$10m Brisbane hearing tech startup signs global deal

A Brisbane startup founded five years ago as a crowdfunded project has inked a deal to supply its products around the world.

Brisbane audio technology firm Audeara is shouting its latest business deal from the rooftops.

The ASX-listed firm, which makes the world’s only full-fidelity headphones with a built-in hearing test, has signed a global supply agreement with giant audiology retailer Amplifon that will see its products available across all of Amplifon clinics globally.

Founded by Dr James Fielding and Alex Afflick in 2016 as a small, crowdfunded project, Audeara is now valued at close to $10m.

The men originally planned to develop the headphones as a medical screening device for remote areas, but soon realised the potential for the product to be used in everyday life for people with impaired hearing - from watching television to Zoom meetings.

Fielding says the headphones use the principle of “better not louder,” adjusting sound so that people ultimately prevented further hearing loss. The headphones also made it easier for people living with loved ones suffering hearing impairment. “We talk about buying the headphones and saving the marriage,” says Fielding.

Dr James Fielding (left) and Alex Afflick.

The company’s latest deal has huge potential given Amplifon is the biggest audiology retailer in the world with 11 per cent of global market share and more than 9,200 points of sale across 25 countries. As part of the deal, Amplifon will purchase a minimum 5,000 headphones during the second half of the year.

Since listing just over 12 months ago, Audeara has established supply agreements with all major Australian audiology clinics including Connect Hearing and Blamey Saunders, both wholly-owned subsidiaries of Swiss hearing giant Sonova, as well as leading US supplier Oaktree Products. Fielding says the agreements with the largest groups in the audiology sector provides confidence in the firm’s expansion strategy.

It’s been a big year for Fielding, 34, who last year was named the University of Queensland’s distinguished young alumni for entrepreneurial leadership.

Fielding was based at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital before leaving full time clinical medicine to focus on the founding and development of Audeara.

NEW HIRE

Brisbane nutrition company Flavour Creations has hired Peter Harding-Smith as its new chief financial officer.

Harding-Smith was previously chief financial officer for oil and gas company Comet Ridge and Anteo Diagnostics.

Flavour Creations chief executive Bernadette Eriksen says Harding-Smith’s extensive experience will be a great asset as the company continues to expand its markets.

Founded in 1997, the company develops thickened drinks, powders and other products for people living with dysphagia. Dysphagia occurs when there is a problem with the neural control or the structures involved in any part of the swallowing process.

The company employs over 100 people at two facilities in Brisbane including a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Tennyson, and business hub in Acacia Ridge.

Peter Harding-Smith has joined food manufacturer Flavour Creations.

HOT PROPERTY

A Sydney-based private investor has snapped up a prominent office building in Hamilton for a cool $46.5 million. The building, 365 Macarthur Avenue, is fully leased to Chevron, one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies.

City Beat hears the buyer was drawn to the building’s location in the heart of the priority development area of Northshore Hamilton.

The riverfront precinct will accommodate the main athletes village for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The building was constructed in 2016 for the multinational energy company, which committed for an initial term of 15 years.

CBRE agents Jack Morrison and Adelaide O’Brien brokered the deal for vendor RF Corval alongside Peter Court, Mike Walsh and Fred Le Fanue from Cushman and Wakefield. Morrison says the deal precedes a number of transactions in the Brisbane market following a flurry of activity in the first half of 2022.

“We are expecting to announce a number of transactions in the Brisbane office market below $100 million in the coming months, which will continue to demonstrate that quality property in Brisbane is still highly contested,” Morrison says.

Chevron building at Hamilton has been sold to private investors.