppress distracting sound in real time, an approach aimed at the cocktail party problem that makes restaurants, meetings and family gatherings difficult for many people with hearing loss.