Public Funding for Eargym Ltd

ear_gym_ Ltd. (ear_gym_) is a UK SME operating in the hearing health/well-being sector with a core team of Amanda Philpott, Andy Shanks, Jennifer Birtles and Morgan Crawford. Although age-related hearing loss is prevalent globally, knowledge of its correlation with social isolation, mild cognitive impairment and dementia is relatively recent. Many people do not yet recognise the importance of hearing health and do not seek treatment, while current treatment options or training programmes are often expensive and/or limited in functionality/outcome. ear_gym_ is seeking funding to address this by providing people with the tools to proactively take control of their hearing health through a personalised, enjoyable and affordable game-based digital auditory training programme. ear_gym_ is closely aligned with the Healthy Ageing Challenge to keep people active, productive, independent and socially connected for as long as possible. Helping people maintain and improve their hearing will provide health benefits for the user and cost-saving benefits for the NHS and global healthcare systems in terms of preventing associated cognitive decline, as well as significant workplace-based economic benefit; the annual global economic cost of hearing loss is estimated to be $981 billion (£25 billion in the UK) (McDaid et al., 2021) through lost productivity and early retirement.