From a mere college pass-out to CEO of WeHear, a Start-up worth more than 100 Crore valuation

Ahmedabad, Gujarat Dec 28, 2021 (Issuewire.com) – As they say, apples do not grow in a day. Similarly, a start-up like WeHear did not start producing state-of-the-art audio care devices in just one day. All of it began with a dream of an aspirational and bright young individual named Kanishka Patel from L.D College of Engineering, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Hailing from a family of educators Kanishka always had a focussed approach towards his studies, his deep interest in technology drove him towards the field of engineering and from here he began his journey of tech-based experiments and inventions. Even though Kanishka was always seen as a technology expert who mostly kept to his studies, his flamboyance and leadership in technology could be felt throughout the college campus during the Robocon event. Being the technical team lead from his college for the Robocon India event, Kanishka learned some important lessons related to decision-making and risk management.

The journey from a technical team leader at L.D College to CEO of WeHear Innovations Pvt Ltd.

This was during his third year at the Robocon event that Kanishka came across the research in the field of Bone Conduction Technology. He began to extensively explore and found about its history and its use in the army. The idea that struck him as he explored was to develop a hearing aid for hearing-impaired individuals, as the use of this technology could even help individuals with more than 75% hearing loss. Kanishka developed several prototypes of the Bone Conduction hearing aid over the year and by the end of the final year of engineering, he came up with a hearing aid device that helped a little boy with almost 90% hearing loss, hear for the first time.

The next step was to gather a team that could devote its time and energy to the new venture started by him. The idea at first was to simply develop devices that could help with the hearing impairments and keeping this as the focal point Kanishka organised several meetings and seminars with ENT specialists and audiologists. During the same period in the year, 2017 Kanishka’s dream venture WeHear got incorporated and incubated by Gujarat University Start-up and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC). Meanwhile, as the research and understanding of the issues related to hearing loss increased, Kanishka and his R&D team found that it wasn’t enough to develop hearing aid devices related to Bone Conduction when this technology had so much to offer. Soon he came up with the idea to develop an ‘Ear Health Friendly’ device that could help in preventing conductive hearing loss. In its recently published reports, WHO (shorturl.at/biAV4) had stated that by the year 2050, 1 out of 4 people will be suffering from hearing-related problems. With several such reports in light, the next step was the development of headphone prototypes that worked on Bone Conduction Technology. After months of research with a team of about 50 interns, Kanishka, now CEO of his own consumer electronic venture, WeHear brought to the table a unique audio care device called WeHear OX.

WeHear OX since its inception has proved to be a revolutionary audio care device. It offers a safe hearing experience and causes no damage to the ears even after prolonged usage. It offers users maximum situational awareness and helps avoid accidents while on the road or any communication miss out while working. Being a superlight audio device, it doesn’t cause any discomfort to the ears and can be very effectively used while performing even the most rigorous physical activities.

Today WeHear Innovations Pvt Ltd., which once was a mere dream of an engineering student, has begun making difference by introducing people to an Ear Health Friendly lifestyle. In a short span of time since its inception, WeHear and its products have been praised by the Hon’ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind. Moreover, WeHear has received the GUSEC Social Impact Award of the Year 2018 presented by Hon’ble Minister of Industries ‘Loksabha’ Shri Suresh Prabhu and ‘Fellow Start-up of the Year’ presented by Shri Anurag Thakur- Hon’ble MoS Finance, Central Government.

In the year 2021, WeHear associated with the Indian Red Cross Society Ahmedabad for the ‘Project Shruti‘ and also associated with Aravalli District Health Department, Government of Gujarat for the project ‘Sambhde Aravalli‘. Under these projects, WeHear not only has conducted hearing tests for children and elderly people but has also donated WeHear Hearing aids (Ear+) to individuals with hearing impairments.

WeHear due to its state-of-the-art products, high perseverance, and rapid growth has received various grants from Govt. of Gujarat and the Department of Science and Technology. It has also raised a seed round from Faridabad-based High Network Individuals. They already have various offers from VCs and investment groups at a valuation above 100 Cr.

With his hard work, dedication, and spirit to innovate Kanishka has created not just a business venture, but a movement towards a healthy way of hearing.

#HearSafeBeSafe