{"podcast":{"title":"Equity","slug":"equity-55848","podcast_index_feed_id":55848,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/YFL6537156961","website_url":"https://techcrunch.com/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/7f647576-b0d4-11ef-ad77-1356cd002e92/image/c517eaa8f9b86d18ff98a18dec7a5178.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"TechCrunch","episode_count":791,"summary":"The intersection of technology, startups, and venture capital touches everything now. That’s why Equity, TechCrunch's flagship podcast, digs into the business of startups for entrepreneurs and enthusiasts alike. Every Wednesday and Friday, TechCrunch reporters keep you up-to-date on the world of business, technology, and venture capital. Equity is ranked the No.2 podcast in the Top 100 Venture Capital All time leaderboard on Goodpods—As well as No.17 for the Top 100 Finance All time chart and No.32 for the Top 100 Business News All time chart.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-17T06:20:32.412004+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/equity-55848"},"episode":{"title":"Why Thrive, Founders Fund, and Antonio Gracias are betting on hearing aids","slug":"why-thrive-founders-fund-and-antonio-gracias-are-betting-on-hearing-aids","published_at":"2026-09-16T15:24:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/equity-55848/why-thrive-founders-fund-and-antonio-gracias-are-betting-on-hearing-aids","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/equity-55848","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/TCML8703945164.mp3","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/TCML8703945164.mp3","summary":"“Why do I have to beg my grandparents to put on their hearing aids, but no one has ever needed to ask me to put on my glasses?”    That’s the question that drove Matthew de Jonge to spend six years building Fortell, an AI hearing aid startup that recently raised $163 million from the likes of Founders Fund, Thrive Capital, and Valor Equity Partners CEO Antonio Gracias. The buzzy startup aims to build hearing aids that understand the sounds around you in real time, figure out what’s important and turn down the rest — instead of turning everything up at the same time, as most hearing aids do.     On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan is joined by de Jonge to break down what it takes to disrupt a decades-old industry where five companies make 97% of the products, insurance won’t cover the cost, and innovation has been slow to arrive.    Listen to the full episode to hear more about:  How de Jonge went from mechanical engineering and a hedge fund career to building handheld ultrasound machines at Butterfly Network, and why that experience gave him the confidence to take on hearing aids next.  The AI architecture behind Fortell's approach, including a custom chip built by a former Google TPU designer.  Why the five companies that dominate the hearing aid industry have been so slow to innovate, and how that shaped Fortell's pitch to investors.  De Jonge's take on Apple's AirPods as both a hearing aid alternative and an at-home hearing test, and why he sees them as complementary rather than a threat.  The regulatory hurdles around remote hearing aid fittings, and how state-level telemedicine laws are shaping Fortell'…","meta_description":"“Why do I have to beg my grandparents to put on their hearing aids, but no one has ever needed to ask me to put on my glasses?” That’s t…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1646,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/equity-55848/episodes/why-thrive-founders-fund-and-antonio-gracias-are-betting-on-hearing-aids/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/equity-55848/why-thrive-founders-fund-and-antonio-gracias-are-betting-on-hearing-aids.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}